A circuit of COCH neurons encodes social-stress-induced anxiety via MTF1 activation of Cacna1h.

The hippocampus is a temporal lobe structure critical for cognition, such as learning, memory, and attention, as well as emotional responses. Hippocampal dysfunction can lead to persistent anxiety and/or depression. However, how millions of neurons in the hippocampus are molecularly and structurally organized to engage their divergent functions remains unknown. Here, we genetically target a subset of neurons expressing the coagulation factor c homolog (COCH) gene. COCH-expressing neurons or COCH neurons are topographically segregated in the distal region of the ventral CA3 hippocampus and express Mtf1 and Cacna1h. MTF1 activation of Cacna1h transcription in COCH neurons encodes the ability of COCH neurons to burst action potentials and cause social-stress-induced anxiety-like behaviors by synapsing directly with a subset of GABAergic inhibitory neurons in the lateral septum. Together, this study provides a molecular and circuitry-based framework for understanding how COCH neurons in the hippocampus are assembled to engage social behavior.