Population coding of predator imminence in the hypothalamus
Although it is well established that predator cues activate hypothalamic VMHdmSF1 neurons, the features necessary and sufficient for instinctive defensive responses are not well understood.
The researchers discovered hypothalamic subsets that encode threat, safety, predator imminence, anxiety, and arousal in freely behaving mice. They also observed that VMHdmSF1 neurons do not encode different defensive behaviors.
The authors also found that threat and safety are encoded bi-directionally by anti-correlated subpopulations.
These neural dynamics correlate with individual variations in defensiveness, providing insights into how innate fear is represented and scaled in the brain to guide survival responses.
