Abstract In the face of imminent predatory danger, animals quickly detect the threat and mobilize key survival defensive actions, such as escape and freezing. The dorsomedial portion of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) is a central node in innate and conditioned predator‐induced defensive behaviours. Prior studies have shown that activity of steroidogenic factor 1 (sf1)‐expressing VMH cells is necessary for such defensive behaviours. However, sf1‐VMH neural activity during exposure to predatory threats has not been well characterized. Here, we use single‐cell recordings of calcium transients from VMH cells in male and female mice. We show this region is activated by threat proximity and that it encodes future occurrence of escape but not freezing. Our data also show that VMH cells encoded proximity of an innate predatory threat but not a fear‐conditioned shock grid. Furthermore, chemogenetic activation of the VMH increases avoidance of innate threats, such as open spaces and a live predator. This manipulation also increased freezing towards the predator, without altering defensive behaviours induced by a shock grid. Lastly, we show that optogenetic VMH activation recruited a broad swath of regions, suggestive of widespread changes in neural defensive state. Taken together, these data reveal the neural dynamics of the VMH during predator exposure and further highlight its role as a critical component of the hypothalamic predator defense system.
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