Natural predator-associated chemosignals evoke distinct spatiotemporal patterns of risk assessment and vomeronasal population responses

Snake fecal cues in transgenic mice elicit sustained direct investigation and distinct spatiotemporal exploration, behavioral transitions, and grooming patterns, distinguishing them from tortoise, lizard, and mouse cues.

• Why it matters: Predator odors can trigger defensive behaviors, but how natural chemosignals organize risk assessment over space and time and map onto vomeronasal sensory and accessory olfactory circuits is unclear.
• What they did: Using 3D behavioral tracking with a pose-based integrative machine-learning pipeline (PIMAP), volumetric calcium imaging of vomeronasal epithelium, and whole-brain FosTRAP2 mapping, the study compared responses to snake, tortoise, lizard, and mouse fecal cues.
• The result: Reptilian cues produced distinct VSN activation patterns and potential differential AOS circuit activity after snake versus tortoise exposure; Trpc2 deletion altered snake-associated behavioral signatures while odor-discriminative patterns remained detectable.

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