Figure 4.

VMHvl α cells, but not ß cells in virgin females selectively respond to male cues.

A) Schematic illustrating fiber photometry recording in VMHvl.

(B) Schematic illustrating behavioral test of social interaction in virgin females.

(C-D) Representative GCaMP6m expression in (C) VMHvl α and (D) β cells. Scalebar, 200um.

(E-F) Left, Peri-event time histogram (PETH) (E) α cells or (F) β cells, aligned to initial encounter with intruders. Initial encounter occurred immediately after intruder introduction. Right, area under the curve (AUC) represents timespan 0 to 30 seconds after the initial encounter.

(G) Male Preference Index (MPI) of initial encounter from α and β cells. MPI = (AUC of initial encounter with male - AUC of initial encounter with female) / (AUC of initial encounter with male + AUC of initial encounter with female).

(H-I) Left, PETH from (H) α cells or (I) β cells, aligned to sniffing intruder; these are defined as sniffing bouts occurring > 1 minute after intruder introduction. Sniffing bouts followed by male mounting were excluded. Right, AUC represents timespan 0 to 3 seconds after sniffing intruder.

(J) MPI of sniffing intruder from α and β cells. MPI = (AUC sniffing male - AUC sniffing female) / (AUC sniffing male + AUC sniffing female).

(K-L) Left, PETH from (K) α and (L) β cells, aligned to first sniff of urine. Right, Peak PETH between time 0 to 10 seconds relative to first sniff of urine.

(M) MPI of first sniff of urine from α and β cells. MPI = (Peak of sniffing of male urine − Peak of sniffing of female urine) / (Peak of sniffing of male urine + Peak of sniffing of female urine).

**p<0.01; ***p<0.001; ****p<0.0001; ns, not significant. Mean ± SEM.