Roles of the anterior basolateral amygdalar nucleus during exposure to a live predator and to a predator-associated context

•Predatory threat activates the basolateral amygdalar nucleus (BLA).•The BLA has no direct link to the hypothalamic circuit mediating anti-predatory responses.•BLA cytotoxic lesions decrease both innate and contextual anti-predatory fear responses.•Future investigations are needed to investigate the BLA targets in innate and contextual fear responses to predatory threat.