CRCNS:alm-1 · Encore Science

Claims 29

From the paper A motor cortex circuit for motor planning and movement · claims file · checked 2026-11-07: ready

fig1d-photoinhibition-ipsilateral-bias
Unilateral photoinhibition of ALM during the delay epoch biases licking to the side of the inhibited hemisphere; inhibiting left ALM raises performance on lick left trials and lowers it on lick right trials, and inhibiting right ALM does the reverse.
Unilateral photoinhibition (Methods) of anterior lateral motor cortex (ALM, centred at 2.5 mm anterior, 1.5 mm lateral), limited to the delay epoch, produced an ipsilateral bias ... Inhibiting left ALM caused a tendency to lick the left port, resulting in increased performance in 'lick left' trials and decreased performance in 'lick right' trials
Results, ALM is required for movement planning, paragraph 2; Figure 1d
How it will be judged
As in Methods, Behavioural data analyses. Performance is the fraction correct, lick early trials excluded, computed separately for lick right and lick left trials. The change is photoinhibition minus control performance. Its P value is the fraction of 10^4 bootstrap rounds, resampling with replacement animals, sessions within animal and trials within session, that give a change of the opposite sign (one-tailed). Reproduced when, for delay epoch inhibition of each hemisphere, the contralateral trial type loses performance and the ipsilateral gains it, each at P < 0.05; partially reproduced when this holds for one hemisphere or for the contralateral loss only.
fig1d-sample-epoch-smaller-bias
The ipsilateral bias is smaller when ALM is photoinhibited during the sample epoch than during the delay epoch.
This ipsilateral bias was smaller when photoinhibiting during the sample epoch.
Results, ALM is required for movement planning, paragraph 2; Figure 1d
How it will be judged
Performance changes as in fig1d-photoinhibition-ipsilateral-bias. The paper reports no test of sample against delay. Reproduced when, for each hemisphere, the performance change on the contralateral trial type is smaller in magnitude for sample than for delay epoch inhibition.
task-performance
Mice performed the task at 78.4% correct on average, with responses before the go cue on fewer than 13% of trials (n = 42 mice).
(mean per cent correct, 78.4%; responses before the go cue, ,13%)
Results, ALM is required for movement planning, paragraph 1
How it will be judged
Per cent correct excludes lick early trials (Methods, Behavioural data analyses). The figure is over 42 mice, more than the electrophysiology mice; how the mean is taken is open. Readings, (a) mean over sessions, (b) mean over mice of per-mouse means, (c) pooled trials. Which trials enter is also open (the paper does not say whether photostimulation trials are left out); readings, control (unstimulated) trials only, or all trials. Reproduced when the mean is within tolerance under one reading and the fraction of lick early trials is below 13% (14.3% with the 10% tolerance) under the same reading.
unit-counts
1,408 single units were recorded in left ALM from 19 mice in 99 sessions; by spike width, 1,245 are putative pyramidal neurons (> 0.45 ms), 124 fast-spiking neurons (< 0.35 ms) and 39 intermediate units excluded.
A total of 1,408 single units were recorded across 99 recording sessions ... Units with spike width ,0.35 ms were defined as fast-spiking neurons (124/1,408) and units with spike width .0.45 ms as putative pyramidal neurons (1,245/1,408)
Methods, Electrophysiology data analyses, paragraph 1; Extended Data Fig. 1a
How it will be judged
Spike width is the trough-to-peak interval of the mean spike waveform (Methods). Reproduced when all four counts are within tolerance; the numbers of mice and sessions are reported.
fig2-selective-fraction
73% (912 of 1,245) of putative pyramidal neurons distinguish the trial types in at least one epoch.
A large fraction (73%, 912/1,245) of neurons distinguished trial types (P , 0.05, two-tailed t-test, not corrected for multiple comparisons)
Results, ALM contains neurons with bilateral selectivity, paragraph 1; Methods, Electrophysiology data analyses, paragraph 2
How it will be judged
A neuron is selective when the shared selectivity test is significant in the sample, delay or response epoch (Methods). Under each reading of the response epoch length and of lick early trials. Reproduced when both values are within tolerance under one reading.
fig2d-response-categories
Of the selective neurons, 219 have selectivity only in the sample or delay epochs (preparatory only), and the rest have peri-movement selectivity in the response epoch, alone or together with preparatory selectivity (389 and 304 of 912).
subsets of neurons showed selective preparatory activity (Fig. 2b, left column; Fig. 2d, 219/912 neurons), peri-movement activity during the response epoch (Fig. 2b, right column; 389/912), or both (Fig. 2b, middle column; 304/912)
Results, ALM contains neurons with bilateral selectivity, paragraph 1; Figure 2d
How it will be judged
Preparatory means significant in the sample or delay epoch, peri-movement means significant in the response epoch (Methods). The text and Fig. 2d disagree on the two larger counts. Readings, (a) the text, 389 peri-movement only and 304 both; (b) the figure, whose bars read about 0.43 for both and 0.33 for peri-movement only, that is 389 both and 304 peri-movement only. Counts may also be compared as fractions of the selective neurons found here. Reproduced when all three counts (or fractions) are within tolerance under one reading of the labels, the response epoch and lick early trials; the text and figure disagreement is recorded as a deviation.
fig2c-selectivity-time-course
Selectivity emerges in the sample epoch, increases through the delay epoch and is largest at the beginning of the response epoch.
Selectivity emerged in the sample epoch, increased throughout the delay epoch, and reached a maximum at the beginning of the response epoch
Results, ALM contains neurons with bilateral selectivity, paragraph 1; Figure 2c and Extended Data Fig. 1d, f
How it will be judged
Two measures from the paper. (1) ED Fig. 1f, the number of putative pyramidal neurons significantly selective in 200 ms windows (two-tailed t-test, P < 0.05). (2) Fig. 2c bottom, the population selectivity of the 912 selective neurons, the spike rate difference between preferred and non-preferred trial type, with the preferred type set from 10 trials and the difference taken on the remaining trials (Methods). Which 10 trials is open; a random draw is the standard choice. What counts as "emerged" and "the beginning" is open. Readings, (a) both measures in the last 200 ms of the sample epoch exceed their value in the 200 ms before sample onset, the last 200 ms of the delay exceed the first 200 ms of the delay, and the maximum over the trial falls within 0.5 s after the go cue; (b) the same with the maximum within 0.2 s after the cue. Reproduced when all three hold for both measures under one reading; partially reproduced when they hold for one measure.
fig2c-dynamic-single-neurons
Individual neuron responses are dynamic while selectivity at the population level is stable.
Individual neuron responses were dynamic, despite stable selectivity at the level of the population
Results, ALM contains neurons with bilateral selectivity, paragraph 1; Figure 2c bottom and Extended Data Fig. 2a
How it will be judged
The paper's measure is the population response correlation of Fig. 2c, Pearson's correlation between the population response vector at each time and the vector at the go cue, all neurons treated as simultaneous, each neuron's response mean-subtracted and normalized to the variance of its response across the trial in 200 ms bins (Methods). Which trials and how the two trial types enter the vector are open. Readings, (a) the vector of selectivities (lick right minus lick left rates); (b) the two trial types' rates concatenated. The paper gives no threshold. Reproduced when the mean correlation in the sample epoch and the first 0.5 s of the delay is below 0.5, while the population selectivity of fig2c-selectivity-time-course stays above zero from the end of the sample epoch through the delay; the 0.5 bound is read from Fig. 2c, whose grey trace stays between about 0 and 0.5 before the cue, and is an assumption.
ed2-error-trials-predict-choice
On error trials, when mice lick opposite to the instructed direction, ALM activity predicts the licking direction; most selective neurons switch their trial type preference.
On error trials, when mice licked in the opposite direction to the instruction provided by object location (Fig. 1a), a majority of ALM neurons switched their trial type preference to predict the licking direction, as indicated by the negative correlations
Results, ALM contains neurons with bilateral selectivity, paragraph 1; Extended Data Fig. 2b, c
How it will be judged
As in ED Fig. 2c. For each of the 912 selective neurons and each epoch (sample, delay, response), selectivity is the firing rate on lick right minus lick left trials, computed on correct trials and on error trials, with error trials labelled by the instructed trial type (pole position), so that negative correlation means activity follows the lick. Pearson's r between correct and error selectivity across neurons. Neurons without error trials of both types are left out; a minimum number of error trials is not given and is open (readings, at least 1, or at least 5, of each type). The paper gives r but no test of it; a two-sided test of Pearson's r at P < 0.05 is a standard choice. The "majority" is the fraction of neurons whose error selectivity has the sign opposite to their correct selectivity. Reproduced when r is negative with P < 0.05 and that fraction exceeds one half in all three epochs under one reading; partially reproduced for one or two epochs.
fig2e-equal-contra-ipsi
Among selective putative pyramidal neurons, contra-preferring and ipsi-preferring neurons are present in equal proportions (427 contra-preferring and 485 ipsi-preferring in Fig. 2c).
The contra-preferring and ipsi-preferring neurons were present in equal proportions (Fig. 2c, e).
Results, ALM contains neurons with bilateral selectivity, paragraph 2; Figure 2c, e
How it will be judged
The counts are read from the neuron-number axes of Fig. 2c, which sort by preference; no sentence prints them. Preference for Fig. 2e is from total spike counts across the three epochs, lick right against lick left (Methods); the Fig. 2c sort may instead use the preferred type set from 10 trials (Methods, "To compute selectivity (Fig 2c)"). Readings for the counts, (a) total spike counts over all correct trials, (b) the 10-trial split. A claim of absence. The paper names no test for Fig. 2e; the test it uses for the same question in Fig. 3f, j is a bootstrap over neurons, P the fraction of resamples with more ipsi-preferring than contra-preferring neurons, one-tailed (Methods). Reproduced when that test does not find more contra-preferring neurons (P >= 0.05) and the counts are within tolerance; the fraction contra-preferring is reported.
ed1-no-population-contra-bias
The overall spike count of the recorded population shows no significant contralateral bias (P = 0.13, two-tailed t-test against 0).
Significant contralateral bias also did not appear in the overall spike count across the recorded population of neurons (Extended Data Fig. 1; P 5 0.13, two-tailed t-test against 0)
Results, ALM contains neurons with bilateral selectivity, paragraph 2; Extended Data Fig. 1
How it will be judged
A claim of absence, judged on the paper's two-tailed t-test against 0 at P < 0.05. Per neuron, the spike count difference between lick right and lick left trials. Which neurons and which window are open. Readings, (a) the 912 selective neurons, counts over the sample, delay and response epochs together (the measure of Fig. 2e); (b) all 1,245 putative pyramidal neurons, same window; (c) all 1,408 units, same window, as ED Fig. 1 shows FS and pyramidal neurons. Reproduced when the test is not significant under every reading; not reproduced when it is significant under every reading. The mean difference and P are reported for each.
ed1-fast-spiking-properties
Fast-spiking neurons have higher baseline firing rates and are less selective than putative pyramidal neurons.
Fast-spiking neurons had higher baseline firing rates and were less selective than putative pyramidal neurons (Extended Data Fig. 1).
Methods, Electrophysiology data analyses, paragraph 1; Extended Data Fig. 1b to e
How it will be judged
The paper reports no test and does not define baseline. Baseline readings, (a) the firing rate before sample onset in each trial (the whole pre-sample period), (b) the 0.5 s before sample onset. Selectivity readings, (a) the fraction of neurons significant by the shared selectivity test, (b) the absolute spike rate difference between trial types over the three epochs. Reproduced when the FS mean and median baseline rates exceed the pyramidal ones and FS are less selective under one reading of each; a two-sided rank-sum test is reported as a variant.
tagging-counts
73 neurons were antidromically activated from PT axons and 134 from IT axons; 45 and 27 passed the collision test (PT and IT neurons), 22 and 106 failed it, and 6 and 1 could not be tested and were excluded.
Neurons that passed the collision test were classified as pyramidal tract neurons (45/73) or intratelencephalic neurons (27/134). Neurons that failed the test were classified as pyramidal-tract-activated (22/73) or intratelencephalic-activated (106/134)
Methods, Electrophysiology data analyses, paragraph 3; Results, A movement command emerges in the pyramidal tract neurons, paragraph 1; Extended Data Fig. 5f
How it will be judged
Counts of neurons classified by the collision test. Reproduced when the PT and IT counts are within tolerance; the activated counts are reported, and partially reproduced applies when only those differ.
antidromic-latency-jitter
PT neurons have shorter antidromic latencies than IT neurons (mean 2.7 against 4.6 ms) and both have small jitter (mean s.d. 0.1 and 0.2 ms), smaller than PT-activated (8.3 ms, 2.8 ms) and IT-activated neurons (9.8 ms, 2.4 ms); the mean jitter of tagged neurons is 0.15 ms.
Pyramidal tract neurons and intratelencephalic neurons had shorter mean antidromic spike latencies (pyramidal tract neurons, 2.7 ms; intratelencephalic neurons, 4.6 ms) and smaller temporal jitter (mean s.d. of the antidromic spike latency, pyramidal tract neurons, 0.1 ms; intratelencephalic neurons, 0.2 ms) than the pyramidal-tract-activated (mean latency, 8.3 ms; jitter, 2.8 ms) and intratelencephalic-activated neurons (mean latency, 9.8 ms; jitter, 2.4 ms)
Methods, Electrophysiology data analyses, paragraph 3; Results, A movement command emerges in the pyramidal tract neurons, paragraph 1; Extended Data Fig. 5e
How it will be judged
Latency is from light pulse onset to the antidromic spike; jitter is the s.d. of the latency over pulses, per neuron, averaged over neurons (Methods). Which pulses count is open. Readings, (a) the first pulse of each pair only, (b) both pulses; spontaneous-spike collision trials left out. ED Fig. 5g shows that IT responses to the second pulse have less jitter, so reading (a) is the main one. The rounding of the printed values (one decimal) is wider than 10% for the PT and IT jitter values; their tolerance is 0.05 ms, half the last printed digit, so a value matches when it rounds to the printed value. The 0.15 ms mean is read as the mean over the 72 PT and IT neurons. Reproduced when the PT and IT values match and the PT mean latency is below the IT mean; partially reproduced when only the order and the activated-neuron values hold.
ed5g-it-second-pulse-jitter
After a conditioning pulse, IT neurons respond to a second light pulse 10 ms later with less temporal jitter.
following a conditioning stimulus, the responses of intratelencephalic neurons to a second light pulse (10 ms later) showed less temporal jitter (Extended Data Fig. 5g)
Methods, Electrophysiology data analyses, paragraph 3; Extended Data Fig. 5g
How it will be judged
Per IT neuron, the s.d. of antidromic spike latency to the first and to the second pulse of each pair. The paper reports no test. Reproduced when the mean second-pulse jitter is below the first-pulse jitter and most IT neurons show the decrease; a two-sided Wilcoxon signed-rank test is reported as a variant.
fig3ei-both-types-preparatory-and-movement
Both IT and PT neurons display preparatory and movement-related activity.
Both intratelencephalic and pyramidal tract neurons displayed preparatory and movement-related activity (Fig. 3e, i)
Results, A movement command emerges in the pyramidal tract neurons, paragraph 2; Figure 3e, i
How it will be judged
Categories as in fig2d-response-categories, applied to the selective PT and IT neurons. Reproduced when each of the two populations contains neurons with preparatory selectivity and neurons with peri-movement selectivity; the fractions in the three categories are reported (Fig. 3e reads about 0.18, 0.43 and 0.40 for PT; Fig. 3i about 0.22, 0.56 and 0.22 for IT, preparatory only, both and movement only).
fig3fj-contra-preferring-pt-not-it
Contra-preferring neurons outnumber ipsi-preferring neurons among PT neurons but not among IT neurons.
Contra-preferring neurons outnumbered ipsi-preferring neurons for the pyramidal tract neurons (Fig. 3f; P , 0.05, bootstrap, Methods), but not the intratelencephalic neurons (Fig. 3j, P 5 0.74)
Results, A movement command emerges in the pyramidal tract neurons, paragraph 2; Figure 3f, j insets
How it will be judged
Preference from total spike counts across the three epochs, lick right against lick left (Methods). Bootstrap as in Methods, neurons resampled with replacement, P the fraction of resamples with more ipsi-preferring neurons, one-tailed; 10^4 resamples, the number the behaviour bootstrap uses, as a standard choice. Which neurons enter is open. Readings, (a) all PT (IT) neurons; (b) the selective PT (IT) neurons by the shared test. Reproduced when PT has P < 0.05 and IT has P >= 0.05 under one reading; partially reproduced when only one holds. Fractions contra-preferring are reported (Fig. 3f inset reads about 0.65, Fig. 3j about 0.45).
fig3f-late-contra-selectivity-pt
Robust contralateral selectivity emerges in PT neurons starting 570 ms before the response epoch (34% spike rate modulation, P < 0.05), but not in IT neurons (-19%, P = 0.40) nor in all task-selective neurons (8%, P = 0.13).
Robust contralateral selectivity (the spike count difference for lick right trials and lick left trials) emerged in pyramidal tract neuron responses starting 570 ms before the response epoch (Fig. 3f; 34% spike rate modulation; P , 0.05, two-tailed t-test against 0 in spike counts), but not for intratelencephalic neurons (219% ... spike rate modulation; P 5 0.40) nor for all task-selective neurons (8% spike rate modulation; P 5 0.13)
Results, A movement command emerges in the pyramidal tract neurons, paragraph 2; Results, Pyramidal tract neurons drive upcoming movements, paragraph 1; Figure 3f, j
How it will be judged
Contra-selectivity is the lick right minus lick left firing rate per neuron, averaged over neurons, correct trials (Methods), in 200 ms windows. The onset tolerance is 100 ms, half the 200 ms averaging window, because the onset cannot be placed more finely. Open details, with readings. Which PT and IT neurons are averaged, (a) all of them (Fig. 3f legend, "across all pyramidal tract neurons"), (b) the selective ones (Methods, "averaged across the selective neurons"). How the onset is found, (a) the first time from which the PT population contra-selectivity stays significantly above 0 (two-tailed t-test across neurons, P < 0.05) until the cue, (b) the same without requiring it to stay. The window of the modulation and the t-test, (a) from 570 ms before the cue to the cue, (b) the same window to the end of the response epoch. What the percentage divides by, (a) the mean firing rate over both trial types in the same window, (b) the mean rate before sample onset. Reproduced when, under one combination, the PT t-test is significant and IT and all-selective tests are not, with the onset and the three modulations within tolerance; partially reproduced when the pattern of significance holds but values fall outside tolerance.
reaction-time
The reaction time after go cue onset is 61.1 +/- 10.5 ms across mice (mean +/- s.d.).
reaction time post cue onset across mice: 61.1 6 10.5 ms, mean 6 s.d.
Results, Pyramidal tract neurons drive upcoming movements, paragraph 1
How it will be judged
The tolerance is the paper's stated spread across mice. Reaction time is from go cue onset to the first mouth movement or lick detected by the photodiode and infrared laser diode (Methods, Behaviour). Which trials and mice are open. Readings, (a) correct trials of the electrophysiology mice; (b) all trials with a response after the cue. Per mouse the mean, then mean and s.d. across mice. Reproduced when the mean across mice is within tolerance under one reading.
fig4-imaging-intermingled
In calcium imaging, contra-preferring and ipsi-preferring neurons are found in every field of view and are spatially intermingled; neither the nearest-neighbour probability of shared selectivity (P = 0.34) nor the distance between nearest neurons of the same selectivity (P = 0.61) differs from chance.
The probability that nearby neurons share the same selectivity was not different from randomized data (P 5 0.34, bootstrap, Methods). The distance between nearest neurons with the same selectivity was also not different from chance (P 5 0.61, bootstrap)
Results, A movement command emerges in the pyramidal tract neurons, paragraph 3; Figure 4f; Methods, Calcium imaging data analyses, paragraph 3
How it will be judged
A claim of absence, judged on the paper's bootstrap tests with shuffled response type labels (Methods, Calcium imaging data analyses). Reproduced when neither test gives P < 0.05.
fig4h-imaging-pt-contra-bias
In layer 5 imaging, about a quarter of labelled PT (182 of 534) and IT (174 of 542) neurons are selective; 67% (122 of 182) of selective PT neurons are contra-preferring, more than half, while 48% (83 of 174) of IT neurons are, and PT neurons are more often contra-preferring than IT neurons.
Approximately a quarter of the labelled pyramidal tract (182/534) and intratelencephalic (174/542) neurons were selective (Methods). Consistent with electrophysiological tagging (Fig. 3), we observed more contra-preferring than ipsi-preferring neurons in the pyramidal tract neuron population (67%, 122/182, Fig. 4g, h; P , 0.001, binomial test), but not in the intratelencephalic neurons
Results, A movement command emerges in the pyramidal tract neurons, paragraph 4; Figure 4g, h
How it will be judged
Selective as in Methods, Calcium imaging data analyses (task-related by Kruskal-Wallis across 0.33 s bins at P < 0.01 in contra or ipsi trials, then Wilcoxon rank-sum between trial types at P < 0.05), layer 5 (450 to 700 um). Contra or ipsi preference is from the average calcium signal during the trial epochs (Results, A movement command emerges in the pyramidal tract neurons, paragraph 3); how the epochs are combined is open. Reproduced when the values are within tolerance and the three tests agree with the paper.
imaging-overall-counts
Of 4,706 imaged cells, 58% (2,740) are task-related and 57% of these (1,575) are trial-type selective; 61% (971) of selective cells are contra-preferring.
This criterion identified 58% (2,740/4,706) cells as task related ... 57% (1575/2740) of task related cell are trial-type selective ... Overall, imaging detected a slight majority of contra-preferring neurons (61%, 971/1,575)
Methods, Calcium imaging data analyses, paragraphs 2 and 4
contra-ipsi-selectivity-forms
Contra-preferring neurons include most of the neurons with large spike count differences between trial types, while ipsi-preferring neurons more often express their selectivity through suppression of activity on contra trials.
Contra-preferring neurons include a majority of the neurons with large spike count differences, whereas ipsi-preferring neurons tend to express their selectivity more often through contra-suppression.
Methods, Calcium imaging data analyses, paragraph 4; Extended Data Fig. 1d
How it will be judged
The paper gives no threshold for "large" and no definition of contra-suppression. Per selective putative pyramidal neuron, the absolute spike count difference over the three epochs. Readings for "large", (a) the top quarter, (b) the top tenth of absolute differences. Contra-suppression is read as a firing rate on lick right trials below the rate before sample onset, with the rate on lick left trials not below it. Reproduced when contra-preferring neurons are more than half of the large group under one reading, and ipsi-preferring neurons show contra-suppression more often than contra-preferring neurons show ipsi-suppression (the same rule with trial types swapped).
fig5-pt-activation-contralateral-bias
Subthreshold photostimulation of PT neurons during the delay epoch biases licking to the contralateral side; in left ALM it lowers performance on lick left trials, and in right ALM on lick right trials. Stimulation during the sample epoch also causes a significant contralateral bias.
Subthreshold photostimulation of the pyramidal tract neurons during the delay epoch biased licking to the contralateral direction. Subthreshold stimulation of pyramidal tract neurons in the left ALM produced a rightward bias, resulting in a decrease in performance in the lick left trials and vice versa (Fig. 5) ... Notably, stimulation of pyramidal tract neurons during the sample epoch also caused a significant contralateral bias (Fig. 5b)
Results, Pyramidal tract neurons drive upcoming movements, paragraphs 2 and 3; Figure 5b
How it will be judged
Performance and bootstrap as in fig1d-photoinhibition-ipsilateral-bias; data from subthreshold powers pooled (0.12 to 0.8 mW average power, Fig. 5 legend). Reproduced when the three decreases are significant at P < 0.05; partially reproduced when the delay effects hold and the sample effect does not.
ed6b-pt-dose-response
The behavioural effect of PT neuron activation grows monotonically with laser power.
The effect size was monotonically dependent on laser power (Extended Data Fig. 6b).
Results, Pyramidal tract neurons drive upcoming movements, paragraph 2; Extended Data Fig. 6b
How it will be judged
Delay epoch photostimulation only (ED Fig. 6b legend). Per mouse and in the mean over mice, the performance change on the contralateral-bias trial type at each average power plotted in ED Fig. 6b (0.12, 0.24, 0.8 mW; not every mouse was tested at every power, and only one at 0.8 mW). Reproduced when the mean change grows in magnitude with each step of power; partially reproduced when it grows overall (highest power larger than lowest) with one reversal.
ed6d-it-activation-inconsistent
Subthreshold photostimulation of IT neurons also changes behaviour, but the changes vary across mice and depend non-monotonically on laser intensity.
Subthreshold photostimulation of the intratelencephalic neurons also caused behavioural changes, but these varied across mice and depended non-monotonically on laser intensity
Results, Pyramidal tract neurons drive upcoming movements, paragraph 4; Extended Data Fig. 6d
How it will be judged
Per mouse, delay epoch performance change against average power as in ed6b-pt-dose-response. Reproduced when at least one power gives a performance change outside the 95% band of control resampling (ED Fig. 6 legend) and the sign or the order across powers differs between mice, with at least one mouse non-monotonic.
ed3-high-power-contralateral-licking
High-power unilateral photostimulation of ALM IT or PT neurons triggers contralateral licking with short latencies, also in untrained mice and as premature licks in trained mice, while stimulation of vibrissal motor cortex causes whisker protraction but not licking.
Unilateral photostimulation of ALM intratelencephalic or pyramidal tract neurons ('high' power, 0.8 mW, 2 ms pulses at 20 Hz, Methods) triggered contralateral licking with short latencies (Extended Data Fig. 3e), even in untrained mice (Extended Data Fig. 3f) ... Photostimulating the vibrissal motor cortex (anterior 1 mm, lateral 1 mm) caused whisker protraction but not licking
Results, Pyramidal tract neurons control directional licking, paragraph 2; Extended Data Fig. 3e to g
How it will be judged
Reproduced when, in ALM stimulation trials, licks to the contralateral port outnumber ipsilateral licks during stimulation for both lines, the fraction of stimulation trials with early (premature) licks in trained mice and with licking in untrained mice is above zero at high power, and vM1 stimulation produces no increase in lick rate over baseline (n = 8 trained mice, n = 6 untrained mice, ED Fig. 3e, f legends). The paper gives no test for these; the comparisons are read from ED Fig. 3e, f.
ed3d-non-overlapping-it-pt
Retrograde tracers in the ipsilateral pontine nucleus and contralateral ALM label non-overlapping populations of PT and IT neurons (fewer than 4% doubly labelled, n = 2 mice), intermingled in layer 5B.
Injection of retrograde tracers in the ipsilateral pontine nucleus and the contralateral ALM labelled non-overlapping populations of intratelencephalic neurons and pyramidal tract neurons (Extended Data Fig. 3d) (doubly labelled neurons, ,4%, n 5 2 mice)
Results, Pyramidal tract neurons control directional licking, paragraph 1; Extended Data Fig. 3d
How it will be judged
Reproduced when the fraction of doubly labelled neurons is below 4% (4.4% with the 10% tolerance).
ed7-pt-stimulation-persistent-activity
Subthreshold stimulation of PT neurons during the sample epoch causes changes in ALM activity and a directional bias that persist for seconds after the photostimulus ends.
Simultaneous recordings and optogenetics revealed that subthreshold stimulation of pyramidal tract neurons caused changes in ALM activity and a directional bias that persisted for seconds after cessation of the photostimulus
Results, Pyramidal tract neurons drive upcoming movements, paragraph 3; Extended Data Fig. 7
How it will be judged
Data of ED Fig. 7 (2 mice, 8 sessions, 91 neurons, left ALM, sample epoch stimulation). The paper gives no test for the neural change. Population selectivity as in ED Fig. 7d (preferred minus non-preferred trial type, preference from control trials) on control and photostimulation trials. Readings for "changes in activity", (a) a difference in population selectivity in the delay epoch, after the stimulus ends, between photostimulation and control trials (paired t-test across neurons, P < 0.05); (b) the fraction of neurons whose delay epoch spike counts differ between photostimulation and control trials of the same type (two-tailed t-test, P < 0.05) exceeding 5%, the rate expected by chance at that threshold (an assumption). Reproduced when one reading holds and lick left performance falls with sample stimulation (ED Fig. 7b).

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