Fig. 5: Auditory input during tactile goal-directed behavior enhances tuft Ca²⁺ activity.

a Schematic of tactile-based goal-directed behavior paradigm. Mice received a water reward if they licked in response to tactile stimulus alone (Tactile-trial; 200 Hz, 500 ms) and paired tactile and auditory stimulus (AudTac-trial). On random trials, mice were also presented with auditory stimulus alone (Auditory-trial; NoGo, 2–50 kHz; 500 ms) which was not rewarded (Correct Rejection, CR) and a time out was given if mice licked (False Alarm, FA). b Example field of view. Ca²⁺ activity from the tuft dendrites of L2/3 pyramidal neurons within the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) was recorded during task performance. Inset, zoom of dendrite from boxed region. c (left) Color heatmap of Ca²⁺ signals from an example tuft dendrite during correct HIT performance in Tactile-trials. (right) Overlay of Ca²⁺ traces during Tactile-trials. Inset, zoom of evoked Ca²⁺ responses. d (left) Color heatmap of Ca²⁺ signals from an example tuft dendrite during correct HIT performance in AudTac-trials. (right) Overlay of Ca²⁺ traces during AudTac-trials. Inset, zoom of evoked Ca²⁺ responses. e Percentage of trials with evoked Ca²⁺ activity during Tactile-trials (black) and AudTac-trials (red). n = 75 dendrites, 6 mice; 39 trials_av; p < 0.0001; p_shuffled = 0.850; two-tailed Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test. f Average peak amplitude of Ca²⁺ responses during AudTac-trials (red) normalized to Tactile-trials (black). n = 58 dendrites, 6 mice; p = 0.0025; two-tailed Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test. Only dendrites with evoked Ca²⁺ transients during both Tactile- and AudTac- trials are included in the analysis. g (left) Color heatmap and (right) overlay of Ca²⁺ signals during Auditory-trials from the example tuft dendrite in (a) and (b). Auditory-trials are not rewarded. Inset, zoom of evoked Ca²⁺ responses. h Average peak amplitude of Ca²⁺ responses during Tactile-trials (black) and Auditory-trials (blue). n = 58 dendrites, 6 mice; p = 0.0025; two-tailed Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test. Error bars represent S.E.M. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ****p < 0.0001.