Fig. 2: MS single neuron firing is correlated with hippocampal tSCs.

a Three example neurons’ average firing rate (left) and theta phase histogram (right) during theta cycles expressing different tSCs. Cosine curves indicate the theta phase; red dashed lines show the preferred phase. b Left, firing rate distribution of MS neurons (n = 198) as a function of tSC presence, relative to the average firing rate over all cycles (red dashed line). Boxes and whiskers show median, interquartile range and non-outlier range. Differences were statistically tested with two-sided repeated measures ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s test for post hoc comparison. Significant differences are indicated by the color-coded matrix in the inset. Right, relative firing rate of MS neurons during tSC1-expressing theta cycles vs. tSC4-expressing cycles. Example neurons from panel a are marked by red arrowheads. c Average theta phase histogram (relative to the preferred phase) of theta-phase-coupled MS neurons’ (n = 181) firing during theta cycles with different tSCs. Error shades show the standard error of the mean. d Phase coupling strength distribution of theta-coupled MS neurons (n = 181) measured by the mean resultant length over cycles expressing a particular tSC, relative to the average coupling strength over all cycles (red dashed line). Boxes and whiskers show median, interquartile range and non-outlier range. Differences were statistically tested with two-sided repeated measures ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s test for post hoc comparison. Significant differences are indicated by the color-coded matrix in the inset. e Phase histogram of differences between the preferred phase of theta-phase-coupled MS neurons in tSC1 and tSC4 cycles. The red line indicates the mean difference. f Intra-burst frequency distribution of theta-coupled MS neurons (n = 181) as a function of tSC expression, relative to the average intra-burst frequency over all cycles (red dashed line). Boxes and whiskers show median, interquartile range and non-outlier range. Differences were statistically tested with two-sided repeated measures ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s test for post hoc comparison. Significant differences are indicated by the color-coded matrix in the inset. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.