Fig. 4: Syngap1 expression within cortical excitatory neurons promotes tactile sensitivity and perceptual learning.

a Mouse line probing the impact of Syngap1^+/- restricted to cortical excitatory neurons (EMX1-Syngap1-OFF); cortical excitatory neuron rescue of Syngap1^+/- (EMX1-Syngap1-ON) - all other cells in brain and body remain heterozygous for this gene. Single whisker dynamics in free air (b - superimposition of 40 frames,scale bar = 5 mm). Quantification of whisker setpoint (c), amplitude (d) and velocity (e) during the protraction (prot.) and retraction (ret.) whisking phase during a 30 second recording for EMX1-Syngap1-OFF (wt, n = 19 and +/fl, n = 17) and EMX1-Syngap1-ON (wt, n = 19 and +/fl, n = 20). Active touch dynamics of a single whisker (f - superimposition of 40 frames,scale bar = 5 mm) for the first 30 seconds of pole presentation. Quantification of area under the curve (AUC) for whisker curvature (g), average touch duration (h) and the total number of peak protraction detected for each individual touch event (i) and their respective animal average (j). Modulation of Syngap1 expression in cortical excitatory neuron population in tactile sensitivity assays. WDIL performed with a medium stimulus intensity (~650 °/s). Fraction of total trials correct in EMX1-Syngap1-OFF (k) and EMX1-Syngap1-ON (l). m Hit rate for EMX1-Syngap1-ON animals that reached criteria and underwent the reduced stimulation phase of the WDIL. Mixed-effects model and Two-way RM ANOVA were used (k, m). n Discrimination index during the testing phase of the NOR-T for objects with 10 grooves spacing difference in EMX1-Syngap1-ON line. Mice with at least 10 sec of cumulative object exploration in the NOR-T were included in the analysis. Shaded areas and Error bars represent the standard error of the mean (S.E.M.) and number of animals for wildtype (wt, n = 17) and Syngap1^+/- (+/−, n = 19) is also indicated in white within the bar graph and/or in parentheses. All statistical tests were 2-sided. P-value are indicated as n.s.: p > 0.05, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. Detailed statistics are provided in Supplementary Table4. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.