Fig. 3: Relationships between the activities of cue-preferring and pull-preferring axons and pull latency.

a–c Trial-averaged calcium traces of all axons (a), cue-preferring axons (b), and pull-preferring axons (c) aligned to the cue onset (left) and lever-pull onset (right). The corresponding trial-averaged lever trajectories are also shown. For each session, trials were divided into three groups according to the pull latency (green, 700–1000 ms; blue, 1000–1300 ms; purple, 1300–1600 ms). Shading indicates ± SEM. n = 42 (a), 34 (b), and 41 (c). d Cue, cue_+0.5s, pull_–0.3s, and pull activities. Trials were divided into three groups according to the pull latency (700–1000 ms, green; 1000–1300 ms, blue; 1300–1600 ms, purple). The mean ± SEM are also shown. n = 34 (left) and 41 (right). For each type of activity, the activity was compared using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Bonferroni correction (α = 0.0167), two-sided. **P = 3.40 × 10^–4 (n = 41 sessions). e Cue, pull_–0.3s, and pull activities in four groups of trials with different pull latencies (cyan, 500–1000 ms; magenta, 1000–1710 ms; dark gray, 2000–3000 ms) and without pulling (light gray). The mean ± SEM are also shown. Sessions with at least one of each of the four types of trials were used (n = 18 for cue-preferring axons and n = 23 for pull-preferring axons). For each type of activity, the activity was compared between the groups of trials using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Bonferroni correction (α = 0.00833 for cue-preferring axons and 0.0167 for pull-preferring axons), two-sided. Cue activity, *P = 0.00285 and **P = 0.00159. Pull activity, *P = 0.00350 and **P = 0.00192. f Schematic of the time courses of the combined activity of cue-preferring and pull-preferring axons in five groups of trials with different pull latencies (green, 700–1000 ms; blue, 1000–1300 ms; purple, 1300–1600 ms; dark gray, 2000–3000 ms) and with no pulling (light gray). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.