Extended Data Fig. 9: Decoding of trial type in PT neuron types.
From: Distinct descending motor cortex pathways and their roles in movement
a, Accuracy of trial type classification by single neurons in the 400 ms immediately after stimulus onset. 24.6% (15 out of 61) of PTupper neurons predicted trial type with at least 70% accuracy, whereas only 4.4% (3 out of 69) of PTlower neurons did so. Mean accuracy was also significantly higher in PTupper neurons (PTupper: 64.4 ± 1.0%; PTlower: 58.9 ± 0.6%, mean ± s.e.m.; P = 1 × 10−4, two-sided Mann–Whitney test). The ten most discriminative neurons all belonged to the PTupper population. b, Cumulative distribution function of the data in a. c, d, As in a and b but decoding only based on spike rates rectified at baseline. Trial-type selectivity during the sample epoch in PTlower neurons was predominantly characterized by a modest suppression of spiking on one trial type, probably reflecting widespread lateral inhibition. Disregarding spike rate changes below baseline, no PTlower neurons predicted trial type with at least 70% accuracy, whereas the same 24.6% of PTupper neurons continued to do so and accounted for 20 out of 21 of the most predictive neurons (PTupper: 62.7 ± 1.1%; PTlower: 56.7 ± 0.4%, mean ± s.e.m.; P = 9 × 10−7, two-sided Mann–Whitney test). As soon as the trial type is cued by the stimulus, upcoming movement direction is encoded robustly in a subset of PTupper cells and only minimally in PTlower cells.
