Fig. 2: The transient response emerges during externally generated gains in whisker contact.

a Surface location, whisker position and the firing rates of two example neurons during external surface movement into rostral or caudal space. The vertical dashed line marks the estimated moment of a gain/loss in whisker contact. b Two example neurons illustrating the two response types in SC neurons: a transient response evoked during external motion and sustained activity from self-generated touch. c Scatter plot comparing the transient and self-generated firing rates of SC neurons (10.4 ± 0.7 spikes/s for transient, 17.7 ±  1 spikes/s for self-generated activity; p = 526, two-sided paired-sample t-test; 10 mice, 529 neurons). d Scatter plot comparing the GoW and LoW modulation of each neuron (10 mice, 529 neurons). e Population-averaged firing rates of 251 neurons whose neural activity was facilitated for GoW and LoW stimulation. f High-speed imaging frames showing two consecutive GoW stimuli. g Population average firing rate of two mice during two consecutive GoW stimuli. All firing rates are binned at 50 ms; all values are mean ± sem. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.