Extended Data Fig. 6. Dispersed populations of cells are modulated by working memory.

a, A schematic for generating the null distribution of trial-averaged delay period activity in the Discrimination and WM tasks. The task labels of all trials (top row) were shifted halfway through to the next task block (bottom row), such that the shifted identities maintained the temporal structure of the blocked task design but abolished the task-related changes in activity. b, Deconvolved and delay-averaged single-cell activities of all active cells from area AM (n = 5,168 pooled from 7 mice), split by task. Solid lines encompass 95% of the cells in different delay activity bins (binned into 20 equal portions of cells). Shaded regions encompass a similar 95% of cells but with their activities calculated with the shifted task labels. c, Same as in b, for area M2 (n = 3,794 cells from 7 mice). d–e, Same as in a–c, but contrasting the average delay activity in the WM task following a left leaning cue A or right leaning cue B stimulus.