Vgat chr2 eyfp mice

We used 42 VGAT-ChR2-EYFP mice (number ID 014548; Jackson Laboratory, Sacramento, CA, USA) and 25 wild-type (WT) littermates, which served as controls. Mice were from both sexes between 8 and 16 weeks old, and they were individually housed in their home cages and maintained in a temperature-controlled (22 ± 1°C) room with 12:12 h light–dark cycle. Unless otherwise mentioned, chow food (PicoLab Rodent Diet 20, MO, USA) and water were available ad libitum. For experiments with water restriction, after each behavioral session, mice were allowed to drink water for 1 h daily. All procedures were performed with the approval of the CINVESTAV Animal Care and Use Committee. One session per day was conducted between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

All experimental procedures were approved by the Harvard Medical School Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and were performed in compliance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Eight male C57BL/6J mice (Jackson Laboratory, Strain No. 000664) and two male C57BL/6J-Tg(Thy1-GCaMP6s)GP4.3Dkim/J mice (Jackson Laboratory, Strain No. 024275) were used for the calcium imaging experiments, and twelve male VGAT-ChR2-EYFP mice (eleven mice from Jackson Laboratory, Strain No. 014548; one mouse with VGAT-IRES-Cre/+; Ai32/+) were used for the optogenetics experiments. Most of the mice were 8-16 weeks old at the start of behavioral training. The mice used for the expanded inhibition of RSC (Fig. 1m, n) tended to be on the upper side of the age range, potentially contributing to their faster running speeds (Supplementary Fig. 2j–o). Mice were housed on a reverse 12 h dark/light cycle and in pairs of littermates. Mouse health was evaluated daily.

For Ca²⁺ imaging of cortical neurons, we used 16 male C57BL/6 mice (Charles River Laboratory) and 3 male Thy1-GCaMP6f-GP5.17 mice (Jackson laboratory; stock no. 025393). For optogenetic silencing experiments, we used 1 male and 3 female VGAT-ChR2-eYFP mice (Jackson laboratory; stock no. 014548). For wide-field Ca²⁺ imaging we used 4 female and 2 male double transgenic mice obtained by crossing Rasgrf2-dCre (Jackson laboratory; stock no. 022864) with Ai148 mice (Jackson laboratory; stock no. 030328), a TIGRE2.0 Cre-dependent GCaMP6f reporter line. For anatomical tracing experiments we used 3 double transgenic male mice generated by crossing PV-Cre (Jackson laboratory; stock no. 017320) with Ai32 mice (Jackson laboratory; stock no. 024109), a Cre-dependent ChR2/EYFP reporter line, to trace proprioceptive afferents and 3 C57BL/6 mice (2 female, Charles River Laboratory) to trace cuneo-thalamic projections. All were 6 to 12 weeks old at the start of the experiments. Mice were housed in an animal facility in groups of maximum five per cage, maintained on a 12 h/12 h light/dark cycle and placed on a water restriction regime of 1 ml/day during experiments. All procedures were approved by and complied with the guidelines of the Fribourg Cantonal Commission for Animal Experimentation.

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II alpha (CaMKIIα) Cre-recombinase mice (CaMKIIα-Cre mice; stock number 005359), vesicular GABA transporter (VGAT) Cre-recombinase mice (VGAT-Cre mice; 016962), VGAT-Channelrhodopsin 2 (ChR2)-enhanced Yellow Fluorescent Protein (eYFP) mice (transgenic VGAT-ChR2-eYFP mice; 014548) were genotyped according to the protocols provided by Jackson Laboratories. The use and care of the mice in accordance with the guidelines of the Animal Advisory Committee of Zhejiang University and the US National Institutes of Health Guidelines for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.