{
"papers": [
{
"n": null,
"doi": "10.7554/eLife.58889",
"value": "~14",
"method": "2p holographic optogenetics + 2p Ca imaging",
"metric": "minimum neurons sufficient for perceptual detection",
"n_analyzed": null,
"ci_or_error": "saturates at ~37",
"text_access": "abstract_only",
"n_definition": "L2/3 pyramidal neurons activated per ensemble",
"scope_region": "primary somatosensory cortex (barrel)",
"study_system": "awake mouse barrel cortex",
"taxonomic_level": "broad excitatory cell category",
"scope_population": "L2/3 pyramidal neurons",
"value_source_sentence": "By precisely titrating the number of neurons stimulated, we demonstrate that the lower bound for perception of cortical activity is ~14 pyramidal neurons.",
"experimental_conditions": "all-optical 2p activation + detection task"
},
{
"n": null,
"doi": "10.1016/j.cell.2019.05.045",
"value": "2",
"method": "2p holographic optogenetics + Ca imaging",
"metric": "pattern-completion neurons sufficient to bias visual behavior",
"n_analyzed": null,
"ci_or_error": null,
"text_access": "abstract_only",
"n_definition": "pattern-completion neurons activated to recall an ensemble",
"scope_region": "primary visual cortex",
"study_system": "awake mouse V1",
"taxonomic_level": "fine functional subtype",
"scope_population": "pattern-completion neurons within ensembles",
"value_source_sentence": "activation of only two pattern completion neurons from behaviorally relevant ensembles improved performance, by reliably recalling the whole ensemble.",
"experimental_conditions": "visual go/no-go discrimination"
}
],
"audit_issues": [
{
"dimension": "scope_region",
"description": "S1 barrel cortex (Dalgleish/eLife 58889) vs. V1 (Carrillo-Reid/Cell 2019).",
"entries_affected": [
"10.7554/eLife.58889",
"10.1016/j.cell.2019.05.045"
]
},
{
"dimension": "scope_population",
"description": "Targeting differs: random L2/3 pyramidal neurons (Dalgleish) vs. pre-identified pattern-completion neurons within a behaviourally-relevant ensemble (Carrillo-Reid). Therefore the '~14 vs. 2' difference reflects target-selection sophistication, not a baseline biological threshold.",
"entries_affected": [
"10.7554/eLife.58889",
"10.1016/j.cell.2019.05.045"
]
},
{
"dimension": "metric_definition",
"description": "Dalgleish's '~14' is the minimum count sufficient to drive detection; Carrillo-Reid's '2' is the number of pattern-completion neurons whose activation biases an existing visual discrimination — a different operational definition.",
"entries_affected": [
"10.7554/eLife.58889",
"10.1016/j.cell.2019.05.045"
]
}
],
"audit_verdict": "CAVEAT",
"comparison_id": "perceptual-threshold-cortical-activation",
"comparison_name": "Minimum number of mouse cortical neurons whose holographic activation drives behavior",
"comparison_type": "convergent evidence",
"what_it_reveals": "Small numbers (single-digit to low-tens) of mouse cortical pyramidal neurons are causally sufficient to drive perceptual decisions, with the most extreme number coming from V1 'pattern-completion' neurons whose activation recalls a larger ensemble.",
"homogeneity_check": {
"caveats": [
"Cell 2019 uses V1 'pattern-completion' neurons; eLife 2020 uses randomly targeted L2/3 pyramidal neurons in S1 — the metric is conceptually compared but not directly equivalent (selective vs random targeting).",
"Behavioral tasks differ: visual go/no-go (Cell 2019) vs perceptual detection (eLife 2020)."
],
"n_definition_uniform": "false",
"scope_region_uniform": "false",
"taxonomic_level_uniform": "false",
"scope_population_uniform": "false"
},
"suggested_plot_type": "forest plot",
"mandatory_caption_caveats": [
"The ~14 vs. 2 difference is largely driven by neuron-selection strategy (random L2/3 vs. selected pattern-completion neurons), not by a difference in baseline cortical sensitivity.",
"Tasks differ (perceptual detection vs. visual go/no-go discrimination); cortical areas differ (S1 vs. V1)."
]
}