Statistical analyses of behavior

Operant behavioral data saved by MEDPC IV was transferred to Excel using MPC2XL. Data were organized in MATLAB and analyzed in Prism (V8.3.0, GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA). Differences between groups and interactions across days for Training were evaluated using Two-Way Repeated Measures ANOVAs. We computed the required sample size for a 90% power level with an alpha of 0.05 by estimating the control (EYFP) group mean would be 10 rewards and the mean experimental (ChR2) group would be 20 rewards with a standard deviation of 5. We utilized a power calculator for continuous outcomes of two independent samples, assuming a normal distribution. The result was six samples per group. Each manipulation experiment started with at least six mice included in each group (Sealed Envelope, 2020). In each experiment, each animal within a group served as a biological replicate. These studies did not include technical replicates. Masking was not applied during data acquisition but data analyses were semi-automated in MATLAB and performed blind to condition.