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Abstract During perceptually guided decisions, correlates of choice are found as upstream as in the primary sensory areas. However, how well these choice signals align with early sensory representations, a prerequisite for their interpretation as feedforward substrates of perception, remains an open question. We designed a two alternative forced choice task (2AFC) in which male mice compared stimulation frequencies applied to two adjacent vibrissae. The optogenetic silencing of individual columns in the primary somatosensory cortex (wS1) resulted in predicted shifts of psychometric functions, demonstrating that perception depends on focal, early sensory representations. Functional imaging of layer II/III single neurons revealed mixed coding of stimuli, choices and engagement in the task. Neurons with multi-whisker suppression display improved sensory discrimination and had their activity increased during engagement in the task, enhancing selectively representation of the signals relevant to solving the task. From trial to trial, representation of stimuli and choice varied substantially, but mostly orthogonally to each other, suggesting that perceptual variability does not originate from wS1 fluctuations but rather from downstream areas. Together, our results highlight the role of primary sensory areas in forming a reliable sensory substrate that could be used for flexible downstream decision processes.

National unworthiness (“indignité nationale”) was first introduced into French Law in an ordinance passed on August 26, 1944 and applied to any French national convicted of collaborating with Germany or having a behaviour detrimental to national unity. It carries a sentence called national stripping of rank (“degradation nationale”) that was largely handed down after the liberation. The terrorist attack committed on January 7, 2015 re-emphasised this penal provision. However, legal and political considerations lead to the conviction that the sentence of national stripping of rank would be both unnecessary and inefficient against the terrorist threat the country faces today.