Reviewer #3 (Public review): Precision cutaneous stimulation in freely moving mice

This important study combines real-time key point tracking with transdermal activation of sensory neurons as a general technique to explore how somatosensory stimulation impacts behavior in freely moving mice.After addressing concerns about classification of the behavioral responses to nociceptor stimulation, the authors now convincingly demonstrate a state-dependence in the behavioral response following nociceptor activation, highlighting how their real-time optogenetic stimulation capabilities can yield new insights into complex sensory processing.This work is a technological advancement that will be of interest to a broad readership, in particular labs studying somatosensation, enabling rigorous investigation of behaviors that were previously difficult or impossible to study.