diff --git a/figures/Schmidt2018_dyn/Fig3_ground_state_chi1.py b/figures/Schmidt2018_dyn/Fig3_ground_state_chi1.py
index 9fc559ac510da94b154b8fea2e53133bcd25a74f..857e82da9e04d482f33247e8ee7ea55327061ec8 100644
--- a/figures/Schmidt2018_dyn/Fig3_ground_state_chi1.py
+++ b/figures/Schmidt2018_dyn/Fig3_ground_state_chi1.py
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ with open(fn, 'r') as f:
 
 # time series of firing rates
 rate_time_series = {}
-for area in M.area_list:
+for area in areas:
     fn = os.path.join(data_path, label,
                       'Analysis',
                       'rate_time_series_full',
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ for area in M.area_list:
 
 # time series of firing rates convolved with a kernel
 rate_time_series_auto_kernel = {}
-for area in M.area_list:
+for area in areas:
     fn = os.path.join(data_path, label,
                       'Analysis',
                       'rate_time_series_auto_kernel',
diff --git a/figures/Schmidt2018_dyn/Fig5_ground_state.py b/figures/Schmidt2018_dyn/Fig5_ground_state.py
index 66c0425c2be1a1cdf9a4069c919dbb59d1532aed..066dc552e87743b80c7e7e615175539cd2173e35 100644
--- a/figures/Schmidt2018_dyn/Fig5_ground_state.py
+++ b/figures/Schmidt2018_dyn/Fig5_ground_state.py
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ with open(fn, 'r') as f:
 
 # time series of firing rates
 rate_time_series = {}
-for area in M.area_list:
+for area in areas:
     fn = os.path.join(data_path, label,
                       'Analysis',
                       'rate_time_series_full',
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ for area in M.area_list:
 
 # time series of firing rates convolved with a kernel
 rate_time_series_auto_kernel = {}
-for area in M.area_list:
+for area in areas:
     fn = os.path.join(data_path, label,
                       'Analysis',
                       'rate_time_series_auto_kernel',
diff --git a/figures/Schmidt2018_dyn/Snakefile b/figures/Schmidt2018_dyn/Snakefile
index dd1b187b2e1658ef0263ae93a7c1eae02dc9ef95..66728bc1815e206217408e238473a029a4df208b 100644
--- a/figures/Schmidt2018_dyn/Snakefile
+++ b/figures/Schmidt2018_dyn/Snakefile
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ rule Fig3_ground_state_chi1:
         expand(os.path.join(DATA_DIR, SIM_LABELS['Fig3'], 'recordings', '-'.join((SIM_LABELS['Fig3'], 'spikes-{area}-{pop}.npy'))),
                area=['V1', 'V2', 'FEF'], pop=population_list),
         expand(os.path.join(DATA_DIR, SIM_LABELS['Fig3'], 'Analysis', 'rate_time_series_full', 'rate_time_series_full_{area}.npy'),
-               area=area_list),
-        expand(os.path.join(DATA_DIR, SIM_LABELS['Fig3'], 'Analysis', 'rate_time_series_auto_kernel', 'rate_time_series_auto_kernel_{area}.npy'), area=area_list),
+               area=['V1', 'V2', 'FEF']),
+        expand(os.path.join(DATA_DIR, SIM_LABELS['Fig3'], 'Analysis', 'rate_time_series_auto_kernel', 'rate_time_series_auto_kernel_{area}.npy'), area=['V1', 'V2', 'FEF']),
     output:
         'Fig3_ground_state_chi1.eps'
     shell:
@@ -128,8 +128,8 @@ rule Fig5_ground_state:
         expand(os.path.join(DATA_DIR, SIM_LABELS['Fig5'][0], 'recordings', '-'.join((SIM_LABELS['Fig5'][0], 'spikes-{area}-{pop}.npy'))),
                area=['V1', 'V2', 'FEF'], pop=population_list),
         expand(os.path.join(DATA_DIR, SIM_LABELS['Fig5'][1], 'Analysis', 'rate_time_series_full', 'rate_time_series_full_{area}.npy'),
-               area=area_list),
-        expand(os.path.join(DATA_DIR, SIM_LABELS['Fig5'][1], 'Analysis', 'rate_time_series_auto_kernel', 'rate_time_series_auto_kernel_{area}.npy'), area=area_list),
+               area=['V1', 'V2', 'FEF']),
+        expand(os.path.join(DATA_DIR, SIM_LABELS['Fig5'][1], 'Analysis', 'rate_time_series_auto_kernel', 'rate_time_series_auto_kernel_{area}.npy'), area=['V1', 'V2', 'FEF']),
     output:
         'Fig5_ground_state.eps'
     shell: