Animal Behavior and Cognition

Female Moths Incorporate Plant Acoustic Emissions into Their Oviposition Decision-Making Process

1. Rya Seltzer
2. Guy Zer Eshel
3. Omer Yinon
4. Ahmed Afani
5. Ofri Eitan
6. Sabina Matveev
7. Galina Levedev
8. Michael Davidovitz
9. Tal Ben Tov
10. Gayl Sharabi
11. Yuval Shapira
12. Neta Shvil
13. Ireen Atallah
14. Sahar Hadad
15. Dana Ment
16. Lilach Hadany
17. Yossi Yovel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study reveals that female moths utilize ultrasonic sounds emitted by dehydrated plants to inform their oviposition decisions, highlighting sound as a potential sensory cue for optimal host plant selection. By investigating this novel acoustic interaction, the research adds an important piece to our understanding of plant-insect interactions. While the authors employed an overall solid experimental approach, weaknesses include the lack of raw data and individual data point visualization, inconsistencies in moth responses to sound cues with and without plants, and the use of a click frequency higher than what plants typically produce, which may limit the ecological applicability and broader generalization of the findings.

Reviewed by eLife

Projections from thalamic nucleus reuniens to hippocampal CA1 area participate in context fear extinction by affecting extinction-induced molecular remodeling of excitatory synapses

1. Magdalena Ziółkowska
2. Narges Sotoudeh
3. Anna Cały
4. Monika Puchalska
5. Roberto Pagano
6. Malgorzata Alicja Śliwińska
7. Ahmad Salamian
8. Kasia Radwanska

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This work provides important findings characterizing potential synaptic mechanisms supporting the role of midline thalamus-hippocampal projections in fear memory extinction in mice. The methods and approaches were considered solid, though some evidence is incomplete as there are some concerns with the analytical approaches used for some aspects of the study. This work will be of interest to those in the field of thalamic regulation and fear memory.

Reviewed by eLife

Vasopressin 1a receptor antagonist disrupts male-male affiliative relationships formed by triadic cohabitation in large-billed crows

1. Akiko Seguchi
2. Ei-Ichi Izawa

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study investigates the role of vasopressin in modulating same-sex affiliative relationships in the context of linear dominance hierarchies. It provides convincing evidence that vasopressin signaling is involved in modulating aspects of affiliative behavior, although the evidence that affiliative relationships specifically arise from the triadic interaction study design is incomplete. Nevertheless, its focus on broadening the types of social relationships and species studied in this area makes it of interest to both neuroendocrinologists and colleagues studying the evolution and mechanisms underlying social affiliation.

Reviewed by eLife

High-throughput unsupervised quantification of patterns in the natural behavior of marmosets

1. William Menegas
2. Erin Corbett
3. Kimberly Beliard
4. Haoran Xu
5. Shivangi Parmar
6. Robert Desimone
7. Guoping Feng

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study demonstrates the ability for high-throughput recording and categorization of unconstrained and stimulus-based behaviors across a very large population of marmosets (n = 120 animals across 36 family units). The authors implement an analytical approach to identify "outlier" behavior that could be key in the development of next-generation precision psychiatry. While the strength of evidence appears solid overall, many key methodological details are incomplete.

Reviewed by eLife

Intra- and interspecific variations in flight performance of oak-associated Agrilinae (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) using computerised flight mills

1. Elodie Le Souchu
2. Aurélien Sallé
3. Stéphanie Bankhead-Dronnet
4. Mathieu Laparie
5. Daniel Sauvard

Reviewed by Peer Community In Zoology

High-throughput tracking enables systematic phenotyping and drug repurposing in C. elegans disease models

1. Thomas J O'Brien
2. Ida L Barlow
3. Luigi Feriani
4. André EX Brown

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study provides proof of principle that C. elegans models can be used to accelerate the discovery of candidate treatments for human Mendelian diseases by detailed high-throughput phenotyping of strains harboring mutations in orthologs of human disease genes. The data are compelling and support an approach that enables the potential rapid repurposing of FDA-approved drugs to treat rare diseases for which there are currently no effective treatments. The work will be of interest to all geneticists.

Reviewed by eLife, Arcadia Science

Hippocampal neuroinflammation causes sex-specific disruptions in action selection, food approach memories, and neuronal activation

1. Kiruthika Ganesan
2. Sahar Ghorbanpour
3. William Kendall
4. Sarah Thomas Broome
5. Joanne M. Gladding
6. Amolika Dhungana
7. Arvie Rodriguez Abiero
8. Maedeh Mahmoudi
9. Alessandro Castorina
10. Michael D. Kendig
11. Serena Becchi
12. Veronika Valova
13. Louise Cole
14. Laura A. Bradfield

Reviewed by preLights

Information, certainty, and learning

1. Justin A. Harris
2. C. R. Gallistel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important paper shows that the acquisition and expression of Pavlovian conditioned responding are lawfully related to temporal characteristics of an animal's conditioning experience. It showcases a rigorous experimental design, several different approaches to data analysis, careful consideration of prior literature, and a thorough introduction. The evidence supporting the conclusions is strong and convincing. The paper will have a general appeal to those interested in the behavioral and neural analysis of Pavlovian conditioning.

Reviewed by eLife

Why the brown ghost chirps at night

1. Livio Oboti
2. Federico Pedraja
3. Marie Ritter
4. Marlena Lohse
5. Lennart Klette
6. Rüdiger Krahe

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study addresses a significant question in sensory ethology and active sensing in particular. It links the production of a specific signal - electrosensory chirps - to various contexts and conditions to propose that chirps may also serve an active sensing role in addition to their more well-known role in communication. The evidence supporting the role for active sensing is strong. In particular, the evidence showing increased chirping in more cluttered environments and the relationship between chirping and movement are convincing. The study provides a lot of valuable data, and is likely to stimulate follow-up behavioral and physiological studies.

Reviewed by eLife

Learning and cognition in highspeed decision making

1. Martin Krause
2. Wolfram Schulze
3. Stefan Schuster

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study investigates prey capture by archer fish, showing that even though the visuomotor behavior unfolds very rapidly (within 40-70 ms), it is not hardwired; it can adapt to different simulated physics and different prey shapes. Although there was agreement that the model system, experimental design, and main hypothesis are certainly interesting, opinions were divided on whether the evidence supporting the central claims is incomplete. A more rigorous definition and assessment of "reflex speed", more detailed evidence of stimulus control, and a more detailed analysis of individual subjects could potentially increase confidence in the main conclusions.

Reviewed by eLife