Animal Behavior and Cognition

Presynaptic Rac1 in the hippocampus selectively regulates working memory

1. Jaebin Kim
2. Edwin Bustamante
3. Peter Sotonyi
4. Nicholas Maxwell
5. Pooja Parameswaran
6. Julie K Kent
7. William C Wetsel
8. Erik J Soderblom
9. Bence Rácz
10. Scott H Soderling

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The paper characterized a specific defect in the spatial working memory of mice with a deficit in a protein called Rac1. Rac1 inhibition was limited to the presynaptic compartment of neurons, which is significant because past work has inhibited both pre- and postsynaptic compartments. The study also identified potential effectors of Rac1. The work is important for these reasons, and the strength of the evidence is exceptional.

Reviewed by eLife

Mechanism of barotaxis in marine zooplankton

1. Luis Alberto Bezares Calderón
2. Réza Shahidi
3. Gáspár Jékely

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This fundamental study addresses the question of how certain zooplankton achieve barotaxis, directed locomotion in response to changes in hydraulic pressure. The authors provide compelling evidence that the response involves ciliary photoreceptors interacting with motoneurons. This work should be of broad interest to scientists working on mechanosensation, cilia, locomotion, and photoreceptors.

Reviewed by eLife

Stochastic characterization of navigation strategies in an automated variant of the Barnes maze

1. Ju-Young Lee
2. Dahee Jung
3. Sebastien Royer

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents a valuable new behavioral apparatus aimed at differentiating the strategies animals use to orient themselves in an environment. The evidence supporting the claims is solid, with statistical modeling of animal behavior. Overall, this study will attract the interest of researchers exploring spatial learning and memory.

Reviewed by eLife

The evolution of olfactory sensitivity, preferences, and behavioral responses in Mexican cavefish is influenced by fish personality

1. Maryline Blin
2. Louis Valay
3. Manon Kuratko
4. Marie Pavie
5. Sylvie Rétaux

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this important paper, Blin and colleagues develop a high-throughput behavioral assay to test spontaneous swimming and olfactory preference in individual Mexican cavefish larvae. The authors present compelling evidence that the surface and cave morphs of the fish show different olfactory preferences and odor sensitivities and that individual fish show substantial variability in their spontaneous activity that is relevant for olfactory behaviour. The paper will be of interest to neurobiologists working on the evolution of behaviour, olfaction, and the individuality of behaviour.

Reviewed by eLife

DIETS: a simple and sensitive assay to measure and control the intake of complex solid foods, like high-fat diets, in Drosophila

1. Manikrao R. Thakare
2. Prerana Choudhary
3. Bhavna Pydah
4. Suhas Sunke
5. R Sai Prathap Yadav
6. Pavan Agrawal
7. Gaurav Das

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment:

  This work describes an easily implemented method for measuring solid food intake in Drosophila, which is necessary for studying the consumption of experimentally challenging diets, such as high-fat foods, as well as their nutritional impacts on the organism. It is a valuable technical contribution with solid evidence supporting the conclusions, filling a significant gap in the field.

Reviewed by eLife

Development of equation of motion deciphering locomotion including omega turns of Caenorhabditis elegans

1. Taegon Chung
2. Iksoo Chang
3. Sangyeol Kim

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This useful study introduces a simple mechanical model of C. elegans locomotion that captures aspects of the worm's behavioral repertoire beyond forward crawling. While the kinetic model (ElegansBot) provides a compromise and starting point to help understand the mechanical components of C. elegans behavior, the claim that this work improves on extant mechanical models is incomplete, including modeling a 3-dimensional turning behavior with a 2-dimensional model without sufficient justification. In addition, the results of the application of the model to previously unstudied behaviors are primarily qualitative and do not produce new predictions.

Reviewed by eLife

Behavioral sequences across multiple animal species in the wild share common structural features

1. Pranav Minasandra
2. Emily M Grout
3. Katrina Brock
4. Margaret C Crofoot
5. Vlad Demartsev
6. Andrew S Gersick
7. Ben T Hirsch
8. Kay E Holekamp
9. Lily Johnson-Ulrich
10. Amlan Nayak
11. Josué Ortega
12. Marie A Roch
13. Eli D Strauss
14. Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

The archerfish uses motor adaptation in shooting to correct for changing physical conditions

1. Svetlana Volotsky
2. Opher Donchin
3. Ronen Segev

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study showed convincing evidence that archerfishes can adapt their shooting behaviors to airflow perturbations. The fish also exhibits adaptive behaviors indicative of an egocentric representation of the perturbation, though direct evidence is missing. Hence, this work will be of interest to those interested in cross-species comparisons for motor learning.

Reviewed by eLife

Risk-sensitive learning is a winning strategy for leading an urban invasion

1. Alexis J Breen
2. Dominik Deffner

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study uses a multi-pronged empirical and theoretical approach to advance our understanding of animal cognition. It presents convincing data on how differences in learning relate to differences in the ways that male versus female animals cope with urban environments, and more generally how reversal learning may benefit animals in urban habitats.

Reviewed by eLife

Optogenetic stimulation of the locus coeruleus enhances appetitive extinction in rats

1. Simon Lui
2. Ashleigh K Brink
3. Laura H Corbit

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this important study, Lui and colleagues examine whether the locus coeruleus is involved in extinction of an appetitive conditioned response. Using a set of optogenetic approaches aimed at manipulating the activity of locus coeruleus cells, the authors provide solid evidence that these neurons regulate the extinction of conditioned responses. Overall this study further highlights the key role of noradrenaline in cognitive processes and will be of interest to those interested in associative learning, extinction, noradrenaline, associated brain systems and translational endpoints.

Reviewed by eLife