Neuroscience

Trial-level Representational Similarity Analysis

1. Shenyang Huang
2. Cortney M Howard
3. Paul C Bogdan
4. Ricardo Morales-Torres
5. Matthew Slayton
6. Roberto Cabeza
7. Simon W Davis

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study proposes a potentially useful improvement on a popular fMRI method for quantifying representational similarity in brain measurements by focusing on representational strength at the single trial level and adding linear mixed effects modeling for group-level inference. The manuscript provides solid evidence of increased sensitivity with no loss of precision compared to more classic versions of the method. However, several assumptions are insufficiently motivated, and it is unclear to what extent the approach would generalize to other paradigms.

Reviewed by eLife

Characterisation of cold-selective lamina I spinal projection neurons

1. Aimi N Razlan
2. Wenhui Ma
3. Allen C Dickie
4. Erika Polgár
5. Anna McFarlane
6. Mansi Yadav
7. Andrew H Cooper
8. Douglas Strathdee
9. Masahiko Watanabe
10. Andrew M Bell
11. Andrew J Todd
12. Junichi Hachisuka

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study offers valuable insights into the anatomical and physiological features of cold-selective lamina I spinal projection neurons. The evidence supporting the authors' claims is convincing, although including a larger sample size and more quantification would have strengthened the study, and the claims of monosynaptic connectivity would benefit from being stated more cautiously. The work will interest those in the field of somatosensory biology, especially researchers studying spinal cord dorsal horn circuits and projection neuron cell types.

Reviewed by eLife

Decision-making components and times revealed by the single-trial electro-encephalogram

1. Gabriel Weindel
2. Jelmer P Borst
3. Leendert van Maanen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Weindel et al examine behavioural and EEG data in an innovative contrast comparison paradigm where they vary mean contrast widely while keeping contrast difference constant. As intended, this allowed an elegant decomposition of processing stages: while sensory encoding shortened with increasing contrast in keeping with Pieron's law, the period of decision formation lengthened, in keeping with Fechner's law, which was applied to drift rates in a diffusion model of that period. This is an important demonstration of how these two laws apply in concert, to two distinct processing levels, and the multivariate topography parsing, mixed effect models and diffusion models are convincing.

Reviewed by eLife

cxcl18b-defined transitional state-specific nitric oxide drives injury-induced Müller glia cell-cycle re-entry in the zebrafish retina

1. Aojun Ye
2. Shuguang Yu
3. Meng Du
4. Dongming Zhou
5. Jie He
6. Chang Chen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Following retinal injury, zebrafish Müller glia reenter the cell cycle and generate replacement cells; this potentially valuable study proposes that injury induces a cxcl18b+ transitional state in Müller cells, which then express nitric oxide, inhibiting Notch signaling and allowing Müller glial cells to reenter the cell cycle. However, the evidence supporting the claims is incomplete, and the authors have made interpretations and conclusions that are not supported by the data. Questions of the temporal expression and function of cxcl18b, as well as the source of potential inflammatory cues before cxcl18b expression, remain unanswered and technical limitations and data inconsistencies raise concerns. Using larval animals complicates the analysis since the retina is still forming, and distinguishing between injury-induced regeneration and ongoing development is complex. With more rigorous testing of the signaling pathways proposed and a clear demonstration of their interdependence, the link between nitric oxide signaling and Notch activity, particularly, would interest those investigating retinal regeneration.

Reviewed by eLife

DANCE: An open-source analysis pipeline and low-cost hardware to quantify aggression and courtship in Drosophila

1. R Sai Prathap Yadav
2. Paulami Dey
3. Faizah Ansari
4. Tanvi Kottat
5. P Pallavi Prabhu
6. Manohar Vasam
7. Shrinivas Ayyangar
8. Bhaskar S Swathi
9. Krishnananda Prabhu
10. Monalisa Ghosh
11. Pavan Agrawal

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents a valuable open-source and cost-effective method for automating the quantification of male aggression and courtship in Drosophila melanogaster. The work as presented provides solid evidence that the use of the behavioral setup that the authors designed - using readily available laboratory equipment and standardised high-performing classifiers they developed using existing software packages - accurately and reliably characterises social behavior in Drosophila. The work will be of interest to Drosophila neurobiologists and particularly to those working on male social behaviors.

Reviewed by eLife

Continuous flashing suppression of V1 responses and the perceptual consequences revealed via two-photon calcium imaging and transformer modeling

1. Cai-Xia Chen
2. Xin Wang
3. Dan-Qing Jiang
4. Shi-Ming Tang
5. Cong Yu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study shows that orientation tuning of V1 neurons is suppressed during a continuous flash suppression paradigm, especially when the neurons have a binocular receptive field. However, the evidence presented is incomplete and, in particular, does not distinguish whether this suppression is due to reduced contrast or due to masking.

Reviewed by eLife

In-situ glial cell-surface proteomics identifies pro-longevity factors in Drosophila

1. Madeline P. Marques
2. Bo Sun
3. Ye-Jin Park
4. Tyler Jackson
5. Tzu-Chiao Lu
6. Yanyan Qi
7. Erin Harrison
8. Miranda C. Wang
9. Kartik Venkatachalam
10. Omar Moussa Pasha
11. Amogh Varanasi
12. Dominique Kiki Carey
13. D.R. Mani
14. Jonathan Zirin
15. Mujeeb Qadiri
16. Yanhui Hu
17. Norbert Perrimon
18. Steven A. Carr
19. Namrata D. Udeshi
20. Liqun Luo
21. Jiefu Li
22. Hongjie Li

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Combining state-of-the-art in-situ cell-surface proteomics, functional genetic screening, and single-nucleus RNA sequencing, this fundamental work substantially advances our understanding of glial contributions to organismal lifespan. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling, although additional clarification, control experiments, and analysis would further strengthen the study. The work will be of broad interest to researchers studying aging biology, glia-neuron communication, and in vivo proteomic profiling.

Reviewed by eLife

Protein Synthesis Blockade Prevents Fear Memory Reactivation via Inhibition of Engram Synapse Strengthening

1. Ilgang Hong
2. Yeonjun Kim
3. Hyunsu Jung
4. Chang-Ho Kim
5. Jun-Hyeong Cho
6. Bong-Kiun Kaang

Reviewed by PREreview

Hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy improves outcomes in a clinically relevant mouse model of multiple sulfatase deficiency

1. Vi Pham
2. Lucas Tricoli
3. Xinying Hong
4. Parith Wongkittichote
5. Carlo Castruccio Castracani
6. Amaliris Guerra
7. Lars Schlotawa
8. Laura A. Adang
9. Amanda Kuhs
10. Margaret M. Cassidy
11. Owen Kane
12. Emily Tsai
13. Maximiliano Presa
14. Cathleen Lutz
15. Stefano B. Rivella
16. Rebecca C. Ahrens-Nicklas

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Causal evidence for a domain-specific role of left superior frontal sulcus in human perceptual decision making

1. Miguel Barretto García
2. Marcus Grueschow
3. Marius Moisa
4. Rafael Polania
5. Christian C Ruff

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this important paper, Garcia et al seek to determine whether the superior frontal sulcus (SFS), an area previously implicated in evidence accumulation for perceptual decisions, plays a causal role in perceptual and/or value-based decisions. Through a combination of careful paradigm design, computational modelling, transcranial magnetic stimulation and fMRI analyses, the authors provide convincing evidence that the SFS supports perceptual but not value-based decisions and that its disruption leads to a lowering of decision boundaries.

Reviewed by eLife