Neuroscience

Astrocytes mediate two forms of spike timing-dependent depression at entorhinal cortex-hippocampal synapses

1. Irene Martínez-Gallego
2. Heriberto Coatl-Cuaya
3. Antonio Rodriguez-Moreno

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study reports the existence of specific spike-timing dependent synaptic plasticity processes at two excitatory synapses of the dentate gyrus granule cells. These synapses link the entorhinal cortex and the dentate gyrus but via different circuits. With state-of-the-art patch-clamp electrophysiological analysis, the authors provide convincing information on the molecular mechanisms underlying these 2 forms of synaptic plasticity showing a critical role for astrocytes in both alongside some features distinctive to each pathway. These results will be of interest to neuroscientists as they uncover detailed plasticity mechanisms involving the hippocampus.

Reviewed by eLife

Spatial frequency channels mediate a mental ruler for spatial vision in humans

1. Shijia Zhang
2. Ce Mo
3. Lei Mo
4. Fang Fang

Reviewed by PREreview

Basolateral amygdala oscillations enable fear learning in a biophysical model

1. Anna Cattani
2. Don B Arnold
3. Michelle McCarthy
4. Nancy Kopell

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable modeling study explores how biophysical properties of different interneuron subtypes in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) enable production of oscillations that facilitate functions such as spike-timing-dependent plasticity. Simulated networks provide solid evidence that highlights the importance of interactions between interneurons for some forms of spike-timing dependent plasticity. This work will likely be of interest to investigators studying interactions among interneurons, rhythms in the amygdala, and mechanisms of plasticity thought to underlie associative learning.

Reviewed by eLife

Targeting resident astrocytes attenuates neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury

1. Qing Zhao
2. Yanjing Zhu
3. Yilong Ren
4. Lijuan Zhao
5. Jingwei Zhao
6. Shuai Yin
7. Haofei Ni
8. Rongrong Zhu
9. Liming Cheng
10. Ning Xie

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study demonstrated that ablation of astrocytes in the lumbar spinal cord not only reduced neuropathic pain but also caused microglia activation. The findings presented add considerable value to the current understanding of the role of astrocyte elimination in neuropathic pain, offering convincing evidence that supports existing hypotheses and insights into the interactions between astrocytes and microglial cells, likely through IFN-mediated mechanisms

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A peptide-neurotensin conjugate that crosses the blood-brain barrier induces pharmacological hypothermia associated with anticonvulsant, neuroprotective, and anti-inflammatory properties following status epilepticus in mice

1. Lotfi Ferhat
2. Rabia Soussi
3. Maxime Masse
4. Grigorios Kyriatzis
5. Stéphane Girard
6. Fanny Gassiot
7. Nicolas Gaudin
8. Mathieu Laurencin
9. Anne Bernard
10. Angélique Bôle
11. Géraldine Ferracci
12. Maria Smirnova
13. François Roman
14. Vincent Dive
15. Salvatore Cisternino
16. Jamal Temsamani
17. Marion David
18. Pascaline Lécorché
19. Guillaume Jacquot
20. Michel Khrestchatisky

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors developed a method to allow a hypothermic agent, neurotensin, to cross the blood-brain barrier so it could potentially protect the brain from seizures and the adverse effects of seizures. The work is important because it is known that cooling the brain can protect it but developing a therapeutic approach based on that knowledge has not been done. The paper is well presented and the data are convincing.

Reviewed by eLife

The NeuroML ecosystem for standardized multi-scale modeling in neuroscience

1. Ankur Sinha
2. Padraig Gleeson
3. Bóris Marin
4. Salvador Dura-Bernal
5. Sotirios Panagiotou
6. Sharon Crook
7. Matteo Cantarelli
8. Robert C Cannon
9. Andrew P Davison
10. Harsha Gurnani
11. Robin Angus Silver

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important work presents a consolidated overview of the NeuroML2 open community standard and provides convincing evidence for its central role within a broader software ecosystem for the development of neuronal models that are open, shareable, reproducible, and interoperable. A major strength of the work is the continued development over more than two decades to establish, maintain, and adapt this standard to meet the evolving needs of the field. This work is of broad interest to the sub-cellular, cellular, computational, and systems neuroscience communities undertaking studies involving theory, modeling, and simulation.

Reviewed by eLife

Live imaging of excitable axonal microdomains in ankyrin-G-GFP mice

1. Christian Thome
2. Jan Maximilian Janssen
3. Seda Karabulut
4. Claudio Acuna
5. Elisa D'Este
6. Stella J Soyka
7. Konrad Baum
8. Michael Bock
9. Nadja Lehmann
10. Johannes Roos
11. Nikolas A Stevens
12. Masashi Hasegawa
13. Dan A Ganea
14. Chloé M Benoit
15. Jan Gründemann
16. Lia Y Min
17. Kalynn M Bird
18. Christian Schultz
19. Vann Bennett
20. Paul M Jenkins
21. Maren Engelhardt

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this valuable paper, the authors created a reporter mouse line in which the Axon Initial Segment (AIS) is intrinsically labeled by an ankyrin-G-GFP fusion protein activated by Cre recombinase, tagging the native Ank3 gene. Using confocal, superresolution, and two-photon microscopy as well as whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo, the authors convincingly document that the subcellular scaffold of the AIS and electrophysiological parameters of labeled cells remain unchanged. They further uncover rapid AIS remodeling following increased network activity in this model system, as well as highly reproducible in vivo labeling of AIS over weeks.

Reviewed by eLife

Cestode larvae excite host neuronal circuits via glutamatergic signalling

1. Anja de Lange
2. Hayley Tomes
3. Joshua S Selfe
4. Ulrich Fabien Prodjinotho
5. Matthijs B Verhoog
6. Siddhartha Mahanty
7. Katherine Ann Smith
8. William Horsnell
9. Chummy Sikasunge
10. Clarissa Prazeres da Costa
11. Joseph V Raimondo

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript addresses infections of the parasite Taenia solium, which causes neurocysticercosis (NCC). NCC is a common parasitic infection that leads to severe neurological problems. It is a major cause of epilepsy, but little is known about how the infection causes epilepsy. The authors used neuronal recordings, imaging of calcium transients in neurons, and glutamate-sensing fluorescent reporters. A strength of the paper is the use of both rodent and human preparations. The results provide convincing evidence that the larvae secrete glutamate and this depolarizes neurons. Although it is still uncertain exactly how epilepsy is triggered, the results suggest that glutamate release contributes. Therefore, the paper is a fundamental step towards understanding how Taenia solium infection leads to epilepsy.

Reviewed by eLife

Projection neurons are necessary for the maintenance of the mouse olfactory circuit

1. Luis Sánchez-Guardado
2. Peyman Razavi
3. Bo Wang
4. Antuca Callejas-Marín
5. Carlos Lois

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study shows that eliminating a large portion of the principal neurons in the mammalian olfactory bulb does not affect the initial establishment of the circuit but has an impact on its maintenance. The strength of the paper is that the anatomical changes induced by genetic ablation of neurons are clear-cut. There is solid support for the findings, with a description of the structural and behavioral effects of ablating the majority of M/T neurons.

Reviewed by eLife

Attentional modulation of secondary somatosensory and visual thalamus of mice

1. Gordon H Petty
2. Randy M Bruno

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides an important re-evaluation of modality-specific information processing in the thalamus of trained mice. Using an elegant task design that probes competing tactile and visual stimuli, the authors present compelling evidence that behavioral training reshapes the sensitivity of higher-order thalamic nuclei. Despite the powerful task design and the significance of the main findings, the origin of the cross-modal responses remains an open question and requires future investigation.

Reviewed by eLife