Neuroscience

Selective recruitment of the cerebellum evidenced by task-dependent gating of inputs

1. Ladan Shahshahani
2. Maedbh King
3. Caroline Nettekoven
4. Richard B Ivry
5. Jörn Diedrichsen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study reports a novel approach to studying cerebellar function based on the idea of selective recruitment using fMRI. It provides convincing evidence for task-dependent gating of neocortical input to the cerebellum during a motor task and a working memory task. The study will be of interest to a broad cognitive neuroscience audience.

Reviewed by eLife

Myelin dystrophy impairs signal transmission and working memory in a multiscale model of the aging prefrontal cortex

1. Sara Ibañez
2. Nilapratim Sengupta
3. Jennifer I Luebke
4. Klaus Wimmer
5. Christina M Weaver

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript reports a valuable computational study of the effects of axon de-myelination and re-myelination on action potential speed and propagation failure. The manuscript presents solid evidence for the effects of de- and re-myelination in different models of working memory, with potential implications in disorders such as multiple sclerosis. The exposition of the manuscript is targeted for researchers interested in biophysical models of cognitive deficits.

Reviewed by eLife

Three-photon excited fluorescence microscopy enables imaging of blood flow, neural structure and inflammatory response deep into mouse spinal cord in vivo

1. Yu-Ting Cheng
2. Kawasi M. Lett
3. Chris Xu
4. Chris B. Schaffer

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this work, the authors put forward a valuable methodological advancement for imaging deeper in the intact spinal cord of anaesthetized mice. The authors measured blood flow across different vessel types within the spinal cord and observed the cellular responses following venule occlusion. The demonstration is solid, although, a more quantitative comparison with state-of-the-art two-photon excited fluorescence microscopy and a discussion about applicability to functional imaging (e.g., calcium imaging) would have strengthened the study.

Reviewed by eLife

Light-microscopy-based connectomic reconstruction of mammalian brain tissue

1. Mojtaba R. Tavakoli
2. Julia Lyudchik
3. Michał Januszewski
4. Vitali Vistunou
5. Nathalie Agudelo Dueñas
6. Jakob Vorlaufer
7. Christoph Sommer
8. Caroline Kreuzinger
9. Bárbara Oliveira
10. Alban Cenameri
11. Gaia Novarino
12. Viren Jain
13. Johann G. Danzl

Reviewed by preLights

Autism gene variants disrupt enteric neuron migration and cause gastrointestinal dysmotility

1. Kate E. McCluskey
2. Katherine M. Stovell
3. Karen Law
4. Elina Kostyanovskaya
5. James D. Schmidt
6. Cameron R. T. Exner
7. Jeanselle Dea
8. Elise Brimble
9. Matthew W. State
10. A. Jeremy Willsey
11. Helen Rankin Willsey

Reviewed by preLights

Autism candidate gene rbm-26 ( RBM26/27 ) regulates MALS-1 to protect against mitochondrial dysfunction and axon degeneration during neurodevelopment

1. Tamjid A Chowdhury
2. David A Luy
3. Garrett Scapellato
4. Dorian Farache
5. Amy SY Lee
6. Christopher C Quinn

Reviewed by Review Commons

Early parafoveal semantic integration in natural reading

1. Yali Pan
2. Steven Frisson
3. Kara D Federmeier
4. Ole Jensen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study contributes to the understanding of how parafoveal words are neurally processed during naturalistic sentence reading. Convincing evidence is provided that the MEG response to a word can be modulated by the semantic congruency of a parafoveal target word. The study addresses a classic question in reading using a new Rapid Invisible Frequency Tagging (RIFT) technique, which can separately monitor the neural processing of multiple words during sentence reading.

Reviewed by eLife

Modulation of brain signal variability in visual cortex reflects aging, GABA, and behavior

1. Poortata Lalwani
2. Thad Polk
3. Douglas D Garrett

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study combines across multiple complementary neuroscientific methods to understand the neural response to visual stimulus complexity in the human brain across lifespan. Lalwani et al., provide solid evidence, drawing from appropriate and validated methodology. A weakness is that key information about methodological details and controls is still outstanding, as is a discussion on how generalizable the findings are. With these elements strengthened, the study would be of broad interest to neuroscientists and biologists interested in aging and sensory processing.

Reviewed by eLife

Quantitative modeling of the emergence of macroscopic grid-like representations

1. Ikhwan Bin Khalid
2. Eric T Reifenstein
3. Naomi Auer
4. Lukas Kunz
5. Richard Kempter

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This computational work represents a valuable and long overdue assessment of the potential mechanisms associating patterns of activity of entorhinal grid cells, recorded mostly in rodents, with the population property of hexasymmetry detected in non-invasive human studies. The methodic comparison of alternative hypotheses is compelling, and the conclusions are important for the future design of experiments assessing the neural correlates of human navigation across physical, virtual, or conceptual spaces.

Reviewed by eLife

A ‘double-edged’ role for type-5 metabotropic glutamate receptors in pain disclosed by light-sensitive drugs

1. Serena Notartomaso
2. Nico Antenucci
3. Mariacristina Mazzitelli
4. Xavier Rovira
5. Serena Boccella
6. Flavia Ricciardi
7. Francesca Liberatore
8. Xavier Gomez-Santacana
9. Tiziana Imbriglio
10. Milena Cannella
11. Charleine Zussy
12. Livio Luongo
13. Sabatino Maione
14. Cyril Goudet
15. Giuseppe Battaglia
16. Amadeu Llebaria
17. Ferdinando Nicoletti
18. Volker Neugebauer

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this interesting study, the authors have used light-sensitive mGlu5 negative allosteric modulators to determine the role of these receptors in a chronic pain model. These findings could be useful to the pain field, but the evidence supporting these claims is incomplete.

Reviewed by eLife