Neuroscience

Anterior cingulate cortex in complex associative learning: monitoring action state and action content

1. Wenqiang Huang
2. Arron F Hall
3. Natalia Kawalec
4. Ashley N Opalka
5. Jun Liu
6. Dong V Wang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Huang and colleagues examined neural responses in mouse anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during a discrimination-avoidance task. The authors present useful findings that ACC neurons encode primarily post-action variables or "action content" over extended periods. Though the methodological approach was sound, the evidence in support of action state encoding, ruling out alternative explanations related to movement, is incomplete.

Reviewed by eLife

PKMζ-PKCι/λ double-knockout demonstrates atypical PKC is crucial for the persistence of hippocampal LTP and spatial memory

1. Panayiotis Tsokas
2. Changchi Hsieh
3. Alejandro Grau-Perales
4. Andrew Tcherepanov
5. Leo Kwok
6. Laura Melissa Rodriguez-Valencia
7. David A Cano
8. Kim D Allen
9. Hannah JH Smith
10. Sabina Kubayeva
11. Benson J Wei
12. Samuel Sabzanov
13. Rafael E Flores-Obando
14. Sourav Ghosh
15. Peter John Bergold
16. Jerry Rudy
17. James E Cottrell
18. André Antonio Fenton
19. Todd Charlton Sacktor

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study addresses the unresolved and long-debated question of whether atypical protein kinase C is required for the maintenance of synaptic potentiation and long-term memory. The results confirm previous findings that persistent activity of PKMζ is required for lasting potentiation of hippocampal synapses and spatial memory. The study also adds new genetic evidence to support the earlier suggestion that enhanced expression of PKC iota/lambda compensates for the genetic reduction of PKM zeta to support synaptic potentiation and memory; however, the results as currently presented were viewed as incomplete.

Reviewed by eLife

Environmental dynamics shape human learning: change points versus random walks

1. Cedric Foucault
2. Lilian A Weber
3. Laurence Hunt

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Foucault and colleagues examine how human adaptive learning depends on the structure of the learning task. The authors provide useful findings clarifying the differences in how people learn in environments that are continuously versus discontinuously changing. While they provide solid evidence for most conclusions, support for some of the claims is incomplete in the current form.

Reviewed by eLife

Material Damage to Multielectrode Arrays after Electrolytic Lesioning is in the Noise

1. Alice Tor
2. Stephen E Clarke
3. Iliana E Bray
4. Paul Nuyujukian
5. Brain Interfacing Laboratory

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful manuscript addresses a stability issue for long-term chronically implanted array recordings and electrolytic lesioning, which is relevant to both basic science and translational research. The authors provide a systematic scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of explanted arrays, evaluating electrode damage and sharing extensive datasets accessible through interactive plots. The strength of the evidence is solid, but it can be improved by performing additional analyses on complementary neurophysiology, functional, or histological data.

Reviewed by eLife

Neural signatures of model-based and model-free reinforcement learning across prefrontal cortex and striatum

1. Bruno Miranda
2. James L Butler
3. W M Nishantha Malalasekera
4. Timothy EJ Behrens
5. Peter Dayan
6. Steven W Kennerley

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study presents single-unit activity collected during model-based (MB) and model-free (MF) reinforcement learning in non-human primates. The dataset was carefully collected, and the statistical analyses, including the modeling, are rigorous. The evidence convincingly supports different roles for particular cortical and subcortical areas in representing key variables during reinforcement learning.

Reviewed by eLife

Sofosbuvir protects human brain organoids against SARS-CoV-2

1. Pinar Mesci
2. Angela Macia
3. Aurian Saleh
4. Laura Martin-Sancho
5. Xin Yin
6. Cedric Snethlage
7. Simoni Avansini
8. Sumit K. Chanda
9. Alysson Muotri

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases, ScreenIT

SARS-CoV-2 infects brain choroid plexus and disrupts the blood-CSF-barrier

1. Laura Pellegrini
2. Anna Albecka
3. Donna L. Mallery
4. Max J. Kellner
5. David Paul
6. Andrew P. Carter
7. Leo C. James
8. Madeline A. Lancaster

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases, ScreenIT, preLights

Working Memory Guides Perceptual Decisions Through Fast Capture and Slow Drift

1. Hyung-Bum Park
2. Weiwei Zhang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides important insights into how working memory shapes perceptual decisions, using a dual-task design, continuous mouse tracking, and hierarchical Bayesian modeling. By dissociating fast attentional capture effects from slower, sustained perceptual biases within single trials, the authors provide compelling evidence that working memory-perception interactions unfold through distinct dynamic processes rather than a single mechanism. This work will be of interest to researchers studying working memory, perception, decision-making, and mouse-tracking methodology.

Reviewed by eLife

Cholinergic blockade reveals a role for human hippocampal theta in memory encoding but not retrieval

1. Tamara Gedankien
2. Jennifer Kriegel
3. Erfan Zabeh
4. David McDonagh
5. Bradley Lega
6. Joshua Jacobs

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental work advances our understanding of the role of human hippocampal theta oscillations in memory encoding and retrieval. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, using both scopolamine administration and intracranial EEG recordings. This work will be of broad interest to neuroscientists and has translational implications.

Reviewed by eLife

Mesoscale functional architecture in medial posterior parietal cortex

1. Riichiro Hira
2. Leah B Townsend
3. Ikuko T Smith
4. Che-Hang Yu
5. Jeffrey N Stirman
6. Yiyi Yu
7. Spencer LaVere Smith

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental study measures the functional specialization of distinct subregions within the mouse posterior parietal cortex (PPC) using mesoscopic two-photon calcium imaging during visual discrimination and choice history-dependent tasks. It presents compelling evidence supporting the existence of functional specialized subregions within the PPC. The work will be of interest to system and computational neuroscientists interested in decision-making, working memory, and multisensory integration.

Reviewed by eLife