Neuroscience

Pupil size reveals the perceptual quality and effortless nature of synesthesia

1. Christoph Strauch
2. Casper Leenaars
3. Romke Rouw

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study used pupillometry to provide an objective assessment of a form of synesthesia in which people see additional color when reading numbers. It provides convincing evidence that subjective color ratings are matched by changes in pupil size that recapitulate brightness-mediated changes when exposed to the real color. The work provides a valuable contribution to the literature on both synesthetic perception and the use of pupillometry to probe perception and related psychological processes.

Reviewed by eLife

Formation of task representations and replay in mouse medial prefrontal cortex

1. Hamed Shabani
2. Hannah Muysers
3. Yuk-Hoi Yiu
4. Jonas-Frederic Sauer
5. Marlene Bartos
6. Christian Leibold

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful study characterizes the evolution of medial prefrontal cortex activity during the learning of an odor-based choice task. The evidence provided is solid, providing quantification of functional classes of cells over the course of learning using the longitudinal calcium recordings in prefrontal cortex, and quantification of prefrontal sequences. However, the experimental design appears to provide limited evidence to support strong conclusions regarding the functional relevance of neural sequences. The study will be of interest to neuroscientists investigating learning and decision-making processes.

Reviewed by eLife

Multiple functions of cerebello-thalamic neurons in learning and offline consolidation of a motor skill in mice

1. Andrés Pablo Varani
2. Caroline Mailhes-Hamon
3. Romain W Sala
4. Marie Sarraudy
5. Sarah Fouda
6. Jimena L Frontera
7. Clément Léna
8. Daniela Popa

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Varani et al present important findings regarding the role of distinct cerebellothalamic connections in motor learning and performance. The evidence supporting the main claims is convincing, with multiple replications, validation of their techniques, and appropriate controls. The work will be of broad interest to neuroscientists interested in central mechanisms of motor learning and control, as well as thalamic physiology.

Reviewed by eLife

The dominance of large-scale phase dynamics in human cortex, from delta to gamma

1. David M Alexander
2. Laura Dugué

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study introduces a novel method for estimating spatial spectra from irregularly sampled intracranial EEG data, revealing cortical activity across all spatial frequencies, which supports the global and integrated nature of cortical dynamics. It showcases important technical innovations and rigorous analyses, including tests to rule out potential confounds. However, further direct evaluation of the model, for example by using simulated cortical activity with a known spatial spectrum (e.g., an iEEG volume-conductor model that describes the mapping from cortical current source density to iEEG signals, and that incorporates the reference electrodes and the particular montage used), would even further strengthen the solid evidence.

Reviewed by eLife

Comprehensive Neural Representations of Naturalistic Stimuli through Multimodal Deep Learning

1. Mingxue Fu
2. Guoqiu Chen
3. Yijie Zhang
4. Mingzhe Zhang
5. Yin Wang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents a valuable application of a video-text alignment deep neural network model to improve neural encoding of naturalistic stimuli in fMRI. The authors provide convincing evidence that models based on multimodal and dynamic embedding features of audiovisual movies predicted brain responses better than models based on unimodal or static features. The work will be of interest to researchers in cognitive neuroscience and AI-based brain modeling.

Reviewed by eLife

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

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