Neuroscience

eLife assessment

This important work addresses an interesting question for the vertebrate olfactory community of whether mice can discriminate odorant intermittency to help them navigate the environment. The data were collected and analyzed using solid methodology, however, the paper seems to fall short in demonstrating that animal is actually sensitive to intermittency but not other flow parameters. The work will be of interest to researchers working on sensory neurobiology and animal behavior.

eLife assessment

This manuscript describes a valuable new circuit mapping and profiling technique called Multiplexed projEction neuRons retrograde barcodE (MERGEseq) that combines transcriptome and projectome data at a single-cell resolution. The authors provide solid evidence that MERGEseq can be used to identify projection targets and cell type/layer/transcriptome differences of projection neurons in the mouse prefrontal cortex, and validation experiments are rigorous. While this report is a proof-of-principle that MERGEseq is useful for circuit mapping and profiling and many potential details will influence conclusions, this technique could easily be adapted to other regions with known projection targets and adds to a growing arsenal of combinatorial circuit mapping and profiling tools.

eLife assessment

This study presents valuable findings regarding inter-individual variability in the neural and behavioral effects of ketamine. The methodological approach used to characterize this variability is compelling, but the evidence to support the specificity of the changes and their genetic correlates is incomplete. The study would benefit from a more thorough examination of the specificity of the pharmacological and genetic results.

eLife assessment

This important work provides knowledge regarding how neuropeptides, which are highly expressed in the brain, can influence cortical plasticity. The conclusions are supported by compelling evidence from both in vitro and in vivo assays, although some control experiments are needed to further strengthen the conclusions. This paper will be of interest to neuroscientists studying cortical processing and neural plasticity, as well as cell biologists and biochemists interested in peptide function in general.

eLife assessment

This valuable paper examines the link between the neuropeptide cholecystokinin (CCK) and motor learning and neural plasticity in the motor cortex. While CCK was known to be involved in neural plasticity in other brain regions and behavioral contexts, this study is the first to provide evidence that CCK manipulation causes deficits in motor learning. However, the evidence for specific effects regarding behavior, activity, and pathways is currently incomplete.

eLife assessment

This study presents an important finding on the serial attentional resource allocation during parallel feature value tracking. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, although further clarification for high-/low-precision assigning, task effectivity of active tracking, and data analysis would have strengthened the study. The work will be of broad interest to psychology and cognitive science.

eLife assessment

The fluorescently tagged SYT-1 mouse line will be useful for the field. Importantly, the authors used a comprehensive set of immunohistochemical and physiological experiments to demonstrate that the fluorescence tagging did not alter the function of SYT-1. These are important control experiments that will make the strain useful for physiological experiments in the future. However, the advance of this manuscript is less clear.

Evaluation Summary:

This work is valuable for those who study how diet and metabolism impact neurological function, specifically learning and memory since it investigates the impact of high-fat diet intake during the preadolescent period on memory performances. The data convincingly showed the possibility to reverse memory deficits related to obesity by manipulating selected hippocampal circuits. The claims would benefit from additional controls and analyses.

(This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

eLife assessment

This paper reports the fundamental discovery of adrenergic modulation of spontaneous firing through the inhibition of the Na+ leak channel NALCN in cartwheel cells in the dorsal cochlear nucleus. This study provides unequivocal evidence that the activation of alpha-2 adrenergic or GABA-B receptors inhibit NALCN currents to reduce neuronal excitability. The evidence supporting the conclusions is exceptional, the electrophysiological data is high quality and the experimental design is rigorous.

eLife assessment

Studies of synaptic development and plasticity in the nematode C. elegans have been limited by the difficulty of rapid, accurate assessments of synaptic structure. Here, with a series of convincing studies, the authors introduce and validate a valuable computational pipeline, "WormPsyQi," that allows rapid, reproducible quantitation of fluorescent synaptic puncta while minimizing human error and bias. The authors also describe a new set of strains carrying synaptic markers. Together, these tools should provide groups studying this model system with the ability to quantitatively characterize chemical and electrical synapses, even in densely packed regions in 3D space such as the nerve ring.