Neuroscience

PD-linked LRRK2 G2019S mutation impairs astrocyte morphology and synapse maintenance via ERM hyperphosphorylation

1. Shiyi Wang
2. Ryan Baumert
3. Gabrielle Séjourné
4. Dhanesh Sivadasan Bindu
5. Kylie Dimond
6. Kristina Sakers
7. Leslie Vazquez
8. Jessica L Moore
9. Christabel Xin Tan
10. Tetsuya Takano
11. Maria Pia Rodriguez
12. Nick Brose
13. Luke Bradley
14. Reed Lessing
15. Scott H Soderling
16. Albert R La Spada
17. Cagla Eroglu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study identifies astrocyte-intrinsic mechanisms by which the LRRK2 G2019S, a mutation linked to familial Parkinson's disease, disrupts synaptic integrity in the anterior cingulate cortex. The findings are convincing, as they rely on a comprehensive set of in vivo and in vitro genetic, biochemical, proteomic, and electrophysiological approaches. They are important because of their translational value, being validated in both mouse models and post-mortem human samples.

Reviewed by eLife

Development of Auditory and Spontaneous Movement Responses to Music over the First Year of Life

1. Trinh Nguyen
2. Félix Bigand
3. Susanne Reisner
4. Atesh Koul
5. Roberta Bianco
6. Gabriela Markova
7. Stefanie Hoehl
8. Giacomo Novembre

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study offers important insights into the development of infants' responses to music based on the exploration of EEG neural auditory responses and video-based movement analysis. The convincing results revealed that evoked responses emerge between 3 and 12 months of age, but data analysis requires further refinement to fully complement the findings related to movement in response to music. This study will be of significant interest to developmental psychologists and neuroscientists, as well as researchers interested in music processing and in the translation of perception into action.

Reviewed by eLife

Humans underestimate their body mass in microgravity: evidence from reaching movements during spaceflight

1. Zhaoran Zhang
2. Yu Tian
3. Chunhui Wang
4. Changhua Jiang
5. Bo Wang
6. Hongqiang Yu
7. Rui Zhao
8. Kunlin Wei

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This paper undertakes an important investigation to determine whether movement slowing in microgravity is due to a strategic conservative approach or rather due to an underestimation of the mass of the arm. While the experimental dataset is unique and the coupled experimental and computational analyses comprehensive, the authors present incomplete results to support the claim that movement slowing is due to mass underestimation. Further analysis is needed to rule out alternative explanations.

Reviewed by eLife

A cortical–hippocampal communication undergoes rebalancing after new learning

1. Arron F Hall
2. Dong V Wang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study investigates the neural basis of bidirectional communication between the cortex and hippocampus during learning. The evidence supporting the identification of specific circuits and functional cell types involved is convincing. However, certain aspects of the behavioral analysis and statistical interpretation remain incomplete. Overall, the work will be of interest to neuroscientists studying learning and memory.

Reviewed by eLife

Oxytocin restores context-specific hyperaltruistic preference

1. Hong Zhang
2. Yinmei Ni
3. Jian Li

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This revised paper provides valuable findings that altruistic tendency during moral decision-making is gain/loss context-dependent and oxytocin can restore the absence of altruistic choices in the loss domain. The methods and analyses are solid, yet the study could still benefit from better overall framing and more clarity and precision in the definition of key constructs, as pointed out by reviewers. If these concerns are addressed, this study would be of interest to social scientists and neuroscientists who work on moral decision-making and oxytocin.

Reviewed by eLife

A Drosophila screen of schizophrenia-related genes highlights the requirement of neural and glial matrix metalloproteinases for neuronal remodeling

1. Shir Keret
2. Hagar Meltzer
3. Neta Marmor-Kollet
4. Oren Schuldiner

Reviewed by Review Commons

Identifying regulators of associative learning using a protein-labelling approach in C. elegans

1. Aelon Rahmani
2. Anna McMillen
3. Ericka Allen
4. Radwan Ansaar
5. Renee Green
6. Michaela Johnson
7. Anne Poljak
8. Yee Lian Chew

Reviewed by Review Commons

A pair of dopaminergic neurons DAN-c1 mediate Drosophila larval aversive olfactory learning through D2-like receptors

1. Cheng Qi
2. Cheng Qian
3. Emma Steijvers
4. Robert A Colvin
5. Daewoo Lee

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents valuable findings on the role of dopamine receptor D2R in dopaminergic neurons DAN-c1 and mushroom body neurons (Y201-GAL4 pattern) on aversive and appetitive conditioning. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid in the context of their behavioural paradigm. Controls using a reciprocal training protocol would have broadened the scope of their conclusions. The work will be of interest to researchers studying the role of dopamine during learning and memory.

Reviewed by eLife

Mesolimbic dopamine ramps reflect environmental timescales

1. Joseph R Floeder
2. Huijeong Jeong
3. Ali Mohebi
4. Vijay Mohan K Namboodiri

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Floeder and colleagues provide an important investigation that describes the experimental conditions that systematically produce "ramps" in dopamine signaling in the striatum. This somewhat nebulous feature of dopamine has been a significant part of recent theoretical and computational debates attempting to formally describe the different timescales on which dopamine functions. The current results are convincing and add context to that ongoing work.

Reviewed by eLife

Nonlinear feedback modulation contributes to the optimization of flexible decision-making

1. Xuanyu Wu
2. Yang Zhou

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study by Wu and Zhou combines neurophysiological recordings and computational modelling to address an interesting question regarding the sequence of events from sensing to action. Neurophysiological evidence remains incomplete: explicit mapping of saccade-related activity in the same neurons and a better understanding of the influence of the spatial configuration of stimulus and targets would be required to pinpoint whether such activity might contribute, even partially, to the observed results and interpretations. These results are of interest for neuroscientists investigating decision-making.

Reviewed by eLife