Neuroscience

Policy-Gradient Reinforcement Learning as a General Theory of Practice-Based Motor Skill Learning

1. Adrian M Haith

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable computational study presents a conceptually simple and biologically plausible reinforcement-learning framework for motor learning based on policy-gradient methods. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, including rigorous mathematical derivations of learning rules for the mean and variance of motor commands and simulation results for three sets of experimental data, based on three different motor learning tasks from the literature. However, there is a lack of a clear description of the specific conditions under which this framework yields unique mechanistic insights or predictive values, hence falling short of qualifying as a "general theory of motor learning". The work will be of interest to researchers in computational motor learning and motor neuroscience.

Reviewed by eLife

The engulfment receptor Draper is required for epidermal dendrite ensheathment

1. Chang Yin
2. Federico M. Tenedini
3. Amy Platenkamp
4. Jay Z. Parrish

Reviewed by Review Commons

How individual vigor shapes human–human physical interaction

1. Dorian Verdel
2. Bastien Berret
3. Etienne Burdet

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is an important study showing that movement vigor is not solely an individual property but emerges through interaction when two people are physically linked. The evidence is convincing, supported by a well-controlled experimental design and modeling that closely match the observed behavior. While the authors provided a helpful comparison of several candidate models of human-human interaction dynamics, the statistical power remains limited.

Reviewed by eLife

Capturing instantaneous neural signal-behavior relationships with concurrent functional mixed models

1. Al W Xin
2. Erjia Cui
3. Francisco Pereira
4. Gabriel Loewinger

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable work extends a previously published regression framework for trial-aligned photometry data incorporating functional variables. However, the evidence is generally incomplete, due to the way that within-trial changes in variables have been incorporated into an inherently cross-trial analysis framework, which will limit general adoption. The ideas in this work will be of interest to researchers analyzing photometry signals.

Reviewed by eLife

Graded Hair Cell Ablation Reveals Functional Redundancy in the Mature Mouse Vestibular System

1. Tian Wang
2. Davood K. Hosseini
3. Ahmad Mahhoudi
4. Zahra N. Sayyid
5. Jun He
6. Caroline Sit
7. Zelma G. Iriarte Oporto
8. Hong Zhu
9. Wu Zhou
10. Alan G. Cheng

Reviewed by Review Commons

Increased reluctant vesicles underlie synaptic depression by GPR55 in axon terminals of rat cerebellar Purkinje cells

1. Takuma Inoshita
2. Shin-ya Kawaguchi

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is an important study reporting that activation of the presynaptic GPR55 receptor suppresses synaptic transmission by modulating GABA release through the reduction of the readily releasable pool without affecting the presynaptic AP waveform and calcium influx. The evidence supporting this claim is compelling and based on an impressive array of techniques including patch-clamp recordings from the axon terminals of cerebellar Purkinje cells and fluorescent imaging of vesicular exocytosis. While the authors have strengthened their conclusions on several technical fronts in the revised version, further investigation is needed into the mechanism by which GPR55 activation might make vesicles insensitive to the rise in presynaptic [Ca²⁺] mediated by VGCCs, and the nature of the endogenous process that would activate this pathway in vivo.

Reviewed by eLife

Translational control in the spinal cord regulates gene expression and pain hypersensitivity in the chronic phase of neuropathic pain

1. Kevin C Lister
2. Calvin Wong
3. Sonali Uttam
4. Marc Parisien
5. Patricia Stecum
6. Nicole Brown
7. Weihua Cai
8. David Ho-Tieng
9. Mehdi Hooshmandi
10. Ning Gu
11. Mehdi Amiri
12. Francis Beaudry
13. Seyed Mehdi Jafarnejad
14. Diana Tavares-Ferreira
15. Nikhil Nageshwar Inturi
16. Khadijah Mazhar
17. Hien T Zhao
18. Bethany Fitzsimmons
19. Christos G Gkogkas
20. Nahum Sonenberg
21. Theodore J Price
22. Luda Diatchenko
23. Yaser Atlasi
24. Jeffrey S Mogil
25. Arkady Khoutorsky

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Using a combination of innovative and robust techniques, this study outlines cell-type-specific translational landscape changes that occur in the spinal cord neurons in the early and late phases of nerve injury. The authors provided compelling evidence suggesting an essential role of protein synthesis regulation in the chronic phase of neuropathic pain. Although additional mechanisms contributing to late-phase neuropathic pain beyond altered PV+ neuron excitability remain to be elucidated, this is a fundamental and significant study toward a comprehensive understanding of the molecular pathways involved in neuropathic pain.

Reviewed by eLife

Continuous partitioning of neuronal variability

1. Anuththara Rupasinghe
2. Adam S Charles
3. Jonathan W Pillow

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This work of fundamental significance introduces a novel statistical model of spiking activity that incorporates continuous-time gain modulation. The authors provide exceptional evidence that the model outperforms earlier approaches and alternative candidates in capturing spiking responses across multiple visual areas in the macaque. Beyond its methodological contribution, the study offers new insights into how stimulus-driven variability and internally generated gain fluctuations evolve over time and between brain areas. The framework is likely to find broad application beyond the datasets examined here.

Reviewed by eLife

Individual Taste Preferences Predict Cortical Taste Dynamics but Are Modified by Experience

1. Kathleen C Maigler
2. Jian-You Lin
3. Ethan Crouse
4. Bradly T Stone
5. Ainsley E Craddock
6. Donald B Katz

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study demonstrates how individual taste preferences shift over time, how these changes relate to cortical activity, and how experience reshapes both. The evidence is largely solid, although additional analyses are needed to strengthen some of the conclusions. The results should be of interest to neuroscientists studying sensory physiology.

Reviewed by eLife

Identity and functions of monoaminergic neurons in the predatory nematode Pristionchus pacificus reveal nervous system conservation and divergence

1. Curtis M Loer
2. Hyunsoo Yim
3. Luke T Geiger
4. Yasmin H Ramadan
5. Megan F Hampton
6. Diana V Bernal
7. Heather R Carstensen
8. Jorge Morgan
9. Laura Rivard
10. Theresa Medina
11. Steven J Cook
12. Misako Okumura
13. James Lightfoot
14. Oliver Hobert
15. Ray L Hong

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents valuable insights into cellular sites of monoamine production and presence in Pristionchus pacificus, providing a comparative reference for the detailed knowledge of C. elegans, as well as using this information to compare serotonergic anatomy in 22 nematode species. Functional assays support evolved differences in monoaminergic control over certain, but not all, tested behaviors. The evidence is convincing, combining careful genetic experiments and comparative analysis that are well aligned with the conclusions. The results will serve as a basis for (comparative) structural-functional studies of nematode behavior.

Reviewed by eLife