Neuroscience

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

Population-level morphological analysis of paired CO2- and odor-sensing olfactory neurons in D. melanogaster via volume electron microscopy

1. Jonathan Choy
2. Shadi Charara
3. Kalyani Cauwenberghs
4. Quintyn McKaughan
5. Keun-Young Kim
6. Mark H Ellisman
7. Chih-Ying Su

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study reveals surprising morphological diversity of Drosophila sensory neurons. Using serial block-face electron microscopy, the authors created detailed 3D reconstructions of large neuronal populations, convincingly finding significant structural variation both within and across distinct classes. These results form the basis for testable hypotheses on how neuronal arborization is optimized for particular sensory functions. This research will be highly relevant to biologists in the fields of physiology, insect chemosensation, and neuroscience.

Reviewed by eLife

Syngap1 regulates the synaptic drive and membrane excitability of Parvalbumin-positive interneurons in mouse auditory cortex

1. Ruggiero Francavilla
2. Bidisha Chattopadhyaya
3. Jorelle Linda Damo Kamda
4. Vidya Jadhav
5. Saïd Kourrich
6. Jacques L Michaud
7. Graziella Di Cristo

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides valuable evidence indicating that SynGap1 regulates the synaptic drive and membrane excitability of parvalbumin- and somatostatin-positive interneurons in the auditory cortex. Since haplo-insufficiency of SynGap1 has been linked to intellectual disabilities without a well-defined underlying cause, the central question of this study is timely. The experimental data is solid, as in their revisions the authors successfully addressed questions related to changes in thalamocortical presynaptic excitability, the contradiction between spontaneous and mini EPSCs data, and the anatomical analysis of excitatory synapses.

Reviewed by eLife

Unreliable homeostatic action potential broadening in cultured dissociated neurons

1. Andreas Ritzau-Jost
2. Salil Rajayer
3. Jana Nerlich
4. Filip Maciag
5. Alexandra John
6. Michael Russier
7. Victoria Gonzalez Sabater
8. Luke J Steiger
9. Jacques-Olivier Coq
10. Jens Eilers
11. Maren Engelhardt
12. Juan Burrone
13. Dominique Debanne
14. Martin Heine
15. Stephen M Smith
16. Stefan Hallermann

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides compelling evidence that action potential (AP) broadening is not a universal feature of homeostatic plasticity in response to chronic activity deprivation. By leveraging state-of-the-art methods across multiple brain regions and laboratories, the authors demonstrate that AP half-width remains largely stable, challenging previous assumptions in the field. These important findings help resolve longstanding inconsistencies in the literature and significantly advance our understanding of neuronal network homeostasis.

Reviewed by eLife

Characterization of Postsynaptic Glutamate Transporter Functionality in the Zebrafish Retinal First Synapse Across Different Wavelengths

1. Marco Garbelli
2. Stephanie Niklaus
3. Stephan CF Neuhauss

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study reveals that Excitatory Amino Acid Transporters play a role in chromatic information processing in the retina. The combination of (double) mutants, behavioral assays, immunohistochemistry, and electroretinograms provides solid evidence supporting the appropriately conservative conclusions. The work will be of interest to neurobiologists working on color vision or retinal processing.

Reviewed by eLife

Social rank-order stability of mice revealed by a novel food competition paradigm in combination with available space competition paradigms

1. Meiqiu Liu
2. Yue Chen
3. Rongqing Chen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study proposes a useful assay to identify relative social ranks in mice incorporating the competitive drive for two basic resources - food and living space. Using this new protocol, the authors provide solid evidence of stable ranking among male and female pairs, while reporting more fluctuant hierarchies among triads of males. The evidence is, however, limited by the lack of ethologically based validation, assessment of the influence of competitor recognition, and proof of concept of application to neuroscience. This manuscript may be of interest to those interested in social behavior and related neuroscience.

Reviewed by eLife