Neuroscience

Dual-format attentional template during preparation in human visual cortex

1. Yilin Chen
2. Taosheng Liu
3. Ke Jia
4. Jan Theeuwes
5. Mengyuan Gong

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  By combining the 'pinging' technique with fMRI-based multivariate pattern analysis, this important study provides compelling evidence for a dual-format representation of attention during the preparatory period. The findings help reconcile the debate between sensory-like and non-sensory accounts of attentional templates and shed light on how the brain flexibly deploys different forms of templates to guide attention. This work will be of broad interest to researchers in psychology, vision science, and cognitive neuroscience.

Reviewed by eLife

Selective life-long suppression of an odor processing channel in response to critical period experience

1. Hans C Leier
2. Julius Jonaitis
3. Alexander J Foden
4. Abigail J Wilkov
5. Annika E Ross
6. Paola Van der Linden Costello
7. Heather T Broihier
8. Andrew M Dacks

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study in the Drosophila antennal lobe, which contains multiple non-equivalent sensory channels, provides valuable new insight into how early-life sensory experience can produce lasting, cell-type-specific changes in neural circuit function. The work convincingly demonstrates that glial-mediated pruning during a defined developmental window leads to persistent suppression of odor responses in one olfactory neuron type, while sparing another. The evidence is solid and supported by multiple complementary approaches, although some mechanistic interpretations remain speculative and would benefit from additional functional testing.

Reviewed by eLife

Spatially Periodic Computation in the Entorhinal-Hippocampal Circuit During Navigation

1. Bo Zhang
2. Xin Guan
3. Dean Mobbs
4. Jia Liu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides valuable results on how entorhinal and hippocampal activity may support human thinking in perceptual spaces. It replicates the hexagonal symmetry of fMRI activity in the entorhinal cortex, reports novel findings on 3-fold symmetry in both behavioral performance and hippocampal fMRI activity, and links these results within a computational model. However, the methods – while potentially creative and interesting – are not fully justified or explained, and the conclusions remain incomplete. With further explanation, justification, and interpretation, this work could represent a significant step forward in understanding how cognitive maps are utilized.

Reviewed by eLife

Dual transcranial electromagnetic stimulation of the precuneus boosts human long-term memory

1. Ilaria Borghi
2. Lucia Mencarelli
3. Michele Maiella
4. Elias P Casula
5. Matteo Ferraresi
6. Francesca Candeo
7. Elena Savastano
8. Martina Assogna
9. Sonia Bonnì
10. Giacomo Koch

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This work presents important findings suggesting that a combination of transcranial stimulation approaches applied for a short period could improve memory performance. Solid methods and evidence, in line with current standards for non-invasive stimulation and recording, are included to broadly support the main findings. The results potentially have implications for non-invasive enhancement of cognitive functions.

Reviewed by eLife

Challenges in Replay Detection by TDLM in Post-Encoding Resting State

1. Simon Kern
2. Juliane Nagel
3. Lennart Wittkuhn
4. Steffen Gais
5. Ray Dolan
6. Gordon Feld

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents valuable findings on the ability of a state-of-the-art method – temporally delayed linear modelling (TDLM) – to detect the replay of sequences in human memory. The investigation provides convincing evidence that TDLM has limitations in its sensitivity to detect replay when being applied to extended (minutes-long) rest periods, though a more thorough treatment of the relationship to prior positive findings would make the demonstration even stronger. The work will be of particular interest to researchers investigating memory reactivation in humans, especially using iEEG, MEG, and EEG.

Reviewed by eLife

Diverse calcium dynamics underlie place field formation in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells

1. Mate Sumegi
2. Gaspar Olah
3. Istvan Paul Lukacs
4. Martin Blazsek
5. Judit K Makara
6. Zoltan Nusser

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental study provides new insights into the plasticity mechanisms underlying the formation of spatial maps in the hippocampus. Supported by a large and comprehensive dataset, the evidence is convincing. This study will be of interest to neuroscientists focusing on spatial navigation, learning, and memory.

Reviewed by eLife

Enhancing Statistical Power While Maintaining Small Sample Sizes in Behavioral Neuroscience Experiments Evaluating Success Rates

1. Desachy Theo
2. Marc Thevenet
3. Samuel Garcia
4. Anistasha Lightning
5. Anne Didier
6. Nathalie Mandairon
7. Nicola Kuczewski

Reviewed by Peer Community in Neuroscience

Local, calcium- and reward-based synaptic learning rule that enhances dendritic nonlinearities can solve the nonlinear feature binding problem

1. Zahra Khodadadi
2. Daniel Trpevski
3. Robert Lindroos
4. Jeanette Hellgren Kotaleski

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This computational modeling study builds on multiple previous lines of experimental and theoretical research to investigate how a single neuron can solve a nonlinear pattern classification task. The revised manuscript presents convincing evidence that the location of synapses on dendritic branches, as well as synaptic plasticity of excitatory and inhibitory synapses, influences the ability of a neuron to discriminate combinations of sensory stimuli. The ideas in this work are very interesting, presenting an important direction in the computational neuroscience field about how to harness the computational power of "active dendrites" for solving learning tasks.

Reviewed by eLife

Diffusion MRS tracks distinct trajectories of neuronal development in the cerebellum and thalamus of rat neonates

1. Clémence Ligneul
2. Lily Qiu
3. William T Clarke
4. Saad Jbabdi
5. Marco Palombo
6. Jason P Lerch

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents a valuable investigation into cell-specific microstructural development in the neonatal rat brain using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The evidence supporting the core claims is solid, with innovative in vivo data acquisition and modeling, noting residual caveats with regard to the limitations of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance spectroscopy for strict validation of cell-type-specific metabolite compartmentation. In addition, the study provides community resources that will benefit researchers in this field. The work will be of interest to researchers studying brain development and biophysical imaging methods.

Reviewed by eLife

Relative Timescale of Channel Voltage-Dependence and Channel Density Regulation Impacts Assembly and Recovery of Activity

1. Yugarshi Mondal
2. Ronald L Calabrese
3. Eve Marder

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important computational study investigates homeostatic plasticity mechanisms that neurons may employ to achieve and maintain stable target activity patterns. The work extends previous analyses of calcium-dependent homeostatic mechanisms based on ion channel density by considering activity-dependent shifts in channel activation and inactivation properties that operate on faster and potentially variable timescales. The model simulations convincingly demonstrate the potential functional importance of these mechanisms.

Reviewed by eLife