Neuroscience

Distinct neurexin-cerebellin complexes control AMPA- and NMDA-receptor responses in a circuit-dependent manner

1. Jinye Dai
2. Kif Liakath-Ali
3. Samantha Rose Golf
4. Thomas C Südhof

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript is of broad interest to neuroscientists studying mechanisms regulating synapse formation and maintenance. Following up on the previous work by the authors on trans-synaptic signaling complexes involving neurexins and cerebellins, this study shows that the basic framework of the complexes operates broadly across different synapses in the brain albeit with subtle differences. The experiments are carefully executed, while some key conclusions could be better supported by additional data.

  (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. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Normative decision rules in changing environments

1. Nicholas W Barendregt
2. Joshua I Gold
3. Krešimir Josić
4. Zachary P Kilpatrick

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This paper investigates scenarios in which the environment changes during the course of a decision, and shows that optimal behavior can be highly complex. It will be of broad interest to researchers in psychology, behavioural economics, and neuroscience interested in decision-making in real-world tasks. It also awaits detailed empirical testing.

  (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 #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Self-organization of songbird neural sequences during social isolation

1. Emily L Mackevicius
2. Shijie Gu
3. Natalia I Denisenko
4. Michale S Fee

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Adult zebra finch song is highly stereotyped, and it is driven by correspondingly stereotyped neural sequences in premotor cortical nucleus HVC. By imaging HVC activity in juvenile birds isolated from social contact with tutors, the authors discover that stereotyped HVC sequences can exist even without exposure to tutor song. Interestingly, after tutoring, existing sequences in the HVC of isolate birds transitioned from being uncoupled to vocal output to highly coupled to newly copied tutor syllables. Together, these data provide a fascinating glimpse into mechanistic foundations of how nature and nurture work together to a learned motor sequence.

  (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 #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Spatiotemporal properties of glutamate input support direction selectivity in the dendrites of retinal starburst amacrine cells

1. Prerna Srivastava
2. Geoff de Rosenroll
3. Akihiro Matsumoto
4. Tracy Michaels
5. Zachary Turple
6. Varsha Jain
7. Santhosh Sethuramanujam
8. Benjamin L Murphy-Baum
9. Keisuke Yonehara
10. Gautam Bhagwan Awatramani

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This is an important paper that addresses a key mechanism that underlies the canonical computation of direction selectivity in the retina. By using fluorescence imaging of glutamate release from excitatory interneurons combined with a computational model of dendritic integration, the authors make a convincing case that the kinetics of glutamate release contributes to the direction-selectivity of individual neural processes in retinal neurons. This work will appeal to visual neuroscientists as well as cellular physiologists interested in dendritic computations.

  (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 #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Postsynaptic plasticity of cholinergic synapses underlies the induction and expression of appetitive memories in Drosophila

1. Carlotta Pribbenow
2. Yi-chun Chen
3. Michael-Marcel Heim
4. Desiree Laber
5. Silas Reubold
6. Eric Reynolds
7. Isabella Balles
8. Raquel Suárez Grimalt
9. Carolin Rauch
10. Jörg Rösner
11. Gregor Lichtner
12. Sridhar R. Jagannathan
13. Tania Fernández-d.V. Alquicira
14. David Owald

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Synaptic plasticity can take place on the presynaptic and/or postsynaptic sites, and these two sites of plasticity are known to involve distinct mechanisms. Using a combined approach of physiology, Drosophila genetics, and behaviour, this study provides evidence that postsynaptic mechanisms underlie plasticity for olfactory learning. This complements the field knowledge that olfactory associative learning largely relies on the presynaptic mechanism in mushroom body neurons. The paper also emphasizes the similarities in learning and memory mechanisms between vertebrates and invertebrates.

  (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.)

Reviewed by eLife

AI-guided screen identifies probucol-mediated mitophagy enhancement through modulation of lipid droplets

1. Natalia Moskal
2. Naomi P. Visanji
3. Olena Gorbenko
4. Vijay Narasimhan
5. Hannah Tyrrell
6. Jess Nash
7. Peter N. Lewis
8. G. Angus McQuibban

Reviewed by Review Commons

The NAD+ precursor NMN activates dSarm to trigger axon degeneration in Drosophila

1. Arnau Llobet Rosell
2. Maria Paglione
3. Jonathan Gilley
4. Magdalena Kocia
5. Giulia Perillo
6. Massimiliano Gasparrini
7. Lucia Cialabrini
8. Nadia Raffaelli
9. Carlo Angeletti
10. Giuseppe Orsomando
11. Pei-Hsuan Wu
12. Michael P Coleman
13. Andrea Loreto
14. Lukas Jakob Neukomm

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Regulation of NAD and its intermediary metabolites is of critical importance in axon degeneration and in neurodegenerative disease. In mammals, the SARM1 NADase has been shown to be a metabolic sensor activated by an increase in the NMN/NAD+ ratio and SARM1 activation then leads to catastrophic energetic collapse and axon degeneration in disease and injury. This manuscript clarifies the role of NMN in activating the axon degeneration trigger dSARM in Drosophila. The authors analyze the signaling role of NMN, a NAD precursor metabolite involved in injury-induced axon degeneration, by overexpressing NMN-D, a prokaryotic enzyme that consumes NMN, using a stabilized version allowing for prolonged NMN depletion, and find that it is strongly protective in several in vivo injury paradigms in flies. This paper will be of interest to those in the neurodegeneration/axon injury field in general as an extensive set of optimized reagents is presented, confirming the crucial role of for exploring NAD-related axon degenerative pathways, and providing tools for neuroscientists to use Drosophila as a model for neurodegenerative research.

  (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 #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Prolonged partner separation erodes nucleus accumbens transcriptional signatures of pair bonding in male prairie voles

1. Julie M Sadino
2. Xander G Bradeen
3. Conor J Kelly
4. Liza E Brusman
5. Deena M Walker
6. Zoe R Donaldson

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This work will be of interest to behavioral neuroscientists with a focus on social behavior. The interrogation of the transcriptional signature of pair-bonding, in both short and long-term, is unique and made possible with the use of the monogamous vole. That there is a "degrading" of the transcriptome of pair bonding following separation is evident but there is a gap in understanding how the gene expression changes relate to behavior.

  (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.)

Reviewed by eLife

Stage-dependent differential influence of metabolic and structural networks on memory across Alzheimer’s disease continuum

1. Kok Pin Ng
2. Xing Qian
3. Kwun Kei Ng
4. Fang Ji
5. Pedro Rosa-Neto
6. Serge Gauthier
7. Nagaendran Kandiah
8. Juan Helen Zhou
9. Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This work is of interest to neuroscientists and medical professionals involved in the study of Alzheimer's disease and related neurodegenerative conditions. The findings provide important information about how potential network-based structural and metabolic imaging biomarkers are associated with memory performance during distinct disease stages, in line with previous hypothetical biomarker models. The study is conceptually and methodologically sound, although some aspects of the analysis and reporting of the results could be further clarified.

  (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 #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Conduction velocity along a key white matter tract is associated with autobiographical memory recall ability

1. Ian A Clark
2. Siawoosh Mohammadi
3. Martina F Callaghan
4. Eleanor A Maguire

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  In this paper, the authors show that autobiographical memory recall is related to a specific biophysical property of the parahippocampal cingulum bundle, the so-called MR g-ratio. This paper will be of interest to neuroscientists studying associations between brain structure and cognitive processes. The data support the main conclusions of the paper. However, it is unclear how reliable the results are and whether the findings would generalize to situations beyond the specific one studied.

  (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. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife