Neuroscience

eLife Assessment

This valuable study shows that locomotion-related modulations in the mouse visual cortex are not uniform but primarily affect neurons in muscarinic receptor-negative patches, which receive projections from specific cortical areas. While the evidence is mostly solid, some uncertainties remain regarding the link between anatomical data and functional measurements. The study should be of interest to neuroscientists interested in state modulation of cortical function.

eLife Assessment

This study provides important insights into how species-specific variation in oxytocin receptor regulatory architecture contributes to diversity in brain expression patterns and social behaviors. By generating multiple BAC transgenic mouse lines carrying the prairie vole oxytocin receptor locus and combining anatomical, molecular, behavioral, and chromatin-structure analyses, the authors present convincing evidence that distal regulatory elements constrain peripheral expression while permitting brain expression aligned with behavior. This study provides an experimental framework and a resource that are of value for dissecting how regulatory variation in neuromodulatory systems contributes to species differences in social behavior. This work will be of interest to those interested in social behavior, oxytocin, neuromodulation, and related conditions.

eLife Assessment

This work presents a valuable new open-source tool for wirelessly controlling optogenetic stimulation in neuroscience experiments in behaving rodents. Evidence for its potential usefulness in different types of optogenetic experiments is solid, although some details and concerns were viewed as lacking or overlooked (e.g., system latency, battery weight). The work is expected to interest neuroscientists working with optogenetics and neuroengineers developing small-sized integrated devices for rodent experiments.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study addresses a critical question regarding the role of a subpopulation of cortical interneurons (Chrna2-expressing Martinotti cells) in motor learning and cortical dynamics. However, despite the inclusion of interesting behavioral and imaging data, significant limitations remain, even after revision, in the design of the motor learning task and the associated data analyses. As a result, the presented data are incomplete to support the central conclusions.