Neuroscience

eLife Assessment

This valuable study used functional MRI experiments to identify the involvement of a left parietal area (PF) in reasoning about the physical properties of actions, objects, and events. Solid evidence was shown regarding the commonalities and differences across different types of reasoning tasks, yet the methodological and theoretical interpretations require further scrutiny. The study would be of interest to researchers studying the cognitive and neural mechanisms of reasoning and problem solving.

eLife Assessment

This important study assessed the effects of food intake on sharp wave-ripples in the hippocampus of mice during subsequent sleep. Convincing evidence supports the conclusion that sharp wave-ripples are enhanced by food consumption. This work will likely interest researchers studying multiple functions including memory, metabolism, and brain-body physiology.

eLife Assessment

Using electrophysiological recordings in freely moving rats, this valuable study investigates the role of gamma oscillations in the development of spatial representations in the hippocampus. Specifically, solid evidence supports the claim that distinct gamma oscillatory inputs contribute to the emergence of 'theta sequences', which encode the animal's ongoing trajectory. This study will be of interest to neuroscientists working in the fields of spatial navigation and neuronal dynamics.

eLife Assessment

This useful study describes a novel method for imaging NAD(P)H fluorescence lifetime and thus metabolic states in the Drosophila brain. These solid findings support recent work demonstrating the importance of energy homeostasis to sustain memory formation and maintenance. Further efforts to demonstrate the adequacy of the statistical methods and the significance of the observed differences in FLIM signals in the α/β KCs would greatly enhance the manuscript. The approach will be helpful for researchers working with systems where genetic manipulation is challenging.

eLife Assessment

This is an important study that aims to investigate the behavioral relevance of multisensory responses recorded in the auditory cortex. The experiments are elegant and well-designed and are supported by appropriate analyses of the data. Although solid evidence is presented that is consistent with learning-dependent encoding of visual information in auditory cortex, further work is needed to establish the origin and nature of these non-auditory signals and to definitively rule out any effects of movement-related activity.

eLife Assessment

This important study provides compelling insights into the differential impact of intrinsic and synaptic conductances on circuit robustness using computational models of the pyloric network from the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion. The results demonstrate that model networks are more sensitive to perturbations in intrinsic conductances than in synaptic conductances, highlighting the critical role of intrinsic plasticity in stabilizing neuronal networks. These findings underscore the importance of intrinsic plasticity, a crucial yet often overlooked factor in neuronal dynamics. The generality of these conclusions should be tested across diverse networks and functions.

eLife Assessment

This important study includes convincing evidence to show that behavioral measures and hippocampal representations when animals use task-relevant information and ignore irrelevant information do not depend on the medial prefrontal cortex. The results are expected to be of interest to those studying neural mechanisms of cognitive control and functions of associational brain regions.

eLife Assessment

This manuscript presents important information as to how adolescent alcohol exposure (AIE) alters pain behavior and relevant neurocircuits, with convincing data. The manuscript focuses on how AIE alters the basolateral amygdala, to the PFC (PV-interneurons), to the periaquaductal gray circuit, resulting in feed-forward inhibition. The manuscript is a detailed study of the role of alcohol exposure in regulating the circuit and reflexive pain, however, the role of the PV interneurons in mechanistically modulating this feed-forward circuit could be more strongly supported.

eLife Assessment

The manuscript presents some useful accounts of experiences funding team projects within the BRAIN Initiative. These would be more appropriate to add to the companion manuscript since the present manuscript contains some overlapping analyses and does not stand well on its own. Therefore the evidence supporting the conclusions is incomplete.

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 demonstrate the potential functional importance of these mechanisms, but the evidence is incomplete and would be strengthened by more in-depth analyses and explicit exposition.