Neuroscience

Evaluation Summary:

This paper will be interesting for understanding how the innate and learned components are synchronized and temporally coordinated in courtship behavior. This study gives the first insight into the midbrain dopaminergic region and its' role in courtship 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 #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Evaluation Summary:

This manuscript uses a combination of high-quality in vivo electrophysiology and modelling to demonstrate that Behavioural Time Scale Plasticity (BTSP) is bidirectional, and the amplitude and direction of this plasticity are dictated by the current weight of the inputs and not by the correlated activity of pairs of neurons. These findings challenge our current views on synaptic plasticity, which are primarily based on Hebb's concept. In addition, the network model used in this study demonstrates that this type of plasticity can rapidly reshape population activity to respond to environmental clues. This study will be of interest to the broad neuroscience audience and foster new ideas on biological and artificial learning.

(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 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

Evaluation Summary:

The authors performed transcriptomic analyses from compartment-specific, micro-dissected hippocampal region tissue from transgenic mice. One feature that distinguishes this work from previous studies is the use of conditional knock-in tags (GFP or HA) and tissue specific expression of the Cre recombinase to target a population of pyramidal neurons in the CA1 region. The strengths of the paper are the rich data sets and innovative integration of methods that will provide a valuable technical resource for the field.

(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.)

Evaluation Summary:

This study examined the effects of social isolation in adolescent and adult male mice, a topic timely and relevant. The work sheds light on oxytocin as a key regulator that modulates the dopaminergic midbrain imparting long-lasting effects on social interaction. A critical open question is whether these results would apply to female subjects. The findings will merit from more thorough interpretations and controls of social behavior data and synaptic plasticity. This paper will be of interest to those interested in social neuroscience and plasticity in general.

(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.)

Evaluation Summary:

This study is of broad interest to researchers in the field of entomology and physiology. These findings may shed light on at least one mechanism underlying selective advantages conferred to insect species on evolutionary timescales. Though the chemical signal, its source and recipient tissues underlying thermogenesis are elucidated, hypotheses regarding their downstream effects remain to be substantiated.

(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.)

Evaluation Summary:

This study will be of high interest to readers in the field of the molecular mechanisms of synaptic operation. The functional demonstration of two different topological states of Munc13 involved in, Ca2+-independent and Ca2+-dependent, synaptic vesicle priming is a remarkable contribution to further understand key mechanisms of neurotransmitter release and its modulation. A multidisciplinary, solid and careful study supported by simulations of molecular dynamics, in vitro assays of membrane fusion and synaptic electrophysiology of mouse hippocampal neurons.

(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.)

Evaluation Summary:

This paper addresses the very extremely interesting question of how spontaneous activity in the cochlea prior to hearing onset impacts the development of auditory circuits in the brainstem. The study has many strengths, including the use of complementary in vitro and in vivo recording techniques to characterize both peripheral and central defects resulting from conditional deletion of the gene for the chloride channel TMEM16A. The reviewers identified some concerns over the interpretation of the data and felt that the results could be discussed more in the context of other work, which might require some additional experiments.

(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.)

Evaluation Summary:

Aggregates of the protein Tau are a key pathological features of Alzheimer's Disease and several other neurodegenerative disorders (Tauopathies). Hori et al. examined the effects of an acute elevation of Tau levels in synapses, employing high-end paired pre-post-synaptic patch-clamp recordings at the Calyx of Held model synapse. The authors generated a technically very rigorous dataset indicating that increased levels of soluble Tau impair pre-synaptic endocytosis and, consequently, neurotransmission by sequestering Dynamin-1 on microtubules, and propose that this process is part of a synaptic manifestation of Tauopathies. The findings are of major relevance for basic neuronal cell biology and translational neuroscience alike. However, several aspects of the proposed molecular mechanism underlying the synaptic effects of elevated Tau levels remain less clear.

(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.)

Evaluation Summary:

This paper examines model neuron solution sets - combinations of ionic membrane conductance parameters that allow the model to produce functional output properties - and how the extent and shape of these solutions sets depends on ion channel pleiotropy, i.e., that ion channels can influence multiple outputs simultaneously. The work provides an organizing framework for previous experimental and modeling studies related to degeneracy of solutions, ion channel correlations, and homeostatic regulation, and should therefore be of interest to researchers in this area.

(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.)

Evaluation Summary:

This paper uses a powerful combination of imaging techniques to provide a thorough view of the structure of the gap junction network connecting rod and cone photoreceptors in the mouse retina. The main conclusion - that rod-cone coupling is much more prevalent than rod-rod or cone-cone coupling - is well supported by the data although some results require qualification. The main concern in review centers around the importance of this result beyond the retina community.

(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 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their names with the authors.)