Neuroscience

Evaluation Summary:

This is a careful and systematic simulation study that convincingly illustrates a role for intrinsic resonance properties in suppressing the effects of cellular and network heterogeneities in a continuous attractor network model of grid cell firing patterns. The study shows that overly simplified models of neurons can lead to fragility in important network level behaviour and that intrinsic neuronal properties strongly influence relevant network level dynamics. This an important result that likely applies to a broad range of network models. Further investigation into the mechanism, possibly using a simplified model, would substantiate the simulation results and fully exploit the power of models in providing intuition and illustrating the generality of the observations.

(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:

After more than 20 years of intensive research the molecular machinery of Resurgent Currents (INaR), a non-canonical identity of currents mediated by voltage-activated sodium channels is still a mystery. In this paper, Ransdell and colleagues advance the conceptual framework with new experimental insight and a new kinetic model of INaR.

(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 is of interest to neuroscientists and psychologists working on perceptual decision-making and metacognition. Using a novel task varying the timing of covert decisions, together with sophisticated computational modelling, allowed identifying neural correlates of latent states related to confidence. The conclusions are in line with other papers identifying a dissociation between brain activity supporting performance and confidence, but provide a novel lens through which to understand these differences by focusing on confidence noise. An open issue is how to interpret conclusions about neural correlates of deviations from an ideal-observer model.

(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 provides further evidence for hemispheric asymmetry in the cortical control of manual actions based on intracranial (ECoG) recordings in human participants. Specifically, based a linear encoding model, the authors argue that movement encoding is more bilateral in the left hemisphere than the right hemisphere. The paper is well-written and the analyses are largely appropriate for addressing the primary hypothesis, though it would be helpful to detail the variability of electrode placement across individuals (which arises for the clinical intervention being undertaken) and incorporate this variability into the statistical analysis. Given the novelty of this type of human data and the well established question being addressed, this paper will be of interest to both basic and clinical researchers in motor neuroscience.

(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:

This manuscript uses viral tracing to identify interneurons, throughout the spinal cord, which synapse onto motoneurons innervating pairs of flexor and extensor hindlimb muscles. Importantly, the data identifies single premotor interneurons which travel to, and presumably regulate the activity of, multiple motor pools. It is possible that these premotor neurons are involved in regulating muscle stiffness across a joint.

(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 work clearly demonstrates an important role for two specific sodium-permeable ion channels for maintaining the pacemaker-like firing of midbrain dopamine neurons. These neurons have a key role in motivation, reinforcement and locomotion, and have been implicated in Parkinson's disease and multiple neuropsychiatric disorders. The authors also find that the regular firing of these cells is robustly maintained even when one of the two channels is knocked out, through upregulation of the level of the other channel.

(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 paper details coordinated work to both measure and model long-range correlations in the primate brain, during either rest or a reach-to-grasp task. The careful analysis shows that these long-range correlations are modulated by behavioral state, and can exist in the absence of common input or long-range anatomical connections. An analytical model is developed that shows how a disordered system with heterogeneous connections can give rise to this kind of long-range correlations, with only short-range direct connections between 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 will be of interest to scientists across systems neuroscience or to those interested in how one component of a neural circuit contributes to downstream functions longitudinally. This study investigates how increasing feed forward inhibition in the dentate gyrus-CA3 hippocampal circuit impacts the formation and maintenance of context-specific ensembles in CA1 and the anterior cingulate cortex. However not all the claims of this manuscript are fully supported by the 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. Reviewer #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Evaluation Summary:

This paper is of interest to psychologists and neuroscientist investigating systems memory consolidation. It describes an experimental protocol that allows precise, quantitative behavioural measurements to assess the development and interactions of item and gist memory traces over extended time periods. The study design and hypotheses are elegant and bring together ideas from several other fields of cognitive psychology (working memory, category learning). However, additional analyses, and in particular, comparison of some simple computational models, are needed before the conclusions are justified.

(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 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

Evaluation Summary:

The experiments reported here directly assess the impact of theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation on neuronal activity. It will be of high potential interest to researchers using non-invasive brain stimulation. Although the results are highly intriguing, several methodological issues limit the inferences that can be drawn from the data as currently presented.

(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.)