Neuroscience

Evaluation Summary:

This study, which will be of interest to neuroscientists in the fields of learning and memory, somatosensation, and motor behavior, uses systems neuroscience tools to expand our view how the postero-medial (POm) nucleus of the thalamus contributes to goal-directed behavior. The reviewers suggested additional ontogenetic experiments to clarify the nature and specificity of those roles. They also indicated that certain alternative explanations to the experimental observations could be addressed for a more balanced presentation and interpretation of the results.

(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 compares the properties of UV cone output synapses in different regions of the zebrafish retina using a combination of electron microscopy, quantitative imaging and computational modeling. They relate these differences to ultrastructural differences in synaptic ribbons and evaluate them using a previously-developed biophysical model for the operation of the synapse. The finding of regional differences in ribbon behavior is novel and suggests an under-appreciated degree of control of release by ribbon structure and behavior. The presentation of some of the results, particularly the model, could be strengthened.

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

Evaluation Summary:

The authors assessed multivariate relations between a dimensionality-reduced symptom space and brain imaging features, using a large database of individuals with psychosis-spectrum disorders (PSD). Demonstrating both high stability and reproducibility of their approaches, this work showed a promise that diagnosis or treatment of PSD can benefit from a proposed data-driven brain-symptom mapping framework. It is therefore of broad potential interest across cognitive and translational 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. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Evaluation Summary:

Cohen and Baldassano present analyses of a large publicly available set of neuroimaging data from children and adolescents watching an animated movie, and is likely be of interest to neuroscientists interested in methods for analyzing naturalistic neuroimaging data, or those interested in the development of narrative processing in the brain. The results are not embedded in a strong theoretical framework and it is not yet clear which hypotheses are supported and which are refuted. However, the methodological approach developed here is a valuable addition to the repertoire of developmental 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, Reviewer #2 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

Evaluation Summary:

Vinbert et al. provide a conceptual replication on individual differences in conditioned skin conductance response during fear acquisition training and BOLD fMRI in a large sample (N=285) of healthy individuals (mono- and dizygotic twins). The authors report results that are in line with previous work and new results from a whole-brain analysis and suggest unique and shared contributions of individual brain regions. This is a timely and well-conducted replication study, the sample size is large for this area, and there are robustness (multiverse) analyses in place to ensure that findings are not driven by particular analysis choices.

(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 article is of general interest to scientists who perform two-photon calcium imaging in vivo and explore the link between function and structure in real neural networks. The development of efficient approaches to estimate true correlations between large sets of noisy individual neurons based on realistic and thus limited observation time is a key to better understand functional local circuits. The effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by simulations and applied on real data, but several steps in its procedure remain to be clarified in the current form of the manuscript to be usable by a wide range of users.

(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 will be of interest to neuroscientists studying the effects of cholinergic modulation throughout the brain. It provides strong support for the view that activity in the basal forebrain cholinergic system is not monolithic, but varies across the rostrocaudal axis, consistent with previous reports of differential connectivity of these areas. Strong evidence for regional differences in cholinergic responses collected simultaneously under multiple behavioral conditions provides valuable context for interpreting variability in existing and future studies.

(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 examined the neural mechanism underlying stimulus-outcome associations. Using a series of sophisticated experiments with otpogenetics and pharmacogenetics, the authors show that interactions between the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the lateral part of the orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC) play critical role in learning to predict the identity of outcome predicted by a cue, but not in learning to predict reward generally. These results extend our understanding of how BLA and lOFC regulate the formation of associative learning and subsequent decision-making.

(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:

The study by Vanacker et al examines the effect of activating GFAP expressing cells within the POA and ARC on the activity of GnRH and TAC2 neurons as well as LH levels. The authors found that activation of GFAP POA cells activated GnRH neurons and increased circulating LH levels, limited to intact males. Activation of ARC GFAP cells failed to alter TAC2 activity or LH levels. Inhibition of POA GFAP cells or activation of POA GFAP cells in females failed to alter the firing rate of GnRH neurons. The study is largely well done and clearly 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.)

Evaluation Summary:

Yamagata et al., present a new transgenic mouse where the cells expressing the gene Scn1a also express green fluorescent protein. This new model is an important contribution to the study of Dravet Syndrome- an epileptic disorder, that is often drug-resistant, where ~80% of patients have loss-of-function mutations in SCN1A. This study confirms the well-known presence of Scn1a in interneurons and identifies Scn1a-expressing subpopulations of cortical neurons that could also potentially contribute to the symptoms of Dravet Syndrome.

(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.)