Neuroscience

A functional topography within the cholinergic basal forebrain for encoding sensory cues and behavioral reinforcement outcomes

1. Blaise Robert
2. Eyal Y Kimchi
3. Yurika Watanabe
4. Tatenda Chakoma
5. Miao Jing
6. Yulong Li
7. Daniel B Polley

• Curated by eLife

  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.)

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A bidirectional corticoamygdala circuit for the encoding and retrieval of detailed reward memories

1. Ana C Sias
2. Ashleigh K Morse
3. Sherry Wang
4. Venuz Y Greenfield
5. Caitlin M Goodpaster
6. Tyler M Wrenn
7. Andrew M Wikenheiser
8. Sandra M Holley
9. Carlos Cepeda
10. Michael S Levine
11. Kate M Wassum

• Curated by eLife

  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.)

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A role for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-expressing cells in the regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) but not arcuate kisspeptin neuron output in male mice

1. Charlotte Vanacker
2. R Anthony Defazio
3. Charlene M Sykes
4. Suzanne M Moenter

• Curated by eLife

  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.)

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Scn1a-GFP transgenic mouse revealed Nav1.1 expression in neocortical pyramidal tract projection neurons

1. Tetsushi Yamagata
2. Ikuo Ogiwara
3. Tetsuya Tatsukawa
4. Toshimitsu Suzuki
5. Yuka Otsuka
6. Nao Imaeda
7. Emi Mazaki
8. Ikuyo Inoue
9. Natsuko Tokonami
10. Yurina Hibi
11. Shigeyoshi Itohara
12. Kazuhiro Yamakawa

• Curated by eLife

  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.)

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Calcium dependence of neurotransmitter release at a high fidelity synapse

1. Abdelmoneim Eshra
2. Hartmut Schmidt
3. Jens Eilers
4. Stefan Hallermann

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The authors examined the Ca-dependence of exocytosis at cerebellar mossy fiber boutons using eectrophysiology, Ca imaging, Ca uncaging and capacitance measurements. The study reveals the presence of a high affinity Ca sensor for exocytosis, a shallow, seemingly non-saturating relationship between Ca and release or Ca and synaptic delay, a high-affinity sensory for priming of vesicles with very low (near basal) Ca levels, a late rate of release that is independent of Ca concentration (presumably due to sensor saturation), and extremely fast peak kinetics of release. This work contributes to a comparative view of synapses. These general approaches have been used at other synapses over many years by Neher and others, and they show intriguing differences among different types of synapse that are likely functionally significant. A strength of this manuscript is the masterful implementation and explanation of the techniques. The recordings at physiological temperatures, pushing-the-envelope for speed of capacitance measurements, the very careful measurement of KDs of indicators, and the unbiased testing of diverse modern-day kinetic models for release, all combine to lend the paper reliability and give it lasting value.

  (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.)

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LAG3 is not expressed in human and murine neurons and does not modulate α‐synucleinopathies

1. Marc Emmenegger
2. Elena De Cecco
3. Marian Hruska‐Plochan
4. Timo Eninger
5. Matthias M Schneider
6. Melanie Barth
7. Elena Tantardini
8. Pierre de Rossi
9. Mehtap Bacioglu
10. Rebekah G Langston
11. Alice Kaganovich
12. Nora Bengoa‐Vergniory
13. Andrès Gonzalez‐Guerra
14. Merve Avar
15. Daniel Heinzer
16. Regina Reimann
17. Lisa M Häsler
18. Therese W Herling
19. Naunehal S Matharu
20. Natalie Landeck
21. Kelvin Luk
22. Ronald Melki
23. Philipp J Kahle
24. Simone Hornemann
25. Tuomas P J Knowles
26. Mark R Cookson
27. Magdalini Polymenidou
28. Mathias Jucker
29. Adriano Aguzzi

Reviewed by Review Commons

Stimulus-specific plasticity in human visual gamma-band activity and functional connectivity

1. Benjamin J Stauch
2. Alina Peter
3. Heike Schuler
4. Pascal Fries

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This MEG pupillometry study investigated the stimulus-specific plasticity in human visual gamma-band activity. The results show that both Gamma-band MEG and pupil size responses to visual stimuli adapt across stimulus repetitions. This work will be of broad interest to readers in the fields of non-human primate and human electrophysiology. The claims are fully supported by the data but the links between behavior, pupil size and MEG signals could be investigated further.

  (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.)

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The entorhinal cortex modulates trace fear memory formation and neuroplasticity in the mouse lateral amygdala via cholecystokinin

1. Hemin Feng
2. Junfeng Su
3. Wei Fang
4. Xi Chen
5. Jufang He

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This study implicates excitatory projections from cholecystokinin (CCK) entorhinal cortical neurons to the lateral amygdala in trace fear conditioning in mice. Behavioral, chemogenetic, optogenetic, and electrophysiological work show that these projections are critical for the acquisition of conditioned freezing to a trace conditioned stimulus. The identification of a novel circuit and genetically defined cell type for regulating fear memory formation important. However, whether this pathway is specifically involved in trace fear conditioning is unclear from the present results and further work is needed to address analytic and interpretational concerns.

  (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.)

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Information flows from hippocampus to auditory cortex during replay of verbal working memory items

1. Vasileios Dimakopoulos
2. Pierre Mégevand
3. Lennart H Stieglitz
4. Lukas Imbach
5. Johannes Sarnthein

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The basis for working memory is controversial in terms of any basis related to neuronal or synaptic activity in sensory cortex during maintenance and the involvement of non-sensory areas especially the frontal cortex and hippocampus. This work uses rare human intracranial recordings to examine another aspect, connectivity between areas, and demonstrates connectivity from sensory cortex to hippocampus during encoding in one frequency band and connectivity in a reverse sense during maintenance. The work has the potential to inform models of working memory.

  (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.)

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Rapid mechanical stimulation of inner-ear hair cells by photonic pressure

1. Sanjeewa Abeytunge
2. Francesco Gianoli
3. AJ Hudspeth
4. Andrei S Kozlov

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The manuscript addresses the long-standing problem of engineering an in vitro stimulation method for individual inner ear sensory hair bundles that adequately provides a uniform and rapid stimulus characteristic of native inner ear stimulation. The authors address this unmet need with development and characterization of a light-based stimulus to generate rapid photonic force capable of deflecting a range of hair bundle geometries, including amphibian and mammalian vestibular and auditory hair bundles. The manuscript conveys a message that will be of use for the wide community of researchers working on mechanosensory integration and more broadly for engineers and scientists interested in using light to generate force. The study is extremely elegant, well written with beautiful illustrations. This work will be without a doubt a great addition to 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 #1 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife