Neuroscience

Striatal Crosstalk Between Dopamine and Serotonin Systems

1. Yu Liu
2. Juan Enriquez Traba
3. Christian Lüscher

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful study employs optogenetics, genetically-encoded dopamine and serotonin sensors, and patch-clamp electrophysiology to investigate modulations of neurotransmitter release between striatal dopamine and serotonin neurons - a topic of interest to neuroscientists studying the basal ganglia. The results suggest that the dopamine and serotonin systems operate largely in parallel, with the activation of serotonin neurons resulting in a small, transient dopamine release. The authors suggest that this interaction occurs via glutamate release in the ventral tegmental area, findings that are closely related to previous work. Some conclusions are incomplete requiring larger samples-sizes and controls.

Reviewed by eLife

Bayesian meta-analysis reveals the mechanistic role of slow oscillation-spindle coupling in sleep-dependent memory consolidation

1. Thea Ng
2. Eunsol Noh
3. Rebecca MC Spencer

Reviewed by eLife

Cellular and circuit features distinguish mouse dentate gyrus semilunar granule cells and granule cells activated during contextual memory formation

1. Laura Dovek
2. Mahboubeh Ahmadi
3. Krista Marrero
4. Edward Zagha
5. Vijayalakshmi Santhakumar

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful study describes distinctive characteristics of dentate gyrus granule cells and semilunar cells that are recruited during contextual memory processing. The study provides solid evidence to suggest mechanisms that may be involved in the recruitment of neurons into memory engrams in the dentate gyrus.

Reviewed by eLife

Neural coding of multiple motion speeds in visual cortical area MT

1. Xin Huang
2. Bikalpa Ghimire
3. Anjani Sreeprada Chakrala
4. Steven Wiesner

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study concerns how macaque visual cortical area MT represents stimuli composed of more than one speed of motion. The study is valuable because little is known about how the visual pathway segments and preserves information about multiple stimuli, and the study involves perceptual reports from both humans and one monkey regarding whether there are one or two speeds in the stimulus. The study presents compelling evidence that (on average) MT neurons shift from faster-speed-takes-all at low speeds to representing the average of the two speeds at higher speeds. Ultimately, this study raises intriguing questions about how exactly the response patterns in visual cortical area MT might preserve information about each speed, since such information could potentially be lost in an average response as described here, depending on assumptions about how MT activity is evaluated by other visual areas.

Reviewed by eLife

Spatial frequency adaptation modulates population receptive field sizes

1. Ecem Altan
2. Catherine A Morgan
3. Steven C Dakin
4. D Samuel Schwarzkopf

Reviewed by eLife

How infant brains fold: Sulcal deepening is linked to development of sulcal span, thickness, curvature, and microstructure

1. Sarah S. Tung
2. Xiaoqian Yan
3. Bella Fascendini
4. Christina Tyagi
5. Charleny Martinez Reyes
6. Keithan Ducre
7. Karla Perez
8. Ahmad Allen
9. Juliet Horenziak
10. Hua Wu
11. Boris Keil
12. Vaidehi S. Natu
13. Kalanit Grill-Spector

Reviewed by preLights

Progressive neural engagement within the IFG-pMTG circuit as gesture and speech entropy and MI advances

1. Wanying Zhao
2. Zhouyi Li
3. Xiang Li
4. Yi Du

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful study uses brain stimulation and electroencephalography to study speech-gesture integration. It investigates the role of frontotemporal regions in integrating linguistic and extra-linguistic information during communication, focusing on the inferior frontal gyrus and posterior middle temporal gyrus. Reliance on activation patterns of tightly-coupled brain regions over short timescales leads to incomplete support for the study's conclusions due to conceptual and methodological limitations.

Reviewed by eLife

High-throughput synapse profiling reveals cell-type-specific spatial configurations in the fly brain

1. Hongyang Wu
2. Yoh Maekawa
3. Sayaka Eno
4. Shu Kondo
5. Nobuhiro Yamagata
6. Hiromu Tanimoto

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important work introduces a splitGFP-based labeling tool with an analysis pipeline for the synaptic scaffold protein bruchpilot, with tests in the adult Drosophila mushroom bodies, a learning center in the Drosophila brain. The evidence supporting the conclusions is solid. However, additional controls, validation of synapse-specificity, validation of activity-dependence, details on image processing, and additional functional experiments are needed to strengthen the study.

Reviewed by eLife

PD-linked LRRK2 G2019S mutation impairs astrocyte morphology and synapse maintenance via ERM hyperphosphorylation

1. Shiyi Wang
2. Ryan Baumert
3. Gabrielle Séjourné
4. Dhanesh Sivadasan Bindu
5. Kylie Dimond
6. Kristina Sakers
7. Leslie Vazquez
8. Jessica L Moore
9. Christabel Xin Tan
10. Tetsuya Takano
11. Maria Pia Rodriguez
12. Nick Brose
13. Luke Bradley
14. Reed Lessing
15. Scott H Soderling
16. Albert R La Spada
17. Cagla Eroglu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study identifies astrocyte-intrinsic mechanisms by which the LRRK2 G2019S, a mutation linked to familial Parkinson's disease, disrupts synaptic integrity in the anterior cingulate cortex. The findings are convincing, as they rely on a comprehensive set of in vivo and in vitro genetic, biochemical, proteomic, and electrophysiological approaches. They are important because of their translational value, being validated in both mouse models and post-mortem human samples.

Reviewed by eLife

Development of Auditory and Spontaneous Movement Responses to Music over the First Year of Life

1. Trinh Nguyen
2. Félix Bigand
3. Susanne Reisner
4. Atesh Koul
5. Roberta Bianco
6. Gabriela Markova
7. Stefanie Hoehl
8. Giacomo Novembre

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study offers important insights into the development of infants' responses to music based on the exploration of EEG neural auditory responses and video-based movement analysis. The convincing results revealed that evoked responses emerge between 3 and 12 months of age, but data analysis requires further refinement to fully complement the findings related to movement in response to music. This study will be of significant interest to developmental psychologists and neuroscientists, as well as researchers interested in music processing and in the translation of perception into action.

Reviewed by eLife