Neuroscience

Two classes of amine/glutamate multi-transmitter neurons innervate Drosophila internal male reproductive organs

1. Marta Chaverra
2. John Paul Toney
3. Lizetta D Dardenne-Ankringa
4. Jace Tolleson Knee
5. Ann R Morris
6. Joseph B Wadhams
7. Sarah J Certel
8. R Steven Stowers

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study characterizes with rigorous methodology anatomical and functional aspects of the peripheral innervation of the Drosophila male reproductive tract. The convincing analysis reveals two distinct types of glutamatergic neurons that co-release either serotonin or octopamine. While serotonergic neurons are required for male fertility, octopaminergic neurons are dispensable. The work is providing invaluable insight into neurochemical control of insemination, peripheral motor control and neuromodulation in the male reproductive tract.

Reviewed by eLife

Affinity-guided labeling reveals P2X7 nanoscale membrane redistribution during BV2 microglial activation

1. Benoit Arnould
2. Adeline Martz
3. Pauline Belzanne
4. Francisco Andrés Peralta
5. Federico Cevoli
6. Volodya Hovhannisyan
7. Yannick Goumon
8. Eric Hosy
9. Alexandre Specht
10. Thomas Grutter

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors employ an unbiased, affinity-guided reagent to label P2X7 receptor and use super-resolution imaging to monitor P2X7 redistribution in response to inflammatory signaling. The evidence is convincing and the study will be valuable to those studying the dynamics of receptor distribution and clustering.

Reviewed by eLife

Local Inhibitory Dynamics Underpin Temporal Integration and Functional Segregation between Barrels and Septa in the Mouse Barrel Cortex

1. Ali Özgür Argunşah
2. Tevye Jason Stachniak
3. Jenq-Wei Yang
4. Linbi Cai
5. Alexander van der Bourg
6. Rahel Kastli
7. Theofanis Karayannis

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Argunşah et al. investigate the mechanisms underlying the differential response dynamics of barrel vs septa domains in shaping the responses to single vs multiple whiskers. Based on the observation of a higher density of SST+ interneurons in the septa, the authors investigate the hypothesis that Elfn1-dependent short-term plasticity shapes these responses. This important study is, however, supported by incomplete evidence; factors restricting the strength of evidence are the limited spatial resolution of the multi-unit activity, as well as the lack of a mechanistic explanation. This provocative and intellectually stimulating hypothesis provides a contribution to work on how different cell types shape cortical representation.

Reviewed by eLife

Neural basis of cognitive control signals in anterior cingulate cortex during delay discounting

1. Jeremy K Seamans
2. Shelby White
3. Mitchell Morningstar
4. Eldon Emberly
5. David Linsenbardt
6. Baofeng Ma
7. Cristine L Czachowski
8. Christopher C Lapish

Reviewed by eLife

Reactivation-coupled brain stimulation enables complete learning generalization

1. Yibo Xie
2. Minmin Wang
3. Yuan Gao
4. Baoyu Wu
5. Shaomin Zhang
6. Mengyuan Gong
7. Zoe Kourtzi
8. Ke Jia

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study shows that combining reactivation-based training with anodal tDCS yields an unusually broad generalization of visual perceptual learning, while preserving robust learning gains and markedly reducing total training time. Although the empirical evidence is solid, the proposed mechanistic account, i.e., the GABA modulation, disrupted offline consolidation and reduced perceptual overfitting, remains insufficiently substantiated, as these assumptions lack direct neurochemical support, and several alternative behavioral explanations and necessary control comparisons have not been fully addressed. The work will be of broad interest to researchers investigating brain plasticity, perceptual learning, and rehabilitation training.

Reviewed by eLife

Complimentary vertebrate Wac models exhibit phenotypes relevant to DeSanto-Shinawi Syndrome

1. Kang-Han Lee
2. April M Stafford
3. Maria Pacheco-Vergara
4. Karol Cichewicz
5. Cesar P Canales
6. Nicolas Seban
7. Melissa Corea
8. Darlene Rahbarian
9. Kelly E Bonekamp
10. Grant R Gillie
11. Dariangelly Pacheco Cruz
12. Alyssa M Gill
13. Hye-Eun Hwang
14. Katie L Uhl
15. Tara E Jager
16. Marwan Shinawi
17. Xiaopeng Li
18. Andre Obenaus
19. Shane Crandall
20. Juhee Jeong
21. Alex Nord
22. Cheol-Hee Kim
23. Daniel Vogt

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study establishes the first vertebrate models of DeSanto-Shinawi Syndrome, revealing conserved craniofacial and social and behavioral phenotypes across mouse and zebrafish that mirror key clinical features. The solid evidence is supported by behavioral, anatomical, and molecular analyses of Wac animal mutants that broadly support the authors' claims, though additional mechanistic investigation would strengthen the conclusions. This study sets a baseline for future mechanistic studies and reports a platform to test approaches to reverse phenotypes.

Reviewed by eLife

Spectral decomposition of local field potentials uncovers frequency-tuned gain modulation of working memory in primate visual system

1. Majid Roshanaei
2. Mohammad Reza Daliri
3. Zahra Bahmani
4. Kelsey Clark
5. Behrad Noudoost

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study offers a valuable contribution to understanding how working memory (WM) shapes neural processing in extrastriate cortex. By applying spectral decomposition to LFP recordings from primate middle temporal area (MT) during a spatial WM task, the authors show that lower-frequency components (theta, alpha, and beta, but not gamma or high-gamma) correlate with trial-by-trial gain modulation of visually evoked responses. However, certain aspects of the gain-modulation and statistical analyses are incomplete. A clearer and more comprehensive description of these components would substantially strengthen the manuscript.

Reviewed by eLife

Impaired excitability of fast-spiking neurons in a novel mouse model of KCNC1 epileptic encephalopathy

1. Eric R Wengert
2. Sophie R Liebergall
3. Teresa Jimenez
4. Melody A Cheng
5. Kelly H Markwalter
6. Jerome Clatot
7. Yerahm Hong
8. Leroy Arias
9. Eric D Marsh
10. Xiaohong Zhang
11. Theodoros Tsetsenis
12. Ala Somarowthu
13. Naiara Akizu
14. Ethan M Goldberg

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides important evidence for the mechanism underlying KCNC1-related developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. The authors have generated and characterized a new knock-in mouse with a pathogenic mutation found in patients to determine the synaptic and circuit mechanisms contributing to KCNC1-associated epilepsy. They provide convincing evidence for reduced excitability of parvalbumin-positive fast-spiking interneurons, but not in neighboring excitatory neurons, and suggest that this may contribute to seizures and premature death in the mice.

Reviewed by eLife

Barcode activity in a recurrent network model of the hippocampus enables efficient memory binding

1. Ching Fang
2. Jack W Lindsey
3. Larry F Abbott
4. Dmitriy Aronov
5. Selmaan N Chettih

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental work substantially advances our understanding of episodic memory by proposing a biologically plausible mechanism through which hippocampal barcode activity enables efficient memory binding and flexible recall. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, with rigorously validated computational models and alignment with experimental findings. The work will be of broad interest to neuroscientists and computational modelers studying memory and hippocampal function.

Reviewed by eLife

WAChRs are excitatory opsins sensitive to indoor lighting

1. Amanda J. Tose
2. Alberto A. Nava
3. Sara N. McGrath
4. Alan R. Mardinly
5. Alexander Naka

Reviewed by PREreview, Arcadia Science