Neuroscience

ARBEL: A Machine Learning Tool with Light-Based Image Analysis for Automatic Classification of 3D Pain Behaviors

1. Omer Barkai
2. Biyao Zhang
3. Bruna Lenfers Turnes
4. Maryam Arab
5. David A Yarmolinsky
6. Zihe Zhang
7. Lee B Barrett
8. Clifford J Woolf

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

The reuniens nucleus of the thalamus facilitates hippocampo-cortical dialogue during sleep

1. Diellor Basha
2. Amirmohammad Azarmehri
3. Elian Proulx
4. Sylvain Chauvette
5. Maryam Ghorbani
6. Igor Timofeev

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The important manuscript presents convincing evidence of temporal correlations during specific oscillatory activity between the prefrontal cortex, thalamic nucleus reuniens, and the hippocampus, in naturally sleeping animals. Such correlations represent solid evidence to support the notion that the thalamic nucleus reuniens participates in the hippocampal and prefrontal cortex dialogue subserving memory processes.

Reviewed by eLife

Highly sensitive in vivo detection of dynamic changes in enkephalins following acute stress

1. Marwa O Mikati
2. Petra Erdmann-Gilmore
3. Rose Connors
4. Sineadh M Conway
5. Jim Malone
6. Justin Woods
7. Robert W Sprung
8. R Reid Townsend
9. Ream Al-Hasani

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors adapt a previously-established method that permits detection of in vivo extracellular levels of two distinct enkephalin opioid peptides in response to stressful experiences in mice. The present study highlights the potential of measuring actual peptides by microdialysis-LC-MS. They use this approach in conjunction with fiber photometric calcium imaging to correlate enkephalin neuron activity and enkephalin release in response to repeated stress, providing convincing evidence that this improved approach can provide new insights into opioid signaling in-vivo. This important study provides a means to understand various behavioral states controlled by endogenous opioids and the nucleus accumbens, including hedonic and stress responses, in health and disease. This work will be of broad interest to the neuroscientific community.

Reviewed by eLife

Parkinson’s disease-associated Pink1 loss disrupts vesicle trafficking in Ensheathing glia causing dopaminergic neuron synapse loss

1. Lorenzo Ghezzi
2. Ulrike Pech
3. Nils Schoovaerts
4. Suresh Poovathingal
5. Kristofer Davie
6. Jochen Lamote
7. Roman Praschberger
8. Patrik Verstreken

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The preliminary data presented in this manuscript seem valuable. The data are currently incomplete and there are numerous technical concerns, some of which may arise from insufficient description of methodologies used.

Reviewed by eLife

Strikingly different neurotransmitter release strategies in dopaminergic subclasses

1. Ana Dorrego-Rivas
2. Darren J Byrne
3. Yunyi Liu
4. Menghon Cheah
5. Ceren Arslan
6. Marcela Lipovsek
7. Marc C Ford
8. Matthew S Grubb

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents solid evidence for distinct neurotransmitter release modalities between two subclasses of dopaminergic neurons in the olfactory bulb, highlighting an important finding that dendritic neurotransmitter release in anaxonic neurons and axonal neurotransmitter release in axon-bearing neurons, and GABAergic self-inhibition in anaxonic neurons emphasizes the functional differences between these neuronal subtypes. However, some experiments looked incomplete with a relatively small sample size (low n). The conclusion would benefit significantly from additional validations.

Reviewed by eLife

Mesoscale functional architecture in medial posterior parietal cortex

1. Riichiro Hira
2. Leah B Townsend
3. Ikuko T Smith
4. Che-Hang Yu
5. Jeffrey N Stirman
6. Yiyi Yu
7. Spencer LaVere Smith

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study measures the functional specialization of distinct subregions within the mouse posterior parietal cortex (PPC) using mesoscopic two-photon calcium imaging during visual discrimination and choice history-dependent tasks. It presents compelling evidence supporting the existence of functional specialized subregions within the PPC. The work will be of interest to system and computational neuroscientists interested in decision-making, working memory, and multisensory integration.

Reviewed by eLife

Orexin population activity precisely reflects net body movement across behavioral and metabolic states

1. Alexander L. Tesmer
2. Paulius Viskaitis
3. Dane Donegan
4. Eva F. Bracey
5. Nikola Grujic
6. Tommaso Patriarchi
7. Daria Peleg-Raibstein
8. Denis Burdakov

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study shows that the activity of hypothalamic hypocretin/orexin neurons (HONs) correlates with body movement over multiple behaviors. Sophisticated techniques and analyses showcase this link which appears to be unique to HONs. Evidence for this correlation is, however, incomplete as the confound of arousal with movement needs to be resolved since orexin also plays a key role in arousal. This work should be of interest to scientists studying peptidergic neurons, movement, energy regulation, and brain-body coordination.

Reviewed by eLife

Translatome analysis reveals cellular network in DLK-dependent hippocampal glutamatergic neuron degeneration

1. Erin M Ritchie
2. Dilan Acar
3. Siming Zhong
4. Qianyi Pu
5. Yunbo Li
6. Binhai Zheng
7. Yishi Jin

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript describes the impact of modulating signaling by a key regulatory enzyme, Dual Leucine Zipper Kinase (DLK), on hippocampal neurons. The results are interesting and will be important for scientists interested in synapse formation, axon specification, and cell death. The authors have carefully addressed the comments made by the reviewers and the findings are convincing in large part due to the use of extensive mouse genetics, detailed gene expression of enriched genes, and recognition of neuron vulnerability.

Reviewed by eLife

Enteric glia regulate Paneth cell secretion and intestinal microbial ecology

1. Aleksandra Prochera
2. Anoohya N Muppirala
3. Gavin A Kuziel
4. Salima Soualhi
5. Amy Shepherd
6. Liang Sun
7. Biju Issac
8. Harry J Rosenberg
9. Farah Karim
10. Kristina Perez
11. Kyle H Smith
12. Tonora H Archibald
13. Seth Rakoff-Nahoum
14. Susan J Hagen
15. Meenakshi Rao

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents important findings on the function of enteric glia expressing proteolipid protein 1 (PLP1+ glia). The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, although the inclusion of additional data showing the mechanisms by which PLP1+ enteric glia acts on Paneth cells would have strengthened the study. The work will be of interest to colleagues studying intestinal biology.

Reviewed by eLife

Increased reluctant vesicles underlie synaptic depression by GPR55 in axon terminals of cerebellar Purkinje cells

1. Takuma Inoshita
2. Shin-ya Kawaguchi

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is an important study reporting that activation of the presynaptic GPR55 receptor suppresses synaptic transmission by modulating GABA release through the reduction of the readily releasable pool without affecting the presynaptic AP waveform and calcium influx. The evidence supporting this claim is compelling and based on an impressive array of techniques including patch-clamp recordings from the axon terminals of cerebellar Purkinje cells and fluorescent imaging of vesicular exocytosis. However, a few technical issues leave some questions open, these include uncertainty regarding the specificity of pharmacological agents and the nature of the endogenous process that would activate this pathway in vivo. In the current form, the evidence indicating that synaptic vesicles become insensitive to VGCC activation in the presence of GPR55 is weak and would need to be supported with additional experimental data.

Reviewed by eLife