Neuroscience

PKCδ is an activator of neuronal mitochondrial metabolism that mediates the spacing effect on memory consolidation

1. Typhaine Comyn
2. Thomas Preat
3. Alice Pavlowsky
4. Pierre-Yves Plaçais

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is a fundamental research study which identifies some of the molecular mechanisms underlying the energy costly process of memory consolidation. The strength of evidence is exceptional. The paper should be of broad interest because it establishes a clear mechanistic link between long-term memory processes and the energy-producing machinery in neurons.

Reviewed by eLife

Choline supplementation in early life improves and low levels of choline can impair outcomes in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease

1. Elissavet Chartampila
2. Karim S Elayouby
3. Paige Leary
4. John J LaFrancois
5. David Alcantara-Gonzalez
6. Swati Jain
7. Kasey Gerencer
8. Justin J Botterill
9. Stephen D Ginsberg
10. Helen E Scharfman

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this fundamental work, the authors demonstrated that maternal choline supplementation improved spatial memory, reduced hyperexcitability, and restored NeuN expression in a familial Alzheimer's disease mouse model. Interestingly, choline deficiency increased mortality, while paradoxically reduced hyperexcitability. Through behavioral, electrophysiological, and histological measures, the authors present convincing evidence supporting the significant role of maternal choline supplementation in protecting hippocampal functions vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease.

Reviewed by eLife

Altered visual cortex excitatory/inhibitory ratio following transient congenital visual deprivation in humans

1. Rashi Pant
2. Kabilan Pitchaimuthu
3. José Ossandón
4. Idris Shareef
5. Sunitha Lingareddy
6. Jürgen Finsterbusch
7. Ramesh Kekunnaya
8. Brigitte Röder

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This potentially useful study involves neuro-imaging and electrophysiology in a small cohort of congenital cataract patients after sight recovery and age-matched control participants with normal sight. It aims to characterize the effects of early visual deprivation on excitatory and inhibitory balance in the visual cortex. While the findings are taken to suggest the existence of persistent alterations in Glx/GABA ratio and aperiodic EEG signals, the evidence supporting these claims is incomplete. Specifically, small sample sizes, lack of a specific control cohort, and other methodological limitations will likely restrict the usefulness of the work, with relevance limited to scientists working in this particular subfield.

Reviewed by eLife

Spatial periodicity in grid cell firing is explained by a neural sequence code of 2-D trajectories

1. R.G. Rebecca
2. Giorgio A. Ascoli
3. Nate M. Sutton
4. Holger Dannenberg

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study aims to present a mathematical theory for why the periodicity of the hexagonal pattern of grid cell firing would be helpful for encoding 2D spatial trajectories. The idea is supported by solid evidence, but some of the comparisons of theory to the experimental data seem incomplete, and the reasoning supporting some of the assumptions made should be strengthened. The work would be of interest to neuroscientists studying neural mechanisms of spatial navigation.

Reviewed by eLife

Compressed sensing based approach identifies modular neural circuitry driving learned pathogen avoidance

1. Timothy Hallacy
2. Abdullah Yonar
3. Niels Ringstad
4. Sharad Ramanathan

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study describes a neural circuit contributing to two behavioral processes affecting pathogen avoidance in the nematode C. elegans. The method used to identify specific contributing neurons is innovative and the experimental evidence supporting the major claims is solid. This study will be of interest to neuroscientists studying behavior, in particular in C. elegans.

Reviewed by eLife

Astrocytes mediate two forms of spike timing-dependent depression at entorhinal cortex-hippocampal synapses

1. Irene Martínez-Gallego
2. Heriberto Coatl-Cuaya
3. Antonio Rodríguez-Moreno

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study by Cuaya et al. reveals and characterizes two distinct forms of spike timing-dependent long-term depression (t-LTD) at the synapses between excitatory afferents from lateral (LPP) and medial (MPP) perforant pathways to granule cells (GC) of the dentate gyrus (DG) in mice. The findings are valuable for the field of synaptic physiology and are based on solid electrophysiological data. The study extends current knowledge by elucidating additional plasticity mechanisms at PP-GC synapses, complementing existing literature.

Reviewed by eLife

Synaptic mechanisms modulate the spatiotemporal dynamics of striatal direct pathway neurons and motor output

1. John J Marshall
2. Jian Xu
3. Nai-Hsing Yeh
4. Seongsik Yun
5. Toshihiro Nomura
6. John N Armstrong
7. Jones G Parker
8. Anis Contractor

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This is a valuable investigation of how type 5 metabotropic receptor signaling contributes to regulation of striatal circuit dynamics, that focuses on its role in direct pathway striatal projection neurons. The range of methods deployed and levels of analysis undertaken are key strengths but concerns remain that make the conclusions incomplete at present. This study will be of great interest for its unique demonstration of metabotropic receptor regulation of striatal circuit dynamics, physiology and behavior.

Reviewed by eLife

LINC complex alterations are a hallmark of sporadic and familial ALS/FTD

1. Riccardo Sirtori
2. Michelle Gregoire
3. Emily Potts
4. Alicia Collins
5. Liviana Donatelli
6. Claudia Fallini

Reviewed by preLights

Glutamate neurotransmission from leptin receptor cells is required for typical puberty and reproductive function in female mice

1. Cristina Sáenz de Miera
2. Nicole Bellefontaine
3. Susan J Allen
4. Martin G Myers
5. Carol F Elias

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study reports that glutamate signaling in LepRb PMv neurons is necessary for leptin-dependent fertility. The data supporting the conclusion is solid. This work will be of interest to researchers in the fields of both reproductive and metabolic biology.

Reviewed by eLife

An allocentric human odometer for perceiving distances on the ground plane

1. Liu Zhou
2. Wei Wei
3. Teng Leng Ooi
4. Zijiang J He

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study reveals the use of an allocentric spatial reference frame in the updating perception of the location of a dimly lit target during locomotion. The evidence supporting this claim is compelling, based on a series of cleverly and carefully designed behavioral experiments. The results will be of interest not only to scientists who study perception, action and cognition but also to engineers who work on developing visually guided robots and self-driving vehicles.

Reviewed by eLife