Neuroscience

Functional imaging of nine distinct neuronal populations under a miniscope in freely behaving animals

1. Mary L Phillips
2. Nicolai T Urban
3. Taddeo Salemi
4. Zhe Dong
5. Ryohei Yasuda

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The new development of Neuroplex, a pipeline that links projection-defined neuronal identity to in vivo calcium activity within the same animal, is a valuable contribution to the field of neuroscience and beyond. The strength of evidence is judged to be solid, as the methods, data, and analyses broadly support the stated claims.

Reviewed by eLife

Serial Dependence Predicts Generalization in Perceptual Learning

1. Noga Pinchuk-Yacobi
2. Dov Sagi
3. Yoram S Bonneh

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study describes long-range serial dependence of performance on a visual texture discrimination training task that manipulated conditions to induce differing degrees of location transfer of learning. The authors re-analyzed a previously-published behavioral data set, generating compelling evidence from converging approaches that serial dependence effects can persist across multiple days post-training, and are impacted by whether training promotes more or less location transfer. Although underlying mechanisms for these processes remain unclear, these results will interest neuroscientists in general by informing our understanding of the importance of temporal integration to long-term perceptual learning and its propensity towards specificity or generalizability.

Reviewed by eLife

Material Damage to Multielectrode Arrays after Electrolytic Lesioning is in the Noise

1. Alice Tor
2. Stephen E Clarke
3. Iliana E Bray
4. Paul Nuyujukian
5. Brain Interfacing Laboratory

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful manuscript addresses a stability issue for long-term chronically implanted array recordings and electrolytic lesioning, which is relevant to both basic science and translational research. The authors provide a systematic scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of explanted arrays, evaluating electrode damage and sharing extensive datasets accessible through interactive plots. The strength of the evidence is solid, but it can be improved by performing additional analyses on complementary neurophysiology, functional, or histological data.

Reviewed by eLife

Neural signatures of model-based and model-free reinforcement learning across prefrontal cortex and striatum

1. Bruno Miranda
2. James L Butler
3. W M Nishantha Malalasekera
4. Timothy EJ Behrens
5. Peter Dayan
6. Steven W Kennerley

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study presents single-unit activity collected during model-based (MB) and model-free (MF) reinforcement learning in non-human primates. The dataset was carefully collected, and the statistical analyses, including the modeling, are rigorous. The evidence convincingly supports different roles for particular cortical and subcortical areas in representing key variables during reinforcement learning.

Reviewed by eLife

Sofosbuvir protects human brain organoids against SARS-CoV-2

1. Pinar Mesci
2. Angela Macia
3. Aurian Saleh
4. Laura Martin-Sancho
5. Xin Yin
6. Cedric Snethlage
7. Simoni Avansini
8. Sumit K. Chanda
9. Alysson Muotri

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases, ScreenIT

SARS-CoV-2 infects brain choroid plexus and disrupts the blood-CSF-barrier

1. Laura Pellegrini
2. Anna Albecka
3. Donna L. Mallery
4. Max J. Kellner
5. David Paul
6. Andrew P. Carter
7. Leo C. James
8. Madeline A. Lancaster

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases, ScreenIT, preLights

Working Memory Guides Perceptual Decisions Through Fast Capture and Slow Drift

1. Hyung-Bum Park
2. Weiwei Zhang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides important insights into how working memory shapes perceptual decisions, using a dual-task design, continuous mouse tracking, and hierarchical Bayesian modeling. By dissociating fast attentional capture effects from slower, sustained perceptual biases within single trials, the authors provide compelling evidence that working memory-perception interactions unfold through distinct dynamic processes rather than a single mechanism. This work will be of interest to researchers studying working memory, perception, decision-making, and mouse-tracking methodology.

Reviewed by eLife

Dynamic brain states during encoding and their post-encoding reinstatement predicts episodic memory in children

1. Yimeng Zeng
2. Sandhya P Chakravartti
3. Srikanth Ryali
4. Shaozheng Qin
5. Vinod Menon

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study uses a Bayesian framework to characterize latent brain state dynamics associated with memory encoding and performance in children, as measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging. The novelty of the approach offers valuable insights into memory-related brain activity, but the consideration of developmental changes in memory and brain dynamics, and the evidence to support the proposed mapping between specific states and distinct aspects of memory, are incomplete. This work will be of interest to researchers interested in cognitive neuroscience and the development of memory.

Reviewed by eLife

Cholinergic blockade reveals a role for human hippocampal theta in memory encoding but not retrieval

1. Tamara Gedankien
2. Jennifer Kriegel
3. Erfan Zabeh
4. David McDonagh
5. Bradley Lega
6. Joshua Jacobs

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental work advances our understanding of the role of human hippocampal theta oscillations in memory encoding and retrieval. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, using both scopolamine administration and intracranial EEG recordings. This work will be of broad interest to neuroscientists and has translational implications.

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 fundamental 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