Neuroscience

Boundary conditions for synaptic homeodynamics during the sleep-wake cycle

1. Fukuaki L. Kinoshita
2. Rikuhiro G. Yamada
3. Koji L. Ode
4. Hiroki R. Ueda

Reviewed by Review Commons

Tachykinin1-expressing neurons in the parasubthalamic nucleus control active avoidance learning

1. Ruining Hu
2. Nannan Wu
3. Tong Liu
4. Liuting Zou
5. Songjie Lv
6. Xiao Huang
7. Rongfeng K Hu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful work identifies a key role for Tachykinin-1 parasubthalamic neurons in avoidance learning. At present, the evidence for the conclusions regarding fiber photometry, viral transfection, reporting of behavioral outcomes, and pathway-specificity is incomplete. This work will be of interest to neuroscientists studying neural mechanisms for avoidance and aversion.

Reviewed by eLife

NeuroSC: Exploring Neurodevelopment via Spatiotemporal Collation of Anatomical Networks

1. Noelle L. Koonce
2. Sarah E. Emerson
3. Dhananjay Bhaskar
4. Manik Kuchroo
5. Mark W. Moyle
6. Pura Arroyo-Morales
7. Nabor Vázquez Martínez
8. Jamie I. Emerson
9. Smita Krishnaswamy
10. William Mohler
11. Daniel Colón-Ramos

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  NeuroSCAN is an accessible and interactive tool for streamlined observation of neuronal morphology, membrane contact, and synaptic connectivity across developmental stages in the nematode C. elegans. This important tool relies on solid electron microscopy datasets. This resource will be of high interest to C. elegans researchers interested in nervous system wiring and circuit function.

Reviewed by eLife

Dissociable dynamic effects of expectation during statistical learning

1. Hannah H. McDermott
2. Federico De Martino
3. Caspar M. Schwiedrzik
4. Ryszard Auksztulewicz

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study is of significant relevance to the fields of predictive processing, perception, and learning. The well-designed paradigm allows the authors to avoid several common confounds in investigating predictions, such as stimulus familiarity and adaptation. Using a state-of-the-art multivariate EEG approach, the authors test the opposing process theory and find evidence in support of it, but some elements - especially the interactions across block - have only incomplete support at present. This could be strengthened via further analyses and justification.

Reviewed by eLife

Dissociable after-effects of prosocial acts: Effort is costly for others but valued for self

1. Ya Zheng
2. Rumeng Tang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The findings are considered valuable and have theoretical implications for the interdisciplinary field of value-based social decision-making. Support for the main claims is incomplete and these should be supported by further analyses.

Reviewed by eLife

Three-dimensional single-cell transcriptome imaging of thick tissues

1. Rongxin Fang
2. Aaron Halpern
3. Mohammed Mostafizur Rahman
4. Zhengkai Huang
5. Zhiyun Lei
6. Sebastian J Hell
7. Catherine Dulac
8. Xiaowei Zhuang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is an important technical method paper that details the development and quality assessment of a 3D MERFISH method to enable spatial transcriptomics of thick tissues, representing a major step forward in the technical capacity of the MERFISH. The evidence presented is convincing.

Reviewed by eLife

Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) activity is modulated by light and gates rapid phase shifts of the circadian clock

1. Andrea Brenna
2. Micaela Borsa
3. Gabriella Saro
4. Jürgen A Ripperger
5. Dominique A Glauser
6. Zhihong Yang
7. Antoine Adamantidis
8. Urs Albrecht

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important chronobiological study in mice suggests that light modulated activity of Cdk5 activity on the PKA-CaMK-CREB signaling pathway provides missing molecular mechanistic details to understand light-induced circadian clock phase delays during the early night, but not for phase advances in the morning. The authors provide convincing evidence bridging from behavioral to molecular/cellular experiments to neural activity imaging.

Reviewed by eLife

Change point estimation by the mouse medial frontal cortex during probabilistic reward learning

1. Cayla E Murphy
2. Hongli Wang
3. Heather K Ortega
4. Alex C Kwan
5. Huriye Atilgan

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study examined the role of the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex of mice in anticipating reward-value switch points in a two-armed bandit task. They demonstrate the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex is involved in task performance and use model-based methods to uncover the algorithmic processes affected by prefrontal cortex perturbations. If the claims were supported, this would be a valuable finding. Unfortunately, the reviewers recognised significant issues with the task design and analyses, making the evidence to support the role of the prefrontal cortex in anticipation of switches inadequate.

Reviewed by eLife

Glucocorticoids desensitize hypothalamic CRH neurons to norepinephrine and somatic stress activation via rapid nitrosylation-dependent regulation of α1 adrenoreceptor trafficking

1. Grant L Weiss
2. Laura M Harrison
3. Zhiying Jiang
4. Alyssa M Nielsen
5. Maximillian S Feygin
6. Sandy Nguyen
7. Parker S Tirrell
8. Jeffrey Tasker

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript describes work that is fundamental to our understanding of the mechanism of how stress regulates the noradrenergic system and the CRH system. Using a combination of ex vivo physiology and in vitro methods, the study provides compelling evidence as to the signaling mechanisms of how glucocorticoids impact adrenergic GPCRs in CRH cells via receptor trafficking. While the ex vivo work is specific to the hypothalamus, the mechanisms here could be extrapolated and investigated in other brain regions that may have similar signaling regulation.

Reviewed by eLife

Cold induces brain region-selective cell activity-dependent lipid metabolism

1. Hyeonyoung Min
2. Yale Y Yang
3. Yunlei Yang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This phenomenological study reported that cold exposure induced mRNA expression of genes related to lipid metabolism in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH). While the paper does not address cell-type specificity or the functional role of lipids in PVH, the findings might still serve as a useful basis for others to explore their relevance to brain responses to cold. In the revised manuscript, the authors made adequate editions, such as new immunostaining and immunoblotting of AGTL and HSL in the PVH, and pharmacological inhibition of lipid peroxidation and lipolysis. The authors also increased the sample size of some experiments and revised the text to limit their data interpretation. Thus, the reviewers considered that these studies are solid in conclusively describing how the PVH is reprogrammed at the level of gene expression by cold exposure.

Reviewed by eLife