Neuroscience

Inverted encoding of neural responses to audiovisual stimuli reveals super-additive multisensory enhancement

1. Zak Buhmann
2. Amanda K. Robinson
3. Jason B. Mattingley
4. Reuben Rideaux

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Despite the well-known facilitatory effect that integration across the senses has on behavioural measures, standard neuroimaging approaches have not yet produced reliable and precise neural correlates. In this paper, Buhman et al. harness the decoding of EEG responses, beyond univariate approaches, to capture these correlates in a robust, clear fashion. If confirmed, this approach could be important for estimating multisensory integration in humans across a wide range of different domains. However, the strength of evidence to support these claims is still incomplete because of the potentially confounding factor of eye movements, which the authors themselves identify in their data, and because of the discrepancies between the behavioural and EEG data.

Reviewed by eLife

Effort Drives Saccade Selection

1. Damian Koevoet
2. Laura Van Zantwijk
3. Marnix Naber
4. Sebastiaan Mathôt
5. Stefan Van der Stigchel
6. Christoph Strauch

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The study presents a useful investigation of the relation between pupil size and saccade decision in human observers. Based on the premise that pupil size is a reliable proxy of "effort", the authors conclude that less costly saccade targets are preferred. The data were collected and analyzed using solid and validated methodology, but the evidence supporting the claim that effort drives saccade target selection is incomplete and alternative explanations are not ruled out.

Reviewed by eLife

Activation of the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway suppresses mitochondrial dysfunction in C9orf72 ALS/FTD in vivo models and patient iNeurons

1. Wing Hei Au
2. Leonor Miller-Fleming
3. Alvaro Sanchez-Martinez
4. James A. K. Lee
5. Madeleine J. Twyning
6. Hiran A. Prag
7. Sarah Granger
8. Katie Roome
9. Laura Ferraiuolo
10. Heather Mortiboys
11. Alexander J. Whitworth

Reviewed by Review Commons

A ventral hippocampal-lateral septum pathway regulates social novelty preference

1. Maha Rashid
2. Sarah Thomas
3. Jennifer Isaac
4. Sonia Karkare
5. Hannah Klein
6. Malavika Murugan

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important manuscript uses circuit mapping, chemogenetics, and optogenetics to demonstrate a novel hippocampal lateral septal circuit that regulates social novelty behaviours and shows that downstream of the hippocampal septal circuit, septal projections to the ventral tegmental area are necessary for general novelty discrimination. The strength of the evidence supporting the claims is convincing but would be strengthened by the inclusion of additional functional assays. The work will be of interest to systems and behavioural neuroscientists who are interested in the brain mechanisms of social behaviours.

Reviewed by eLife

Distance and grid-like codes support the navigation of abstract social space in the human brain

1. Zilu Liang
2. Simeng Wu
3. Jie Wu
4. Wen-Xu Wang
5. Shaozheng Qin
6. Chao Liu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study tackles a significant question: Does the brain apply spatial navigation systems to evaluate decision options in conceptual social spaces? The investigation is useful as it seeks to address this intriguing hypothesis. The findings offer partial support: a solid analysis revealed characteristic grid-like patterns associated with decision-making directions. However, it remains uncertain whether these effects are genuinely due to navigating a conceptual social space or potentially confounded by changes in visual stimuli. The experimental design may not be capable of definitively resolving this issue.

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Genetically defined nucleus incertus neurons differ in connectivity and function

1. Emma D Spikol
2. Ji Cheng
3. Michelle Macurak
4. Abhignya Subedi
5. Marnie E Halpern

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents an important finding on the anatomical connectivity and functional roles of the previously uncharacterized neuronal populations in the nucleus incertus. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, with imaging and manipulations of the genetically targeted populations of neurons. The work presents a significant milestone for future mechanistic studies of the nucleus incertus.

Reviewed by eLife

Visual homogeneity computations in the brain enable solving property-based visual tasks

1. Georgin Jacob
2. R. T. Pramod
3. S. P. Arun

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study uses carefully designed experiments to generate a useful behavioural and neuroimaging dataset on visual cognition. The results provide solid evidence for the involvement of higher-order visual cortex in processing visual oddballs and asymmetry. However, the evidence provided for the very strong claims of homogeneity as a novel concept in vision science, separable from existing concepts such as target saliency, is inadequate.

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Neural activity ramps in frontal cortex signal extended motivation during learning

1. Josue M Regalado
2. Ariadna Corredera Asensio
3. Theresa Haunold
4. Andrew C Toader
5. Yan Ran Li
6. Lauren A Neal
7. Priyamvada Rajasethupathy

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important manuscript provides compelling experimental evidence of extended motivational signals encoded in the mouse anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) that are implemented by orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)-to-ACC signaling during learning. The experimental methods used were state-of-the-art. These results will be of interest to those interested in cortical function, learning, and/or motivation.

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Neurexins control the strength and precise timing of glycinergic inhibition in the auditory brainstem

1. He-Hai Jiang
2. Ruoxuan Xu
3. Xiupeng Nie
4. Zhenghui Su
5. Xiaoshan Xu
6. Ruiqi Pang
7. Yi Zhou
8. Fujun Luo

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides important insights into the role of neurexins as regulators of synaptic strength and timing at the glycinergic synapse between neurons of the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body and the lateral superior olive, key components of the auditory brainstem circuit involved in computing sound source location from differences in the intensity of sounds arriving at the two ears. Through an elegant combination of genetic manipulation, fluorescence in-situ hybridization, ex vivo slice electrophysiology, pharmacology and optogenetics, the authors provide compelling and rigorous evidence to support their claims. While further work is needed to reveal the mechanistic basis by which neurexins influence glycinergic neurotransmission, this work will be of interest to both auditory and synaptic neuroscientists.

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Tracking the neurodevelopmental trajectory of beta band oscillations with optically pumped magnetometer-based magnetoencephalography

1. Lukas Rier
2. Natalie Rhodes
3. Daisie O Pakenham
4. Elena Boto
5. Niall Holmes
6. Ryan M Hill
7. Gonzalo Reina Rivero
8. Vishal Shah
9. Cody Doyle
10. James Osborne
11. Richard W Bowtell
12. Margot Taylor
13. Matthew J Brookes

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides important evidence supporting the ability of a new type of neuroimaging, OPM-MEG system, to measure beta-band oscillation in sensorimotor tasks in 2-14 years old children and to demonstrate the corresponding development changes, since neuroimaging methods with high spatiotemporal resolution that could be used on small children are quite limited. The evidence supporting the conclusion is compelling. This work will be of interest to the neuroimaging and developmental science communities.

Reviewed by eLife