Neuroscience

Conservation of neuron-astrocyte coordinated activity among sensory processing centers of the developing brain

1. Vered Kellner
2. Patrick Parker
3. Xuelong Mi
4. Guoqiang Yu
5. Gesine Saher
6. Dwight E. Bergles

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Serotonergic amplification of odor-evoked neural responses maps onto flexible behavioral outcomes

1. Yelyzaveta Bessonova
2. Baranidharan Raman

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This useful work shows that the experimental application of serotonin to locust antennal lobes induces an increased feeding-related response to some odorants (even in food-satiated animals). To explain how the odorant-specific effects are seen despite similar consequences of 5-HT modulation on all projection neuronal types, the authors propose a simple quantitative model built around projection with different downstream connections. While they are consistent with the authors' conclusions, the current panel of experiments is incomplete and additional future work will be required to fully support the conclusions the authors currently draw from their observations.

Reviewed by eLife

EFEMP1 contributes to light-dependent ocular growth in zebrafish

1. Jiaheng Xie
2. Bang V. Bui
3. Patrick T. Goodbourn
4. Patricia R. Jusuf

Reviewed by Review Commons

Syngap1 regulates the synaptic drive and membrane excitability of Parvalbumin-positive interneurons in mouse auditory cortex

1. Ruggiero Francavilla
2. Bidisha Chattopadhyaya
3. Jorelle Linda Damo Kamda
4. Vidya Jadhav
5. Saïd Kourrich
6. Jacques L. Michaud
7. Graziella Di Cristo

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides valuable evidence indicating that SynGap1 regulates the synaptic drive and membrane excitability of parvalbumin- and somatostatin-positive interneurons in the auditory cortex. Since haplo-insufficiency of SynGap1 has been linked to intellectual disabilities without a well-defined underlying cause, the central question of this study is timely. However, the support for the authors' conclusions is incomplete in general and some parts of the experimental evidence are inadequate. Specifically, the manuscript requires further work to properly evaluate the impact on synaptic currents, intrinsic excitability parameters, and morphological features.

Reviewed by eLife

Scalable, optically-responsive human neuromuscular junction model reveals convergent mechanisms of synaptic dysfunction in familial ALS

1. Daniel Chen
2. Polyxeni Philippidou
3. Bianca de Freitas Brenha
4. Ashleigh E. Schaffer
5. Helen C. Miranda

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This is an important study describing a neuromuscular junction co-culture system using human cells that the authors use to study the synaptic consequences of ALS mutations. The data supporting the system are solid and show the value of using myotubes and motor neurons from the same donor. The study will be of interest to researchers who model neuromuscular junction disorders, however, the authors could more comprehensively compare and contrast their system with previous literature describing other similar models. There are also technical weaknesses that limit the interpretation of specific findings.

Reviewed by eLife

Implicit motor adaptation patterns in a redundant motor task manipulating a stick with both hands

1. Toshiki Kobayashi
2. Daichi Nozaki

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents a valuable finding on how the sensorimotor control system deals with redundancy within our body, based on a novel bimanual task. The evidence supporting the authors' claims is convincing, as demonstrated over four different experiment. The work will be of interest to researchers from the motor control community and related fields, and further investigation into the interpretation of the findings could increase the generalisation of the study to a broader audience.

Reviewed by eLife

A synergistic workspace for human consciousness revealed by Integrated Information Decomposition

1. Andrea I Luppi
2. Pedro AM Mediano
3. Fernando E Rosas
4. Judith Allanson
5. John Pickard
6. Robin L Carhart-Harris
7. Guy B Williams
8. Michael M Craig
9. Paola Finoia
10. Adrian M Owen
11. Lorina Naci
12. David K Menon
13. Daniel Bor
14. Emmanuel A Stamatakis

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This article presents important results describing how the gathering, integration, and broadcasting of information in the brain changes when consciousness is lost either through anesthesia or injury. They provide convincing evidence to support their conclusions, although the paper relies on a single analysis tool (partial information decomposition) and could benefit from a clearer explication of its conceptual basis, methodology, and results. The work will be of interest to both neuroscientists and clinicians interested in basic and clinical aspects of consciousness.

Reviewed by eLife

Hippocampus and striatum show distinct contributions to longitudinal changes in value-based learning in middle childhood

1. Johannes Falck
2. Lei Zhang
3. Laurel Raffington
4. Johannes Julius Mohn
5. Jochen Triesch
6. Christine Heim
7. Yee Lee Shing

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this work, the authors make a valuable contribution based on convincing evidence that children 6-to-7-years-old improve in 2 years of development towards utilising more optimal value-based decision-making strategies while performing a reinforcement learning task. They found that delayed feedback learning was associated with volume in the hippocampus while immediate feedback learning was not. Striatal volume was associated with both forms of learning, in contrast to prior research funding in adults. Brain-behaviour correlations were stable across the 2-year period, despite the hippocampus increasing in volume and striatal volume remaining stable.

Reviewed by eLife

Non-Hebbian plasticity transforms transient experiences into lasting memories

1. Islam Faress
2. Valentina Khalil
3. Wen-Hsien Hou
4. Andrea Moreno
5. Niels Andersen
6. Rosalina Fonseca
7. Joaquin Piriz
8. Marco Capogna
9. Sadegh Nabavi

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents important novel findings on how heterosynaptic plasticity can transform a weak associative memory into a stronger one, or produce a memory when stimuli were not paired. This work expands our views on the role of temporal- and input-specific plasticity in shaping learning and memory processes. The evidence, based on state-of-the-art in vivo manipulations, activity recordings, and behavioral analysis, is convincing. Findings will be of broad interest to neuroscience community, and especially those studying synaptic plasticity and associative memory.

Reviewed by eLife

Axon arrival times and physical occupancy establish visual projection neuron integration on developing dendrites in the Drosophila optic glomeruli

1. Brennan W. McFarland
2. HyoJong Jang
3. Natalie Smolin
4. Bryce W. Hina
5. Michael J. Parisi
6. Kristen C. Davis
7. Timothy J. Mosca
8. Tanja A. Godenschwege
9. Aljoscha Nern
10. Yerbol Z. Kurmangaliyev
11. Catherine R. von Reyn

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study establishes a two distinct feature-encoding visual projection neurons in Drosophila as a model for the development of synaptic specificity. The comprehensive description of connectivity development in this system is valuable to a more general understanding of principles that underlie neural circuit development. The high-quality supporting evidence is convincing.

Reviewed by eLife