Neuroscience

Embedding stochastic dynamics of the environment in spontaneous activity by prediction-based plasticity

1. Toshitake Asabuki
2. Claudia Clopath

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is an important study that investigates how neural networks can learn to stochastically replay presented sequences of activity according to learned transition probabilities. The authors use error-based excitatory plasticity to minimize the difference between internally predicted activity and stimulus-driven activity, and inhibitory plasticity to maintain E-I balance. The approach is solid but the choice of learning rules and parameters is not always always justified, with some unclear aspects to the formal derivation.

Reviewed by eLife

Learning enhances behaviorally relevant representations in apical dendrites

1. Sam E Benezra
2. Kripa B Patel
3. Citlali Perez Campos
4. Elizabeth MC Hillman
5. Randy M Bruno

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study uses calcium imaging to show an increase in the selectivity of the sensory-evoked response in the apical dendritic tuft of layer 5 barrel cortex neurons as mice learn a whisker-dependent discrimination task. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling, and this work will be of great interest to neuroscientists working on reward-based learning and sensory processing.

Reviewed by eLife

Impaired excitability of fast-spiking neurons in a novel mouse model of KCNC1 epileptic encephalopathy

1. Eric R Wengert
2. Melody A Cheng
3. Sophie R Liebergall
4. Kelly H Markwalter
5. Yerahm Hong
6. Leroy Arias
7. Eric D Marsh
8. Xiaohong Zhang
9. Ala Somarowthu
10. Ethan M Goldberg

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides valuable evidence for the mechanism underlying KCNC1-related developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. The authors have generated and characterized a new knock-in mouse with a pathogenic mutation found in patients to determine the synaptic and circuit mechanisms contributing to KCNC1-associated epilepsy. They provide convincing evidence for reduced excitability of parvalbumin-positive fast-spiking interneurons, but not in neighboring excitatory neurons, and suggest that this may contribute to seizures and premature death in the mice.

Reviewed by eLife

Drift in Individual Behavioral Phenotype as a Strategy for Unpredictable Worlds

1. Ryan Maloney
2. Athena Ye
3. Sam-Keny Saint-Pre
4. Tom Alisch
5. David Zimmerman
6. Nicole Pittoors
7. Benjamin L de Bivort

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Maloney et al. offer an important contribution to understanding the potential ecological mechanisms behind individual behavioral variation. By providing compelling theoretical data and convincing experimental data, the study bridges the gap between individual, apparently stochastic behavior with its evolutionary purpose and consequences. The work further provides a testable and generalizable model framework to explore behavioral drift in other behaviors.

Reviewed by eLife

Dependence of Contextual Modulation in Macaque V1 on Interlaminar Signal Flow

1. Shude Zhu
2. Yu Jin Oh
3. Ethan B Trepka
4. Xiaomo Chen
5. Tirin Moore

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The results by Zhu et al provide valuable insights into the representation of border ownership in area V1. They used neuropixel recording to demonstrate the clustering of border ownership, and compared cross-correlation functions between neurons in different layers to demonstrate that they depend on the type of stimulus. The strength of the evidence is solid but can be improved by performing additional analyses and accounting for the differences in classical and non-classical receptive field stimulation conditions.

Reviewed by eLife

Distinct release properties of glutamate/GABA co-transmission serve as a frequency-dependent filtering of supramammillary inputs

1. Himawari Hirai
2. Kohtarou Konno
3. Miwako Yamasaki
4. Masahiko Watanabe
5. Takeshi Sakaba
6. Yuki Hashimotodani

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental work provides evidence that glutamate and GABA are released from different synaptic vesicles at supramammillary axon terminals onto granule cells of the dentate gyrus. The study uses complementary electrophysiological and anatomical experimental approaches. Together, these provide convincing evidence that the co-release of glutamate and GABA from different vesicles within the same terminal could modulate granule cell firing in a frequency-dependent manner, although thorough elimination of alternative mechanisms would have strengthened the study. The work will be of interest to neuroscientists investigating co-release of neurotransmitters in various synapses in the brain and those interested in subcortical control of hippocampal function.

Reviewed by eLife

Brainstem neurons coordinate the bladder and urethra sphincter for urination

1. Xing Li
2. Xianping Li
3. Jun Li
4. Han Qin
5. Shanshan Liang
6. Jun Li
7. Tingliang Jian
8. Xia Wang
9. Lingxuan Yin
10. Chunhui Yuan
11. Xiang Liao
12. Hongbo Jia
13. Xiaowei Chen
14. Jiwei Yao

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this important study, Li et al. identify estrogen receptor 1-expressing neurons (ESR1+) in Barrington's nucleus as key regulators coordinating both bladder contraction and the relaxation of the external urethral sphincter. Using appropriate and validated methodologies aligned with the current state of the art, the data are convincing and of generally high quality.

Reviewed by eLife

Circadian modulation of mosquito host-seeking persistence by Pigment-Dispersing Factor impacts daily biting patterns

1. Linhan Dong
2. Richard Hormigo
3. Jord M. Barnett
4. Chloe Greppi
5. Laura B. Duvall

Reviewed by preLights

Microglia signals to fibroblasts and neural progenitor cells to control regenerative neurogenesis after spinal cord injury in zebrafish

1. Alberto Docampo-Seara
2. M. Ilyas Cosacak
3. Kim Heilemann
4. Friederike Kessel
5. Ana-Maria Oprişoreanu
6. Markus Westphal
7. Özge Çark
8. Daniela Zöller
9. Josi Arnold
10. Anja Bretschneider
11. Alisa Hnatiuk
12. Nikolay Ninov
13. Catherina G. Becker
14. Thomas Becker

Reviewed by PREreview

Mapping patterns of thought onto brain activity during movie-watching

1. Raven Star Wallace
2. Bronte Mckeown
3. Ian Goodall-Halliwell
4. Louis Chitiz
5. Philippe Forest
6. Theodoros Karapanagiotidis
7. Bridget Mulholland
8. Adam Turnbull
9. Tamara Vanderwal
10. Samyogita Hardikar
11. Tirso RJ Gonzalez Alam
12. Boris C Bernhardt
13. Hao-Ting Wang
14. Will Strawson
15. Michael Milham
16. Ting Xu
17. Daniel S Margulies
18. Giulia L Poerio
19. Elizabeth Jefferies
20. Jeremy I Skipper
21. Jeffrey D Wammes
22. Robert Leech
23. Jonathan Smallwood

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents a valuable methodological advancement in quantifying thoughts over time. A novel multi-dimensional experience-sampling approach is presented, identifying data-driven patterns that the authors use to interrogate fMRI data collected during naturalistic movie-watching. The experimentation is inventive and the analyses carried out and results presented are convincing.

Reviewed by eLife