Neuroscience

Cerebellar Purkinje cells control posture in larval zebrafish (Danio rerio)

1. Franziska Auer
2. Katherine Nardone
3. Koji Matsuda
4. Masahiko Hibi
5. David Schoppik

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study successfully applies an innovative chemogenetic tool to investigate cerebellar function to advance our understanding of the contributions of Purkinje cell populations to postural control in larval zebrafish. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing and supported by rigorous statistical analysis. The study highlights the power of combining genetically targeted perturbations with quantitative high-throughput behavioral analysis and original microscopy tools.

Reviewed by eLife

Dual role of FOXG1 in regulating gliogenesis in the developing neocortex via the FGF signalling pathway

1. Mahima Bose
2. Ishita Talwar
3. Varun Suresh
4. Urvi Mishra
5. Shiona Biswas
6. Anuradha Yadav
7. Shital T Suryavanshi
8. Simon Hippenmeyer
9. Shubha Tole

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study provides convincing evidence that developing neurons in the neocortex regulate glial cell development. The data demonstrates that the transcription factor FOXG1 negatively regulates gliogenesis by controlling the expression of a member of the FGF ligand family and by suppressing the receptor for this ligand in developing neurons. This study leads to a new understanding of the cascade of events regulating the timing of glial development in the neocortex.

Reviewed by eLife

Uncertainty-modulated prediction errors in cortical microcircuits

1. Katharina Anna Wilmes
2. Mihai A Petrovici
3. Shankar Sachidhanandam
4. Walter Senn

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study introduces a new cortical circuit model for predictive processing. Simulations effectively illustrate that, with appropriate synaptic plasticity, a canonical layer 2/3 cortical circuit - comprising two classes of interneurons providing subtractive and divisive inhibition - can generate uncertainty-modulated prediction errors by pyramidal neurons. The model is compelling; although it relies on many assumptions and has not yet been compared directly to data, the model does align with empirical observations and yields a range of testable predictions. The study is expected to be of great interest to those involved in cortical and predictive processing research.

Reviewed by eLife

Genetic and pharmacologic alterations of claudin9 levels suffice to induce functional and mature inner hair cells

1. Yingying Chen
2. Jeong Han Lee
3. Jin Li
4. Seojin Park
5. Maria C Perez Flores
6. Braulio Peguero
7. Jennifer Kersigo
8. Mincheol Kang
9. Jinsil Choi
10. Lauren Levine
11. Michael Anne Gratton
12. Bernd Fritzsch
13. Ebenezer N Yamoah

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study reports the induction of supernumerary inner hair cells in the mouse cochlea upon reducing the expression level of a tight-junction protein (claudin-9) at developmental stages. Although these ectopic hair cells are functional and persists through adulthood, the evidence supporting some of the claims is incomplete, particularly regarding the underlying mechanisms of cell differentiation and the potential of the approach for hair-cell regeneration. The work will be of interest to scientists working in the development and regeneration of hair cells in the inner ear.

Reviewed by eLife

A neural correlate of individual odor preference in Drosophila

1. Matthew A Churgin
2. Danylo O Lavrentovich
3. Matthew A-Y Smith
4. Ruixuan Gao
5. Edward S Boyden
6. Benjamin L de Bivort

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  What makes one member of the species behave differently from another? This is a core problem in behavioral neuroscience. This valuable study seeks an answer for the specific case of the fruit fly expressing preferences for one odor over another. By a combination of behavioral measurements, neurophysiology, and network modeling, the authors find solid evidence for at least one locus of individuality in the peripheral olfactory system.

Reviewed by eLife

Decoding the physics of observed actions in the human brain

1. Moritz F Wurm
2. Doruk Yiğit Erigüç

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In an important fMRI study with an elegant experimental design and rigorous cross-decoding analyses, this work shows a convincing dissociation between two parietal regions in visually processing actions. Specifically, aIPL is found to be sensitive to the causal effects of observed actions, while SPL is sensitive to the patterns of body motion involved in those actions. The work will be of broad interest to cognitive neuroscientists, particularly vision and action researchers.

Reviewed by eLife

Reevaluating the neural noise in dyslexia using biomarkers from electroencephalography and high-resolution magnetic resonance spectroscopy

1. Agnieszka Glica
2. Katarzyna Wasilewska
3. Julia Jurkowska
4. Jarosław Żygierewicz
5. Bartosz Kossowski
6. Katarzyna Jednoróg

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study empirically investigates the neural noise hypothesis of developmental dyslexia using electroencephalography (EEG) during a spoken language task and 7T magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). The convincing findings indicate no evidence of an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory (E/I) brain activity in adolescents and young adults with dyslexia compared to controls, thereby challenging the neural noise hypothesis. This research is valuable for advancing our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying dyslexia and offers broader insights into the neural processes involved in reading development.

Reviewed by eLife

Synaptic enrichment and dynamic regulation of the two opposing dopamine receptors within the same neurons

1. Shun Hiramatsu
2. Kokoro Saito
3. Shu Kondo
4. Hidetaka Katow
5. Nobuhiro Yamagata
6. Chun-Fang Wu
7. Hiromu Tanimoto

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study uses state-of-the-art methods to label endogenous dopamine receptors in a subset of Drosophila mushroom body neuronal types. The authors report that Dop1R1 and Dop2R receptors, which have opposing effects on intracellular cAMP, are present in axons termini of Kenyon cells, as well as those of two classes of dopaminergic neurons that innervate the mushroom body indicative of autocrine modulation by dopaminergic neurons. Additional experiments showing opposing effects of starvation on Dop1R1 and Dop2R levels in mushroom body neurons are consistent with a role for dopamine receptor levels increasing the efficiency of learned food-odour associations in starved flies. Supported by solid data, this is an important contribution to the field.

Reviewed by eLife

Levetiracetam prevents Aβ42 production through SV2a-dependent modulation of App processing in Alzheimer’s disease models

1. Nalini R. Rao
2. Olivia DeGulis
3. Toshihiro Nomura
4. SeungEun Lee
5. Timothy J. Hark
6. Justin C. Dynes
7. Emily X. Dexter
8. Maciej Dulewicz
9. Junyue Ge
10. Arun Upadhyay
11. Eugenio F. Fornasiero
12. Robert Vassar
13. Jörg Hanrieder
14. Anis Contractor
15. Jeffrey N. Savas

Reviewed by preLights

Gliogenesis from the subventricular zone modulates the extracellular matrix at the glial scar after brain ischemia

1. Maria Ardaya
2. Marie-Catherine Tiveron
3. Harold Cremer
4. Esther Rubio-López
5. Abraham Martín
6. Benjamin Dehay
7. Fernando Pérez-Cerdá
8. Carlos Matute
9. Federico N Soria
10. Fabio Cavaliere

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors show that a middle carotid artery occlusion (MCAO) hypoxia lesion leads to hyaluronan-mediated chemoattraction to the lesion penumbra of Thbs-4-expressing astrocytes of the sub-ventricular zone (SVZ). These findings are valuable because they shed light on the function of astrocytes from the adult SVZ in pathological states like brain ischemic injury. The results are convincing, as they rely on a comprehensive analysis of experimental data.

Reviewed by eLife