Neuroscience

Deficiency of orexin receptor type 1 in dopaminergic neurons increases novelty-induced locomotion and exploration

1. Xing Xiao
2. Gagik Yeghiazaryan
3. Fynn Eggersmann
4. Anna Lena Cremer
5. Heiko Backes
6. Peter Kloppenburg
7. Anne Christine Hausen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript describes valuable findings regarding the expression pattern of orexin receptors in the midbrain and how manipulating this system influences several behaviors, such as context-induced locomotor activity and exploration. The overall strength of evidence - which includes anatomical, viral manipulation studies, and brain imaging - is solid and broadly substantiates claims in the paper. However, there are several areas in which the conclusions are only partially supported by the combination of methods used. These results have implications for understanding the neural underpinnings of reward and will be of interest to neuroscientists and cognitive scientists with an interest in the neurobiology of reward.

Reviewed by eLife

Sex-specific behavioral and thalamo-accumbal circuit adaptations after oxycodone abstinence

1. Yanaira Alonso-Caraballo
2. Yan Li
3. Nicholas J Constantino
4. Megan A Neal
5. Gillian S Driscoll
6. Maria Mavrikaki
7. Vadim Y Bolshakov
8. Elena H Chartoff

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents valuable evidence of sex differences in oxycodone relapse-related behavior in rats and provides insight into associated synaptic plasticity in the paraventricular thalamus to the nucleus accumbens shell (PVT-NAcSh) circuit. The report reveals that females show heightened cue-induced oxycodone seeking compared to males after 14 days – but not 1 day – of abstinence; however, an increase in synaptic strength from the PVT inputs to the NAcSh was observed in both males and females at 14 days of abstinence. Therefore, whereas the behavioral data and much of the electrophysiology data are solid, the link between them is incomplete. Further investigation of the functional role of the PVT-NAcSh pathway in the observed sex differences in oxycodone relapse and examination of input and cell-type specificity of synaptic alterations would greatly strengthen this study.

Reviewed by eLife

Label-free characterization of Amyloid-β-plaques and associated lipids in brain tissues using stimulated Raman scattering microscopy

1. Volker Schweikhard
2. Andrea Baral
3. Vishnu Krishnamachari
4. William C. Hay
5. Martin Fuhrmann

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Post-retrieval noradrenergic activation impairs subsequent memory depending on cortico-hippocampal reactivation

1. Hendrik Heinbockel
2. Gregor Leicht
3. Anthony D Wagner
4. Lars Schwabe

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This work presents important findings of a modulatory effect of yohimbine, an alpha2-adrenergic antagonist that raises noradrenaline levels, on the reconsolidation of emotionally neutral word-picture pairs, depending on the hippocampal and cortical reactivation during retrieval. The evidence supporting the main conclusions is convincing, with an elegant design combining fMRI and psychopharmacology. The work will be of broad interest to researchers working on memory.

Reviewed by eLife

Barcode activity in a recurrent network model of the hippocampus enables efficient memory binding

1. Ching Fang
2. Jack Lindsey
3. Larry F Abbott
4. Dmitriy Aronov
5. Selmaan Chettih

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important work substantially advances our understanding of episodic memory by proposing a biologically plausible mechanism through which hippocampal barcode activity enables efficient memory binding and flexible recall. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, with rigorously validated computational models and alignment with experimental findings. The work will be of broad interest to neuroscientists and computational modelers studying memory and hippocampal function.

Reviewed by eLife

Polystyrene nanoplastics promote neurodegeneration by catalyzing TDP43 hyperphosphorylation

1. Winanto
2. Li-Yi Tan
3. Wai Hon Chooi
4. Cheryl Yi-Pin Lee
5. Wan Yun Ho
6. Yong Shan Lim
7. Boon Seng Soh
8. Emma Sanford
9. Chong-Lun Tan
10. Yih-Cherng Liou
11. Cathy Chia-Yu Huang
12. Shuo-Chien Ling
13. Shi-Yan Ng

Reviewed by preLights

Spatial localization of hippocampal replay requires dopamine signaling

1. Matthew R Kleinman
2. David J Foster

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This work provides a valuable contribution to our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying spatial memory and learning, suggesting that dopamine plays a pivotal role in linking reward context and novelty to memory consolidation processes. The evidence presented to support the main conclusions is solid, although reviewers felt that the strength of evidence could have been further strengthened by more rigorous histological verification of the experimental conditions and the complexity of the experimental manipulations, increased sample sizes, and a more consistent approach to experimental dosing and timing, which will be crucial for confirming the reproducibility and reliability of the observed effects.

Reviewed by eLife

Endopiriform neurons projecting to ventral CA1 are a critical node for recognition memory

1. Naoki Yamawaki
2. Hande Login
3. Solbjørg Østergaard Feld-Jakobsen
4. Bernadett Mercedesz Molnar
5. Mads Zippor Kirkegaard
6. Maria Moltesen
7. Aleksandra Okrasa
8. Jelena Radulovic
9. Asami Tanimura

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study offers insights into the function and connectivity patterns of a relatively unknown afferent input from the endopiriform to the CA1 subfield of the ventral hippocampus, suggesting a neural mechanism that suppresses the processing of familiar stimuli in favor of detecting memory guided novelty. The strength of evidence is convincing, with careful anatomical and electrophysiological circuit characterization. The work will be of broad interest to researchers studying the neural circuitry of behavior.

Reviewed by eLife

Basal ganglia output (entopeduncular nucleus) coding of contextual kinematics and reward in the freely moving mouse

1. Anil K Verma Rodriguez
2. Josue O Ramírez-Jarquin
3. Román Rossi-Pool
4. Fatuel Tecuapetla

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study reports on electrophysiological recording of the spiking activity of single neurons in the entopeduncular nucleus (EPN) in freely-moving mice performing an auditory discrimination task. The data show that the activity of single EPN neurons is modulated by reward and movement kinematics, with the latter further affected by task contexts (e.g. movement toward or away from a reward location). The results provide solid evidence for the conclusions. There is some ambiguity as to whether the data contain the population of EPN neurons characterized in previous studies that obtained different results. Investigations separating confounding factors would be of benefit. Nonetheless, the work is overall of interest to those who study how the basal ganglia, particularly the EPN, contribute to behavior.

Reviewed by eLife

An anatomical and physiological basis for flexible coincidence detection in the auditory system

1. Lauren J Kreeger
2. Suraj Honnuraiah
3. Sydney Maeker
4. Siobhan Shea
5. Gordon Fishell
6. Lisa Goodrich

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Kreeger et al. convincingly demonstrate that octopus cells in the mouse cochlear nucleus, previously thought to rely primarily on excitatory inputs for coincidence detection, also receive glycinergic inhibitory synaptic inputs that influence their synaptic integration. Using advanced techniques, including genetic mouse models, optogenetics, microscopy, slice physiology, and computational modeling, this important study reveals that inhibition can shunt synaptic currents and alter the timing of dendritic EPSPs, both of which are significant for auditory processing. This research broadens the understanding of octopus cells' roles in sensory processing, highlighting the importance of inhibitory inputs in shaping fast, high-frequency neural response capabilities.

Reviewed by eLife