Neuroscience

Decoding movie content from neuronal population activity in the human medial temporal lobe

1. Franziska Gerken
2. Alana Darcher
3. Pedro J Gonçalves
4. Rachel Rapp
5. Ismail Elezi
6. Johannes Niediek
7. Marcel S Kehl
8. Thomas P Reber
9. Stefanie Liebe
10. Jakob H Macke
11. Florian Mormann
12. Laura Leal-Taixé

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study demonstrates that it is possible to decode information about characters and locations from single-unit responses in the human brain to a narrative movie, using a convincing technical approach to capture information in population-level dynamics. The study introduces an exciting dataset of single-unit responses in humans during a naturalistic and dynamic movie stimulus, with recordings from multiple regions within the medial temporal lobe. Using both a traditional firing-rate analysis as well as a population decoding analysis to connect these neural responses to the visual content of the movie, they show that in this dataset, the decoding of semantic scene features (e.g., the person currently on screen), but not scene transitions, is surprisingly driven by classically non-responsive neurons. Based on these findings, the authors argue that dynamic naturalistic semantic information may be processed within the medial temporal lobe at the population level.

Reviewed by eLife

Efficient Generation of Expandable Dorsal Forebrain Neural Rosette Stem Cell Lines

1. Signe Emilie Dannulat Frazier
2. Kristian Honnens de Lichtenberg
3. Elham Jaberi
4. Charlotte Bertelsen
5. Simone Møller Jensen
6. Andreas Wrona
7. Nicolaj Strøyer Christophersen
8. Mie Kristensen
9. J Carlos Villaescusa

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The study provides valuable technical advances to generate and isolate neural rosettes. The technique is robust, as indicated by both reviewers. The evidence is solid, as shown in orthogonal characterization by flow cytometry, morphology, and scRNA-seq. Comparison with the manual-rosette-picking protocol will enhance the validity of the claims.

Reviewed by eLife

Intrinsic Resistance of the Hippocampal CA2 Subfield to Neuroinflammation After Status Epilepticus

1. Bruno Ponciano Da silva
2. Edna Cristina Santos Franco
3. Silene Maria Araújo de Lima

Reviewed by PREreview

Passive muscle forces in Drosophila are large but insufficient to support a fly’s weight

1. Ninghan Wang
2. Helene Babski
3. Jonathan Elliot Perdomo
4. Sarah Beth McMahan
5. Arun Ramakrishnan
6. Tirthabir Biswas
7. Vikas Bhandawat

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study introduces a novel experimental and modeling framework to quantify passive joint torques in Drosophila, revealing that passive forces are insufficient to support body weight, contrary to prior assumptions based on larger insects. The approach is technically impressive, combining genetic silencing, kinematic tracking, and biomechanical modeling. However, the strength of evidence is incomplete, limited by concerns about the specificity of the genetic tools, simplifications in the mechanical model, and limited functional interpretation.

Reviewed by eLife