Neuroscience

eLife Assessment

This study presents useful findings on the differences between male and hermaphrodite C. elegans connectomes and how they may result in changes in locomotory behavioural outputs. However, the study appears incomplete with respect to the relationship between sex-specific AVA wiring and male mate-finding. Another area of concern is that the analysis does not consider animal-to-animal variability in the wiring when attempting to identify significant differences between the male and hermaphrodite.

eLife Assessment

This manuscript addresses a mechanism by which dopamine (DA) regulates synaptic plasticity. The authors build upon their previous finding that DA applied after a timing pattern that ordinarily induces long-term depression (LTD) now induces long-term potentiation (LTP). The new findings that this "DA-dependent LTP" involves de novo protein synthesis, a cyclicAMP signalling pathway, and calcium-permeable AMPA receptors (CP-AMPARs) are of valuable significance. The conclusions are convincing and largely supported by the evidence provided.

eLife Assessment

The paper presents a valuable theoretical treatment of the role of passage of time in optimal decision strategies in pursuit based tasks. The computational evidence and methodologies employed are novel, and the authors offer solid evidence for the majority of the claims.

eLife Assessment

This study presents a valuable theoretical exploration on the electrophysiological mechanisms of ionic currents via gap junctions in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal-cell models, and their potential contribution to local field potentials (LFPs) that is different from the contribution of chemical synapses. The biophysical argument regarding electric dipoles appears solid, but the evidence would be stronger if their predictions are tested against experiments. A shortage of model validation and strictly comparable parameters used in the comparisons between chemical vs. junctional inputs makes the modeling approach incomplete; once strengthened, the finding can be of broad interest to electrophysiologists, who often make recordings from regions of neurons interconnected with gap junctions.

eLife Assessment

This study provides valuable observations indicating that human pyramidal neurons propagate information as fast as rat pyramidal neurons despite their larger size. Convincing evidence demonstrates that this property is due to several biophysical properties of human neurons. This study will be of interest to neurophysiologists.

eLife Assessment

This study is valuable as it provides information about the genes regulated by sex hormone treatment in song nuclei and other brain regions and suggests candidate genes that might induce sexual dimorphism in the zebra finch brain. The analysis presented is thorough and detailed. Whereas the evidence for gene regulation by hormone treatment is well supported, the evidence for an association of those genes with song learning (as written in the title) is incompletely supported as no manipulation of song learning or song analysis was conducted.

eLife Assessment

The authors report that chemogenetic methods targeting the ventral cervical spinal cord can be used to increase phrenic inspiratory motor output and subsequent diaphragm EMG activity and ventilation in rodents. These findings are important because they are a necessary first step towards using chemogenetic methods to drive inspiratory activity in disorders in which motor neurons are compromised, such as spinal injury and degenerative disease. The data are convincing, with rigorous assessments of phrenic inspiratory activity and its ability to drive the diaphragm and subsequent ventilation, as well as assessments of DREADD expression.

eLife Assessment

This important study advances our understanding of the role of dopamine in modulating pair bonding in mandarin voles by examining dopamine signaling within the nucleus accumbens across various social stimuli using state-of-the-art causal perturbations. The evidence supporting the findings is compelling, particularly cutting-edge approaches for measuring dopamine release as well as the activity of dopamine receptor populations during social bonding. Some concerns remain about the statistical analyses.

eLife Assessment

This important study characterizes the molecular signatures and function of a type of enteric neuron (IPAN) in the mouse colon, identifying molecular markers (Cdh6 and Cdh8) for these cells. A battery of compelling and comprehensive experimental findings suggests data from other species are likely translatable to mice, bridging the abundant literature from humans and other mammals into this experimentally tractable animal model. This work will be of interest to scientists studying the motor control of the colon and more generally the enteric neuromuscular system.

eLife Assessment

This study demonstrates the critical role of Afadin on the generation and maintenance of complex cellular layers in the mouse retina. The data are solid, which provides important insights into how cell-adhesion molecules contribute to retinal organization. However, further investigations are needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying the cellular disorganization phenotype in the retina and axonal projection to the brain.