Neuroscience

eLife Assessment

This important study provides new insights into the neuronal dynamics of the locus coeruleus in relation to hippocampal sharp-wave ripples. Using high-temporal-resolution, multi-site electrophysiological recordings in rats, the authors present convincing evidence that ripples and locus coeruleus activity are inversely correlated to levels of arousal and noradrenaline tone is modulated by hippocampo-cortical coupling. Overall, the work will be of interest to neuroscientists studying large-scale brain coordination and memory processes.

eLife Assessment

This important study uses a feedback-driven recurrent neural network framework to explore the dynamics underlying learning of BCI decoder perturbations. With convincing evidence, the authors demonstrate that behavioral learning trajectories that match those of primates learning within-manifold and outside-manifold perturbations are likely tied to the dynamical controllability of the network and input-driven learning. This work is likely to motivate a new generation of BCI and learning experiments combining large-scale neural recordings with latent dynamical systems analyses.

eLife Assessment

This is a valuable paper that compares various deep learning models, trained with different objective functions, on their ability to predict fMRI data collected during naturalistic video gameplay. The data and analysis provide solid within-distribution evidence that models trained with PPO and imitation learning outperform untrained models and standard convolutional networks. However, the evidence for brittleness in out-of-distribution encoding remains incomplete, as the claim that this stems from the networks' training rather than from alternative causes-like overfitting of ridge regression parameters-is not yet fully supported.

eLife Assessment

This important technical development for neural circuit tracing in larval zebrafish consists in an enhanced rabies virus for improved retrograde transneuronal tracing, supporting a new method for combined structural and functional brain mapping which is demonstrated with compelling evidence. The work will interest zebrafish neurobiologists for the identification of neuronal connectivity patterns while simultaneously monitoring circuit activity.

eLife Assessment

In this valuable study, de Vries and colleagues aim to determine how the perception of biological motion is organized at the neural level, specifically testing whether this process rests on hierarchical predictive processing by extending a methodological framework that the authors previously published. The evidence is solid for the empirical claim that neural representations of body motion systematically lead the stimulus in time, with simulations validating the regression approach and consistent effects on both peak magnitude and peak latency. Support for the stronger theoretical interpretation that these signatures specifically reflect active hierarchical predictive inference requires further substantiation, since the design and analysis do not distinguish such inference from cached associative retrieval or from nonlinear temporal integration of slowly varying features.

eLife Assessment

This study by Roseby and colleagues shows that region-specific mechanosensation - especially anterior-dorsal inputs - controls larval self-righting, and links this to Hox gene function in sensory neurons. The work is important for understanding how body plan cues shape sensorimotor behaviour, and the experimental toolkit will be of use to others. The strength of evidence is compelling with respect to the assays developed and the involvement of the anterior region, the evidence is more limited with respect to the dorso-ventral organization of sensory inputs in that region and the mechanism by which Hox genes contribute to the process. These findings will be of broad interest to researchers studying neural circuits, developmental genetics, and the evolution of behaviour.