Neuroscience

Input-specific gating of NMDA amplification via HCN channels in mouse L2/3 pyramidal neurons

1. Viktor János Oláh
2. Jing Wu
3. Leonard K Kaczmarek
4. Matthew JM Rowan

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this valuable study the authors use electrophysiology in brain slices and computer modeling and suggest that layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons of the mouse cortex have functional HCN channels on the proximal apical dendrite which allows distinct processing of input at that location from the input to distal apical dendrites. The revisions improved the solid paper but some of the concerns were not addressed sufficiently and many of these concerns could be addressed by further revision.

Reviewed by eLife

Statistical learning beyond words in human neonates

1. Ana Fló
2. Lucas Benjamin
3. Marie Palu
4. Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The manuscript provides important new insights into the mechanisms of statistical learning in early human development, showing that statistical learning in neonates occurs robustly and is not limited to linguistic features but occurs across different domains. The evidence is convincing and the findings are highly relevant for researchers working in several domains, including developmental cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, linguistics, and speech pathology.

Reviewed by eLife

Disruption of the CRF1 receptor eliminates morphine-induced sociability deficits and firing of oxytocinergic neurons in male mice

1. Alessandro Piccin
2. Anne-Emilie Allain
3. Jérôme M Baufreton
4. Sandrine S Bertrand
5. Angelo Contarino

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The revised report provides valuable findings for the field, suggesting a relationship between CRF1 receptors, sociability deficits in morphine-treated male mice yet not females, and a potential mechanism involving oxytocin neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Generally, the strength of evidence is solid in terms of the methods, data, and analyses. This work will be of interest to those interested in social behavior and addiction.

Reviewed by eLife

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

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