Neuroscience

Multi-level processing of emotions in life motion signals revealed through pupil responses

1. Tian Yuan
2. Li Wang
3. Yi Jiang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study provides convincing evidence that emotional information in biological motion can induce different patterns of pupil responses, which could serve as a behavioral marker of an autistic trait. These results broaden our understanding of how emotional biological motion can automatically trigger physiological changes and reveal the potential of using emotional-modulated pupil response to facilitate the diagnosis of social cognitive disorders. The work will be of broad interest to cognitive neuroscience, psychology, affective neuroscience, and vision science.

Reviewed by eLife

Spatial Transcriptomics of Meningeal Inflammation Reveals Inflammatory Gene Signatures in Adjacent Brain Parenchyma

1. Sachin P Gadani
2. Saumitra Singh
3. Sophia Kim
4. Jingwen Hu
5. Matthew D Smith
6. Peter A Calabresi
7. Pavan Bhargava

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Brain inflammation is a hallmark of multiple sclerosis. Using novel spatial transcriptomics methods, the authors provide solid evidence for a gradient of immune genes and inflammatory markers from the meninges toward the adjacent brain parenchyma in a mouse model. This important study advances our understanding of the mechanisms of brain damage in this autoimmune disease.

Reviewed by eLife

Functional Implications of the Exon 9 Splice Insert in GluK1 Kainate Receptors

1. Surbhi Dhingra
2. Prachi M Chopade
3. Rajesh Vinnakota
4. Janesh Kumar

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study shows that a splice variant of the kainate receptor Glu1-1a that inserts 15 amino acids in the extracellular N-terminal region substantially changes the channel's desensitization properties, the sensitivity to glutamate and kainate, and the effects of modulatory Neto proteins. In the revised paper the authors have clarified several points raised by reviewers but the structural portion of the study has not been improved and consequently, more data are needed to determine the molecular mechanism by which the insert changes the functional profile of the channel. Even so, these solid findings advance our understanding of splice variants among glutamate receptors and will be of interest to neuro- and cell-biologists and biophysicists in the field.

Reviewed by eLife

Uncertainty-modulated prediction errors in cortical microcircuits

1. Katharina A Wilmes
2. Mihai A Petrovici
3. Shankar Sachidhanandam
4. Walter Senn

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study introduces a new cortical circuit model for predictive processing. Simulations effectively illustrate that, with appropriate synaptic plasticity, a canonical layer 2/3 cortical circuit - comprising two classes of interneurons providing subtractive and divisive inhibition - can generate uncertainty-modulated prediction errors by pyramidal neurons. The model is compelling; although it relies on many assumptions and has not yet been compared directly to data, the model does align with empirical observations and yields a range of testable predictions. The study is expected to be of great interest to those involved in cortical and predictive processing research.

Reviewed by eLife

Hypothalamic representation of the imminence of predator threat detected by the vomeronasal organ in mice

1. Quynh Anh Thi Nguyen
2. Andrea Rocha
3. Ricky Chhor
4. Yuna Yamashita
5. Christian Stadler
6. Crystal Pontrello
7. Hongdian Yang
8. Sachiko Haga-Yamanaka

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study addresses one way in which animals identify predator-associated cues and respond in a manner that reflects the imminence of the potential threat. The report shows that, in mice, fresh saliva from a natural predator (cat) elicits a greater defensive response compared to old cat saliva and implicates the vomeronasal organ and ventromedial hypothalamus as part of a circuit that underlies this process. The evidence supporting the main conclusions is solid. This study will be of interest to those interested in aversive behavior, its processes, and mechanisms.

Reviewed by eLife

Glaucoma-associated Optineurin mutations increase transmitophagy in a vertebrate optic nerve

1. Yaeram Jeong
2. Chung-ha O. Davis
3. Aaron M. Muscarella
4. Viraj Deshpande
5. Keun-Young Kim
6. Mark H. Ellisman
7. Nicholas Marsh-Armstrong

Reviewed by Review Commons

Cortico-striatal action control inherent of opponent cognitive-motivational styles

1. Cassandra Avila
2. Martin Sarter

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable manuscript investigated the role of glutamate signaling in the dorsomedial striatum of rats in a treadmill-based task and reported that it differs in goal-trackers compared to sign-trackers in a way that corresponds to differences in behaviour. The evidence supporting these claims is solid but could be further strengthened by adding more analyses and more detailed descriptions of current analyses. These findings will primarily be of interest to behavioural neuroscientists.

Reviewed by eLife

Unraveling Axonal Transcriptional Landscapes: Insights from iPSC-Derived Cortical Neurons and Implications for Motor Neuron Degeneration

1. Jishu Xu
2. Michaela Hörner
3. Maike Nagel
4. Perwin Perhat
5. Milena Korneck
6. Marvin Noß
7. Stefan Hauser
8. Ludger Schöls
9. Jakob Admard
10. Nicolas Casadei
11. Rebecca Schüle

Reviewed by Review Commons

Executioner caspase is proximal to Fasciclin 3 which facilitates non-lethal activation in Drosophila olfactory receptor neurons

1. Masaya Muramoto
2. Nozomi Hanawa
3. Misako Okumura
4. Takahiro Chihara
5. Masayuki Miura
6. Natsuki Shinoda

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study combines multiple techniques to investigate how caspase activity regulates non-lethal caspase-dependent processes. Through a combination of various approaches, and the development of new techniques, the authors provide compelling evidence supporting the claim that Fas3G-overexpression promotes non-lethal caspase activation in olfactory receptor neurons.

Reviewed by eLife

History-dependent spiking facilitates efficient encoding of polarization angles in neurons of the central complex

1. Lisa Rother
2. Anna Stöckl
3. Keram Pfeiffer

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study combines electrophysiology experiments and modeling to investigate the encoding of dynamic patterns of polarized light by identified neurons of the bumblebee central complex. The scientific question and methodology are compelling. However, the evidence supporting the authors' conclusions is incomplete without more comprehensive statistical analyses.

Reviewed by eLife