eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Serotonergic modulation of motor subspace dynamics drives a sleep-independent quiescent state

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Kexin Qi
   2. Yuming Chai
   3. Guodong Tan
   4. Daguang Li
   5. Quan Wen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In light of the diverse functions associated with the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus across vertebrate species, this important study presents findings on the role of serotonin in promoting behavioral quiescence through the regulation of neuromotor populations. Combining optogenetics with brain-wide activity analyses, the study provides convincing evidence of interest to researchers in neuromodulation and translational medicine fields.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Dopaminergic Modulation of Mushroom Body Output Neurons Mediates Nociception-Induced Escape in Drosophila

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Chi-Lien Yang
   2. Chia-Wen Chen
   3. Kuan-Lin Feng
   4. Hsiao-Chien Peng
   5. Ming-Chin Wu
   6. Ching-Che Charng
   7. Li-An Chu
   8. Yeong-Ray Wen
   9. Ann-Shyn Chiang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents important findings for the understanding of central brain circuits that underlie nociception-induced escape. Using a laser-based nociception assay, chronic neuronal silencing, trans-Tango anatomical tracing, and reference to connectomic data, the authors propose that nociceptive signals (from painless- and trpA1-expressing neurons) converge on a subset of dopaminergic neurons (subsets of PPL1 and PAM), which in turn engage mushroom body output neurons (MBONs) to shape escape latency. However, methods and controls fall short of fully supporting the findings, rendering the evidence incomplete. This study will be of interest to scientists studying nociception and learning and memory circuits.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Negative-Valence Neurons in the Larval Zebrafish Pallium

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Colton D. Smith
   2. Zhuowei Du
   3. William P. Dempsey
   4. Scott E. Fraser
   5. Thai V. Truong
   6. Don B. Arnold

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable work identifies a subpopulation of neurons in the larval zebrafish pallium that responds differentially to varying threat levels, potentially mediating the categorization of negative valence. The evidence supporting these claims is solid; however, the study would be strengthened by more sophisticated analyses of functional imaging results, behavioral confirmation of stimulus valence, and further evidence linking the functionally distinct clusters to their molecular identity. This work will be of interest to systems neuroscientists investigating the circuit-level encoding of emotion and defensive behavior.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Speech is defined by theta-gamma coupled acoustic rhythms, mapped onto segregated populations in human early auditory cortex

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Víctor J. López-Madrona
   2. Jérémy Giroud
   3. Manuel Mercier
   4. Léonardo Lancia
   5. Bruno L. Giordano
   6. Agnès Trébuchon
   7. David Poeppel
   8. Anne-Lise Giraud
   9. Luc H. Arnal
   10. Benjamin Morillon

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript presents important findings that challenge traditional models of speech processing by demonstrating that theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling in the auditory cortex is primarily a stimulus-driven alignment to external acoustic structures rather than an intrinsic neural oscillatory mechanism. The evidence supporting these claims is convincing, grounded in a robust cross-linguistic acoustic analysis and high-fidelity, time-resolved intracranial recordings.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Infant Brains Tick at 4Hz – Resonance Properties of the Developing Visual System

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Marlena Baldauf
   2. Ole Jensen
   3. Moritz Köster

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a potentially important study comparing infants (8 months) and adults with respect to rhythmic EEG response properties during periodic and aperiodic visual stimulation. The results provide solid evidence for a ~4 Hz EEG response in infants that emerges independently of stimulation frequency. At this stage, additional work will be required to conclusively establish that this theta-band effect reflects genuine neural resonance rather than oculomotor processes.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. BlueBerry: Closed-loop wireless optogenetic manipulation in freely moving animals

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Ali Nourizonoz
   2. Benoit Girard
   3. Maëlle Guyoton
   4. Gregorio Galiñanes
   5. Raphael Thurnherr
   6. Sebastien Pellat
   7. Camilla Bellone
   8. Daniel Huber

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This work presents a valuable new open-source tool for wirelessly controlling optogenetic stimulation in neuroscience experiments in behaving rodents. Evidence for its potential usefulness in different types of optogenetic experiments is solid, although some details and concerns were viewed as lacking or overlooked (e.g., system latency, battery weight). The work is expected to interest neuroscientists working with optogenetics and neuroengineers developing small-sized integrated devices for rodent experiments.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Spontaneous emergence and evolution of neuronal sequences in recurrent networks

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Shuai Shao
   2. Juan Luis Riquelme
   3. Julijana Gjorgjieva

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study presents a plastic recurrent spiking network model that spontaneously generates repeating neuronal sequences under unstructured inputs. The authors provide solid evidence that, while the global weight distribution stabilizes, individual synaptic connections undergo constant turnover with strength-dependent timescales, supporting sequence generation. However, the study is purely simulation-based and phenomenological, lacking both a mechanistic explanation for sequence emergence and explicit experimental predictions, and robustness to alternative, more biologically realistic plasticity rules remains to be demonstrated. The work will be of interest to theoretical and experimental neuroscientists working on synaptic plasticity and neural sequence generation.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. REM sleep prefrontal high-frequency oscillation chains mediate distinct cortical – hippocampal reactivation patterns compared to NREM sleep

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Justin D Shin
   2. Michael Satchell
   3. Paul Miller
   4. Shantanu P Jadhav

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Shin et al present important new observations regarding novel REM-specific cortical high-frequency oscillations. The evidence demonstrating the presence of a novel rhythm is convincing. However, the data presented is incomplete to demonstrate claims of a) brain-state-specific effects of these events, b) clear structured reactivation, and c) the specific degree of linkage to memory consolidation.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Three-dimensional and molecular brain atlas of the hagfish reveals the evolutionary origin and early diversification of the vertebrate brain

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Riho Harada
   2. Motoki Tamura
   3. Hirofumi Kariyayama
   4. Shigenori Nonaka
   5. Daichi G Suzuki

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study is useful and unique, since hagfish brains are of phylogenetic importance and can reveal features ancestral to all vertebrates. The manuscript is, however, incomplete and would benefit from contextualization with the current literature; comparisons with the recent amphioxus study are suggested, plus an increased focus on the specific, unique features of the hagfish brain. One significant concern is the apparent absence of Datx2 expression, given that the riboprobe was synthesized from cDNA derived from whole-brain RNA extracts. Ideally, the authors should identify a tissue in which Datx2 is known to be strongly expressed and then apply the probe as a positive control.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Cross-Species BAC Transgenesis Reveals Long-Range Regulation Drives Variation in Brain Oxytocin Receptor Expression and Social Behaviors

    This article has 12 authors:

    1. Mina Tsukamoto
    2. Luis AE Nagai
    3. Kiyoshi Inoue
    4. Lenin C. Kandasamy
    5. Maria F. Pires
    6. Minsoo Shin
    7. Yutaro Nagasawa
    8. Tsetsegee Sambuu
    9. Kenta Nakai
    10. Shigeyoshi Itohara
    11. Larry J Young
    12. Qi Zhang

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study provides important insights into how species-specific variation in oxytocin receptor regulatory architecture contributes to diversity in brain expression patterns and social behaviors. By generating multiple BAC transgenic mouse lines carrying the prairie vole oxytocin receptor locus and combining anatomical, molecular, behavioral, and chromatin-structure analyses, the authors present convincing evidence that distal regulatory elements constrain peripheral expression while permitting brain expression aligned with behavior. This study provides an experimental framework and a resource that are of value for dissecting how regulatory variation in neuromodulatory systems contributes to species differences in social behavior. This work will be of interest to those interested in social behavior, oxytocin, neuromodulation, and related conditions.

    Reviewed by eLife