eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Lineage tracing and live-cell imaging reveal that NeuroD1 does not reprogram microglia into neurons

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Xiaoyu Li
   2. Yuxin Li
   3. Yue Cao
   4. Niewen Hu
   5. Baozhi Yang
   6. Pei Ouyang
   7. Yuxiao Jin
   8. Shuai Gao
   9. Bo Peng
   10. Yanxia Rao

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a valuable study addressing a debated question in brain repair research by testing whether NeuroD1 can convert brain immune cells into nerve cells using a virus-free genetic approach and live imaging. The solid evidence presented here supports that, under the conditions tested, NeuroD1-expressing cells do not become nerve cells and instead retain their original identity; however, some aspects of expression level, injury timing, and cell-type composition would benefit from further clarification. This work will be of interest to neuro-immunologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. The digital sphinx: Can a worm brain control a fly body?

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Bingni W. Brunton
   2. Elliott T.T. Abe
   3. Lawrence Jianqiao Hu
   4. John C. Tuthill

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     What can a neural network trained to imitate animal behavior tell us about biology? This valuable work uses deep reinforcement learning to train an artificial neural network to transform the dynamics of a recurrent neural network based on the C. elegans connectome into a convincing adult Drosophila walking program in a physical model of the fly body, demonstrating that achieving plausible output dynamics does not in and of itself imply biologically meaningful simulation. Evidence for this basic claim is solid, but more extensive analyses, better methodological description, and a discussion of deeper fundamental challenges in the undertaking of biological brain modeling would strengthen the study. This result demands the attention of the practitioners of the growing field of connectome simulation for the purpose of gaining mechanistic understanding of nervous system function.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. cuBNM: GPU-Accelerated Brain Network Modeling

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Amin Saberi
   2. Bin Wan
   3. Kevin J Wischnewski
   4. Kyesam Jung
   5. Leonard Sasse
   6. Felix Hoffstaedter
   7. Boris C Bernhardt
   8. Simon B Eickhoff
   9. Oleksandr V Popovych
   10. Sofie L Valk

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study introduces an open-source software package that improves the computational efficiency of whole-brain modelling and facilitates individualised model fitting in large neuroimaging cohorts. The evidence is convincing for the main computational and practical claims, supported by evaluations across multiple optimisation strategies, speed benchmarks, and demonstrations using human neuroimaging data. Its modular design and documentation should make it a resource that is of value to researchers interested in scalable and individualised brain network modelling.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Modeling the prodromal phase of Alzheimer’s disease: Selective amyloid-driven failure of cholinergic medial septal neurons perturbs REM sleep, cognition, emotion, and broadcasts pathology in aging mice

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Mathieu Nollet
   2. Wei Ba
   3. Berta Anuncibay Soto
   4. Chunyu Yin
   5. Leda Lignos
   6. Katarina Jovic
   7. Sara Wong
   8. Alexei L. Vyssotski
   9. Raquel Yustos
   10. Nicholas P. Franks
   11. William Wisden

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a valuable study of the effects of selective or broadband amyloid deposition in medial septum (MS) cholinergic neurons on neuropathology, cognition, sleep, and hyperexcitability in aging mice carrying risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD). The investigation is still incomplete, with some weaknesses related to conceptualization and methodology that need to be addressed.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Rhythmic temporal structure organizes recurrent dynamics to support sequential working memory

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Yitao Qin
   2. Yun Yang
   3. Qizhi Yang
   4. Qinglai Wei
   5. Tielin Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study demonstrates how rhythmic inputs can shape sequential working memory. The study puts forward plausible dynamic mechanisms, but some of the central behavioral effects are small, so the evidence - at present - remains incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Population-level temporal decoding and dynamical structure in frontostriatal circuits during decision making

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Adam B. Goldring
   2. Anandita De
   3. Tanner Stevenson
   4. Kendall Stewart
   5. Aya Akhmetzhanova
   6. Rishidev Chaudhuri
   7. Timothy D. Hanks

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study provides new insight into how frontostriatal circuits encode elapsed time and exhibit decision-related dynamics during an auditory change-detection task. Analyses of simultaneously recorded neurons from the frontal orienting field (FOF) and anterior dorsal striatum (ADS) provide solid evidence that FOF and ADS show similar dynamics during evidence accumulation, but that FOF shows stronger movement-aligned reorganization near the time of the decision report. However, the mechanistic interpretation would be strengthened by clearer links between the population-level analyses, single-neuron activity, and relevant circuit anatomy. The work will be of broad interest to systems neuroscientists studying timing, decision-making, and frontostriatal dynamics.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. A transient hypothalamic CRH signal coordinates social investigation in mice

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Ibukun Akinrinade
   2. Meenakshi Pardasani
   3. Toni-Lee Sterley
   4. Tamás Füzesi
   5. Jaideep S. Bains

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study combines behavioral testing, fiber photometry recordings, and optogenetic manipulations to understand the role of CRH+ neurons in the PVN of the hypothalamus in social and non-social settings, while varying the degree of familiarity. The approaches used and the finding that these neurons respond to various social (and non-social) stimuli are strong; however, the conclusion that the activity of these neurons is driven solely by unfamiliar situations and the lack of dynamic analysis of fiber photometry data leaves the manuscript incomplete. This elegant study will likely be of interest to the field of social neuroscience and, if outstanding issues are addressed, would expand our understanding of the role of the PVN in behavior.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Alzheimer disease—The proposed role of tanycytes in the formation of tau tangles and amyloid beta plaques in human brain

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Ruth Fabian-Fine
   2. Abigail G. Roman
   3. Adam L. Weaver

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors propose the existence of an AQP4-positive tanycyte-associated canal system in the hippocampus based on histological, ultrastructural, immunohistochemical, and RNA-based approaches. There are serious concerns regarding the evidence, and the identification of the tanycyte-related structures can be questioned. At this stage, the evidence for the central claims of the manuscript has to be regarded as inadequate.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. An innovative tool for non-invasive contact-free pathogen monitoring in animal saliva

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Maristela Martins de Camargo
   2. Aspen Caim Fernandes Gonçalves
   3. Diana Netto Hernandez Blazquez
   4. Maggie E. Weber
   5. Washington Agostinho
   6. Zubin Kremer Guha
   7. Melissa Sá Fernandes
   8. Mariana Furtado
   9. Aaron Dollar
   10. Paulo Brandão
   11. Serap Aksoy
   12. Vanessa O. Ezenwa
   13. Dawn Zimmerman

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This work describes a valuable method for monitoring pathogens using an innovative, field-deployable device that attracts animals and collects saliva on filter paper in a non-invasive manner. While the strategy is effective at collecting samples and ensuring their preservation, support for some claims remains incomplete. This study will interest scientists in various fields, ranging from biodiversity, ecology, and conservation to infectious diseases and public health.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Identifying Novel Estrogenic Mitochondrial Targets in Hypothalamic Proopiomelanocortin Neurons by Chemoproteomics

    This article has 18 authors:

    1. Jian Qiu
    2. Martha A. Bosch
    3. Mya Wolfe
    4. Ksenija Korac
    5. Stefano Rizzo
    6. Todd L. Stincic
    7. Scotland E. Farley
    8. Wendy Fitzgerald
    9. Megha Rajendran
    10. Aurélien Laguerre
    11. Frank Stein
    12. Philip F. Copenhaver
    13. Oline K. Rønnekleiv
    14. Sean M. Rønnekleiv-Kelly
    15. Tatiana K. Rostovtseva
    16. Sergey M. Bezrukov
    17. Carsten Schultz
    18. Martin J. Kelly

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This useful study employs an innovative chemoproteomic and multi-modal experimental approach to support VDAC2 as a key functional mediator of STX effects on mitochondrial bioenergetics. However, concerns remain regarding the physiological and disease relevance, including the reliance on cell lines, lack of loss-of-function validation, unresolved binding specificity, and limited justification for focusing on POMC neurons in the context of Alzheimer's disease. As a result, the evidence is incomplete for a link between VDAC2 and Alzheimer's pathogenesis, and aspects of the binding data raise alternative interpretations, including a potential role for other VDAC isoforms.

    Reviewed by eLife