eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. The role of GABA in semantic memory and its neuroplasticity

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. JeYoung Jung
   2. Steve Williams
   3. Matthew A Lambon Ralph

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Jung et al. present valuable work on the relationship between gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels within the anterior temporal lobes (ATL) to semantic memory while accounting for inter-individual differences. They provide solid evidence suggesting that inhibitory continuous theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (cTBS TMS) increased GABA concentration and decreased the blood-oxygen dependent signal (BOLD) during a semantic task. The results will be of interest to researchers studying the neurobiology of semantic cognition.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Infralimbic parvalbumin neural activity facilitates cued threat avoidance

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Yi-Yun Ho
   2. Qiuwei Yang
   3. Priyanka Boddu
   4. David A Bulkin
   5. Melissa R Warden

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study extends our understanding of how the medial prefrontal cortex regulates flexible action during adversity. The data provide compelling evidence of a role for prefrontal PV neuron activity in active avoidance. This builds on the general idea that these neurons play a role in flexible behavior and demonstrates this in the context of freezing/avoidance conflict. The overall findings contribute to our understanding of mechanisms that support aversively motivated instrumental learning and may provide insight into both stress vulnerability and resilience processes. This work will be of interest to those interested in learning, aversive motivation, interneuron and/or prefrontal cortex function, or conditions relates to these processes and mechanisms.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Emergence of catalytic function in prebiotic information-coding polymers

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Alexei V Tkachenko
   2. Sergei Maslov

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study uses a model to determine when catalytic self-replication of polymers can emerge from a random pool of replicating polymers. The model accounts for the folding and function of polymers in addition to abstract evolutionary dynamics, providing solid evidence for the claims of the authors. The work will be of relevance to those interested in the origin of life, artificial cells, and evolutionary dynamics.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Jointly looking to the past and the future in visual working memory

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Baiwei Liu
   2. Zampeta-Sofia Alexopoulou
   3. Freek van Ede

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study advances our understanding of how past and future information is jointly considered in visual working memory by studying gaze biases in a memory task that dissociates the locations during encoding and memory tests. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, with state-of-the-art gaze analyses that build on a recent series of experiments introduced by the authors. This work will be of broad interest to vision scientists interested in the interplay of vision, eye movements, and memory.

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5. Early parafoveal semantic integration in natural reading

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Yali Pan
   2. Steven Frisson
   3. Kara D Federmeier
   4. Ole Jensen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study contributes to the understanding of how parafoveal words are neurally processed during naturalistic sentence reading. Convincing evidence is provided that the MEG response to a word can be modulated by the semantic congruency of a parafoveal target word. The study addresses a classic question in reading using a new Rapid Invisible Frequency Tagging (RIFT) technique, which can separately monitor the neural processing of multiple words during sentence reading.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Boosting of neural circuit chaos at the onset of collective oscillations

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Agostina Palmigiano
   2. Rainer Engelken
   3. Fred Wolf

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This work provides a valuable characterization of the chaotic dynamics of high-dimensional spiking networks in the presence of internally generated oscillations due to synaptic delays or externally generated oscillations due to external input. The authors provide convincing analytical and numerical calculations to support their claims, however, the paper suffers from heavy mathematical jargon that reduces its impact. The paper could be revised to provide interpretations of the results so that it can be accessible to a broader neuroscience audience. In its current form, findings will be of interest mostly to researchers working at the interface between theoretical neuroscience, applied mathematics, and physics.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. The title and authors for this article are not available from our external data provider yet:
   10.48550/arxiv.2309.03194v1

8. Asymmetric cortical projections to striatal direct and indirect pathways distinctly control actions

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Jason R Klug
   2. Xunyi Yan
   3. Hilary Hoffman
   4. Max D Engelhardt
   5. Fumitaka Osakada
   6. Edward M Callaway
   7. Xin Jin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript presents an important finding that D1- and D2-striatal neurons receive distinct cortical inputs, offering key insights into corticostriatal function. For instance, in the context of striatal-dependent learning, this distinction is highly informative for interpreting synaptic physiology data, particularly when inputs to one neuron subtype may change independently of the other. The strength of the evidence is solid, with anatomical and electrophysiological findings aligning well with results from optogenetic and behavioral studies. The study would be of interest to neuroscientists studying basal ganglia circuits in health and disease.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Circadian photoreceptor CRYPTOCHROME promotes wakefulness under short winter-like days via a GABAergic circuitry

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Lixia Chen
   2. Danya Tian
   3. Chang Su
   4. Luoying Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Winter months with short days are commonly associated with seasonal depression and hypersomnolence; the mechanisms behind this hypersomnolence however, remain unclear. Chen and colleagues identify a genetic basis for this phenomenon in the fly Drosophila - mutations in the circadian photoreceptor cryptochrome resulted in increased sleep under short photoperiods. These findings are valuable insights into the genetic mechanisms regulating sleep under short days. The data supporting the precise neurobiological basis of these effects however, remains incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. The function of juvenile–adult transition axis in female sexual receptivity of Drosophila melanogaster

    This article has 9 authors:

    1. Jing Li
    2. Chao Ning
    3. Yaohua Liu
    4. Bowen Deng
    5. Bingcai Wang
    6. Kai Shi
    7. Rencong Wang
    8. Ruixin Fang
    9. Chuan Zhou

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      The aim of this valuable study is to uncover developmental roles of the neuropeptide prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) and ecdysone, which later regulate female receptivity of Drosophila melanogaster. The work combines spatially and temporally restricted genetic manipulation with behavior quantification to explore these molecular pathways and the neuronal substrates participating in the control of female sexual receptivity. At present, the implication of both signaling pathways in this process is convincing but the strength of the evidence is incomplete to support the main claim that PTTH pathway controls female sexual receptivity through the function of ecdysone in pC1 neurons.

    Reviewed by eLife