eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. LRRC23 truncation impairs radial spoke 3 head assembly and sperm motility underlying male infertility

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Jae Yeon Hwang
   2. Pengxin Chai
   3. Shoaib Nawaz
   4. Jungmin Choi
   5. Francesc Lopez-Giraldez
   6. Shabir Hussain
   7. Kaya Bilguvar
   8. Shrikant Mane
   9. Richard P Lifton
   10. Wasim Ahmad
   11. Kai Zhang
   12. Jean-Ju Chung

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study provides valuable findings on a causative relationship between LRRC23 mutations and male infertility due to asthenozoospermia. The evidence supporting the conclusions is solid. This work will be of interest to biomedical researchers who work on sperm biology and non-hormonal male contraceptive development.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. The songbird lateral habenula projects to dopaminergic midbrain and is important for normal vocal development

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Andrea Roeser
   2. Han Kheng Teoh
   3. Ruidong Chen
   4. Itai Cohen
   5. Jesse Goldberg

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors provide the first investigation of the role of the lateral habenula in vocal learning in the songbird. This study provides important insights into the conserved connectivity of the lateral habenula with dopaminergic reinforcement circuits and presents a potential role of this circuit in zebra finch song learning. The results stem from a careful anatomical and functional mapping and from a rigorous behavior analysis that, together, implicate a previously undescribed analog between mammals and songbirds. Although many aspects of the manuscript - like the analysis of song behavior - are exceptional, the evidence linking behavior to selective lesions of the lateral habenula is, at this point, incomplete, leaving the interpretation of key results difficult.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Aberrant cortical activity, functional connectivity, and neural assembly architecture after photothrombotic stroke in mice

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Mischa Vance Bandet
   2. Ian Robert Winship

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study sheds light on several apparent discrepancies observed across animal studies examining neuroimaging biomarkers of functional recovery following focal ischemia. Using 2-photon imaging of calcium activity in awake mice, the authors show compelling evidence that deficits in neuronal activity and functional connectivity after photothrombosis occur within a very small distance from the infarct (<750 microns) whereas these measures were relatively unaltered more distally, even those typically implicated with functional remapping of the forelimb representation in anaesthetized animals. These findings reveal a complex spatiotemporal relationship between perilesional neuronal network function and behavioral recovery that is more nuanced than previously reported, and motivates the need for better criteria for what is considered remapping.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Hippocampus and striatum show distinct contributions to longitudinal changes in value-based learning in middle childhood

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Johannes Falck
   2. Lei Zhang
   3. Laurel Raffington
   4. Johannes Julius Mohn
   5. Jochen Triesch
   6. Christine Heim
   7. Yee Lee Shing

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this work, the authors make a valuable contribution based on convincing evidence that children 6-to-7-years-old improve in 2 years of development towards utilising more optimal value-based decision-making strategies while performing a reinforcement learning task. They found that delayed feedback learning was associated with volume in the hippocampus while immediate feedback learning was not. Striatal volume was associated with both forms of learning, in contrast to prior research funding in adults. Brain-behaviour correlations were stable across the 2-year period, despite the hippocampus increasing in volume and striatal volume remaining stable.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Sex differences in BNST signaling and BNST CRF in fear processing

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Olivia J Hon
   2. Sofia Neira
   3. Meghan E Flanigan
   4. Alison V Roland
   5. Christina M Caira
   6. Tori Sides
   7. Shannon L D'Ambrosio
   8. Sophia I Lee
   9. Yolanda Simpson
   10. Michelle C Buccini
   11. Samantha Machinski
   12. Waylin Yu
   13. Kristen M Boyt
   14. Thomas L Kash

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study advances understanding of how corticotrophin releasing factor in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis regulates sustained and phasic fear and how this differs between sexes. The evidence is convincing and based on state-of-the-art techniques. The work will be of interest to neuroscientists studying the biological basis of fear processing.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. The title and authors for this article are not available from our external data provider yet:
   10.48550/arxiv.2212.01191

7. Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived microglia integrate into mouse retina and recapitulate features of endogenous microglia

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Wenxin Ma
   2. Lian Zhao
   3. Biying Xu
   4. Robert N Fariss
   5. T Michael Redmond
   6. Jizhong Zou
   7. Wai T Wong
   8. Wei Li

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors have improved a method to differentiate human iPSC-derived microglial cells with immune responses and phagocytic abilities; and through transplantation into the adult mouse retina, the authors further demonstrated their integration and occupation of native microglial cell space, and functional response to retinal injuries. The study is important and the data are convincing for potential microglial replacement therapy to treat retinal and CNS diseases.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Smith–Magenis syndrome protein RAI1 regulates body weight homeostasis through hypothalamic BDNF-producing neurons and neurotrophin downstream signalling

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Sehrish Javed
   2. Ya-Ting Chang
   3. Yoobin Cho
   4. Yu-Ju Lee
   5. Hao-Cheng Chang
   6. Minza Haque
   7. Yu Cheng Lin
   8. Wei-Hsiang Huang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study informs whether diminishing BDNF expression or alterations in the activity of BDNF-containing neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus contributes to metabolic alterations in individuals with reduced RAI1 function, including those afflicted with Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS). The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling in that RAI1 deficits in BDNF-containing neurons partly contribute, with prominent effects on glycemic control and modest effects on feeding and body weight regulation. This study would be of interest to neuroscientists and medical biologists working on metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes, as the findings in this study further links SMS-associated obesity with reduced Bdnf gene expression in the PVH and shed light on the role of the Rai1 gene in the PVH Bdnf neurons and offer a basis for future therapeutic strategies for managing obesity in SMS.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Midbrain encodes sound detection behavior without auditory cortex

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Tai-Ying Lee
   2. Yves Weissenberger
   3. Andrew J King
   4. Johannes C Dahmen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study demonstrates that neurons receiving inputs from auditory cortex in the inferior colliculus widely encode the outcome of a sound detection task independant of the presence of auditory cortex. This valuable study based on imaging of transynaptically labelled neurons provides convincing evidence that auditory cortex is necessary neither for sound detection, nor to channel information related to behavioral outcome to the subcortical auditory system. This study will be of wide interest for sensory neuroscientists.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. The title and authors for this article are not available from our external data provider yet:
    10.48550/arxiv.2305.18417