Evaluated articles

eLife Assessment

The study is a valuable addition to the field, showing how particulate matter may be acting via nociceptor neurons towards neutrophilic asthma exacerbations. The solid evidence for the role of a nociceptive pathway in model systems is relevant to human asthma in its current form but would be further strengthened by mechanistic insights. This would be particularly relevant to further translational research towards blocking the exacerbating effect of air pollution on asthma.

eLife Assessment

The study by Chen and Phillips provides evidence for a dynamic switch in the small RNA repertoire of the Argonaute protein NRDE-3 during embryogenesis in C. elegans. The work is supported by solid experimental data, although some conclusions regarding the functional role of specific RNA granules remain uncertain. Nevertheless, this study offers valuable insights into RNA regulation and developmental biology, with broader implications for understanding small RNA pathways in other systems.

eLife Assessment

This important study presents the first identification of the odorant receptor for the trail pheromone in termites. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling, with state-of-the-art neurophysiological and genetic methods. The work will be of broad interest in multiple disciplines, such as entomology, chemical ecology, and sensory physiology.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study builds on previous work by the authors by presenting a potentially key method for correcting optical aberrations in GRIN lens-based micro endoscopes used for imaging deep brain regions. By combining simulations and experiments, the authors show that the obtained field of view is significantly increased with corrected, versus uncorrected microendoscopes. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, although some aspects of the manuscript should be clarified and missing information provided. Because the approach described in this paper does not require any microscope or software modifications, it can be readily adopted by neuroscientists who wish to image neuronal activity deep in the brain.

eLife Assessment

This study provides a valuable perspective on visual cortex architecture by identifying two cortical gradients that change across the lifespan and have distinct functional and structural features. The first gradient captures well-mapped variations in cortical thickness and myelination markers from early sensory to higher-order cortex, while the second gradient shows divergence in these measures with a more localized structure, notably predicting a previously unknown cluster of visual field maps in the anterior temporal lobe. The large-scale lifespan data are compelling, but the evidence overall is incomplete with key questions around methodical checks and implementation, the standard of evidence for the new visual maps, and how the gradient model relates to sharp tissue boundaries parcellating the cortex.

eLife Assessment

This study presents valuable findings on changes in neuronal alpha activity elicited by prolonged pain in healthy human participants. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors, however, is incomplete and would benefit from clarifications of analytical strategies, additional statistical analyses, and shaping of the interpretations. With the methodological and interpretative parts strengthened, the work will be of interest to neuroscientists investigating the brain mechanisms of pain to identify new approaches to pain treatment

eLife Assessment

This important paper employs multiple experimental approaches and presents evidence that changes in membrane voltage directly affect ERK signaling to regulate cell division. This result is relevant because it supports an ion channel-independent pathway by which changes in membrane voltage can affect cell growth. The reviewers point out that some experimental results and interpretations are compelling, but the strength of evidence is incomplete and additional experiments are needed to rule out other possible interpretations of the data.

eLife Assessment

This useful study presents a novel microscopy technique called "Expansion Tiling Light Sheet Microscopy" and an accompanying computational pipeline for the faster collection and analysis of 3D volumetric images in animals like planarians. This approach produces beautiful 3D microscropy images and is solid on a technical level. However, due to the use of antibody reagents that visualize many – but not all – neurons and muscle subtypes, the evidence for the biological conclusions in this study remains incomplete. With the claims appropriately contextualized, this paper will be of interest to cell biologists working on imaging and analyzing whole animals.

eLife Assessment

The study provides valuable insight into the biological significance of SARS-CoV-2 by using a series of computational analyses of viral proteins. While evidence is solid, it is obscured by a lack of clarity about the objectives of the analyses and in the overall writing of the article. The study will be impactful to the researchers in the field but will benefit from improved presentation.

eLife Assessment

This valuable work explores the timely idea that aperiodic activity in human electrophysiology recordings shows changes in response to task events, which may be relevant for performance, and that these changes could be misinterpreted as oscillatory changes. While it is a timely and interesting topic in principle, in the present form, the analytic approach is incomplete. Further, the data offer inadequate support for the conclusions related to theta without demonstrations that the task evokes theta power. Impressions were split, but there was consensus that the Discussion should be tempered and that revisions would improve the manuscript.

eLife Assessment

This important work advances our understanding of parabrachial CGRP threat function. The evidence supporting CGRP aversive outcome signaling is solid, while the evidence for cue signaling and fear behavior generation is incomplete. The work will be of interest to neuroscientists studying defensive behaviors.

eLife Assessment

This study presents a valuable finding on the identification of a complex consisting of NHE1, hERG1, β1/integrin and NaV1.5 on the membrane of breast cancer cells. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is somewhat incomplete. The inclusion of clarification of some experimental design and the amendment of cropping Western blot data would have strengthened the study. The work will be of interest to scientists working on breast cancer.

eLife Assessment

SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have assumed important roles in reducing cardiovascular risk, particularly in those with diabetes. It has become appreciated that its protective effects are likely beyond their ability to lower blood sugar levels. This research presents a novel approach to studying the SGLT2i mechanism of action which is yet to be fully elucidated.

eLife Assessment

This important work addresses the role of Marcks/Markcksl during spinal cord development and regeneration. The study is exceptional in combining molecular approaches to understand the mechanisms of tissue regeneration with behavioural assays, which is not commonly employed in the field. The data presented is convincing and comprehensive, using many complementary methodologies.

eLife Assessment

This important work advances our understanding of factors influencing early childhood development. The large sample size and methodology applied make the findings of this study convincing; however, support for some of the claims made by the authors is incomplete. The work will be of interest to researchers in developmental science and early childhood pediatrics.

eLife Assessment

This study provides a valuable new perspective on how motor learning occurring in one state generalizes to new states (for example, a different limb posture). The proposed model improves upon previous theories in its ability to predict patterns of generalization, but evidence supporting this specific proposed model over possible alternatives is incomplete. The newly proposed theory appears promising but would be more convincing if its conceptual and theoretical basis were clearer and more rigorously derived.

eLife Assessment

This valuable work describes results from a set of simulation and empirical studies of a set-up assessing exploratory behavior in a potentially rewarding environment that contains danger. The core idea is that an instrumental agent can be helped to be both effective and safe, thus avoiding excessive danger, during exploratory behavior, if its influence is flexibly gated by an independent Pavlovian fear learning system. The conclusion that safe, but effective exploration can be achieved based on a flexibly weighted combination of a Pavlovian and an instrumental agent is solid.

eLife Assessment

The authors identify a novel relationship between exosome secretion and filopodia formation that has implications for cancer cell metastasis and neuronal synapse formation. Further, they identify the exosomal cargo, THSD7A, as a regulator of this process. The data presented is convincing, and represents an important advancement in our understanding of how these two biological processes are linked and play roles in regulating cell migration and cell-cell communication.

eLife Assessment

This useful manuscript addresses some key molecular mechanisms on the neuroprotective roles of soluble TREM2 in neurodegenerative diseases. Thw study will advance our understanding of TREM2 mutations, particularly on the damaging effect of known TREM2 mutations, and also explain why soluble TREM2 can antagonize Aβ aggregation. However, the primary experimental method, MD simulations, suffers from limited sampling, rendering the results incomplete for definite conclusions.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study investigates how the size of an LLM may influence its ability to model the human neural response to language recorded by ECoG. Overall, solid evidence is provided that larger language models can better predict the human ECoG response. Further discussion would be beneficial as to how the results can inform us about the brain or LLMs, especially about the new message that can be learned from this ECoG study beyond previous fMRI studies on the same topic. This study will be of interest to both neuroscientists and psychologists who work on language comprehension and computer scientists working on LLMs.