POWRE: Quantitative Behavioral Analysis of a Simple Animal

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The goal of this research is to describe and model behaviors in the common soil nematode C. elegans, a simple worm. The investigators will first develop a real-time, automatic tracking system to monitor and record over long periods of time, nematode behaviors such as egg laying, locomotion, defecation, feeding, and mating. They will then construct novel mathematical models to account for the observed behaviors and devise parameter estimation algorithms to quantify the behavioral data.The researchers will attempt to identify the roles of specific neurons and neuro-transmitters in regulating these behaviors. They study C. elegans because its nervous system is extremely simple and well characterized at the anatomical level. This makes it practical to understand behaviors at the molecular and cellular level. Although the nematode nervous system is simplistic as compared to that of the vertebrate brains, the basic principles of neural activity are applicable across a wide range of organisms and so may the results of this study