Dissection at single cell-level of the thermotaxis behavioral circuit in C. elegans

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Neurons sense information from the environment and transform it into adaptive behaviors. This project will identify how identified neurons in the simplified nervous system of a tractable experimental organism accomplish this feat. To perform such transformations neurons must store information. Thus, a complimentary goal of the project is to study the changes in neurons as they form memories. To enhance the project's societal benefits, the investigators will link the research to educational opportunities for undergraduates, with a particular focus on Latino students. Undergraduate students will participate in the research at Yale University and share their newly acquired knowledge with the public through podcasts targeted for lay-audiences. Podcasts will be transmitted via CienciaPR.org and radio stations, particularly, but not exclusively, in Puerto Rico. The overarching goal of this project is to determine the role of specific neurons and specific synapses in transforming thermal sensory information into thermotaxis behavior. The effort is based on an interdisciplinary collaboration with Dr. Aravi Samuel lab at Harvard University, and novel experimental paradigms that allow the team to investigate sensory signal transduction in the experimental model organism C. elegans. The research team will achieve the study aims by perturbing molecules at synapses in specific cells, and then imaging neural activity as they quantify the effects of synaptic disruption on thermotaxis behaviors. The expected outcome is a comprehensive understanding of the role of specific synapses and single cells in the processing of thermosensory information and the emergence of thermotaxis behavior. In a broader sense, the project is expected to reveal new principles of intercellular communication that are conserved across taxa, thus advancing science's understanding of the link between behaviors and underlying neural circuits.