Machine vision analysis of nematode behavioral patterns.

描述(申请人提供)：线虫具有强大的遗传学，描述良好的神经系统，以及接近完整的基因组序列；因此，它非常适合在分子和细胞水平上分析行为。将特定基因的影响从功能上映射到特定的行为后果的能力，使得使用基因分析从功能上剖析神经系统功能(如成瘾)鲜为人知的方面背后的分子机制成为可能。然而，许多在神经元功能中起关键作用的基因对行为的影响对普通观察者来说似乎非常微妙或难以准确描述。因此，为了充分发挥线虫在神经系统功能遗传分析中的潜力，有必要开发复杂的方法来快速和一致地量化行为表型。 这项拟议工作的目标是开发计算机视觉工具，以定量描述线虫因突变或药物治疗而导致的行为模式。通过使精确描述不协调、运动异常突变体的行为表型成为可能，这些工具将特别有助于将特定的神经传递缺陷与特征行为模式相关联。这些分析工具还将用于精确定义神经活性药物对行为的长期影响，为对耐受性和依赖性缺陷的突变进行基因筛查打开了可能性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The nematode C. elegans has powerful genetics, a well-described nervous system, and a near complete genome sequence; thus, it is well suited to analysis of behavior at the molecular and cellular levels. The ability to functionally map the influence of particular genes to specific behavioral consequences makes it possible to use genetic analysis to functionally dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying poorly understood aspects of nervous system function such as addiction. However, many genes with critical roles in neuronal function have effects on behavior that to a casual observer appear very subtle or difficult to describe precisely. Therefore, to fully realize the potential of C. elegans for the genetic analysis of nervous system functions, it is necessary to develop sophisticated methods for the rapid and consistent quantitation of behavioral phenotypes. The goal of this proposed work is to develop computer vision tools for quantitatively characterizing the behavioral patterns caused by mutations or pharmacological treatment in C. elegans. By making it possible to precisely characterize the behavioral phenotypes of uncoordinated, locomotion-abnormal mutants, these tools will be particularly useful for correlation specific neurotransmission defects with characteristic behavioral patterns. These analytical tools will also be used to precisely define the long-term effects of neuroactive drugs on behavioral, opening the possibility of genetic screening for mutants with defects in tolerance and dependence.