Neural circuits underlying sensorimotor behaviors in C. elegans

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

All animals have evolved specific behaviors that allow them to find resources and avoid harm. The production of fixed, innate behaviors such as reflexes, depends on the function of dedicate neural circuits. However, behavior must also be flexible and adapt to new conditions. Neural circuits also mediate these more complex behaviors. The structural and functional properties of these circuits are established by genes that specify the development of the brain, and are further shaped and modulated by experience. By studying neural circuits in a wide range of animals and in many behavioral contexts, we can gain understanding of the fundamental mechanisms by which nervous systems process information and produce behavior. We study neural circuits and behavior in a simple animal, Caenorhabditis elegans, a one millimeter long roundworm. C. elegans has just 302 nerve cells, or neurons, yet it is behaviorally complex, exhibiting both innate behaviors and adapting to its environment and experiences. Because C. elegans is blind, it relies principally on chemical senses, similar to smell and taste, to navigate its environment. We are studying the neural circuits that allow worms to detect and locate (or avoid) critical resources or dangers in its environment. There are three key attributes of C. elegans that make it an attractive animals to study in this manner: 1) It is the only animal in which the complete set of connections between all of its neurons—referred to as the “wiring diagram”—has been describe; 2) Its navigation behaviors can be easily and quantitatively described with video analysis; and 3) It is transparent, and using genetic methods we can label its neurons with fluorescent molecules that allow us to monitor the activity of each neuron during behavioral tasks. Together, this work is an opportunity to look across scales of biological organization, from individual cells, to networks of interacting neurons, to the organism-level behaviors that result. Such an integrative view is essential to understanding behavior, its variation, and its evolution.