POWRE: Quantitative Behavioral Analysis of a Simple Animal

本研究的目的是描述和模拟常见的土壤线虫C。一种简单的蠕虫研究人员将首先开发一种实时自动跟踪系统，以长时间监测和记录线虫的行为，如产卵、运动、排便、进食和交配。然后，他们将构建新的数学模型来解释观察到的行为，并设计参数估计算法来量化行为数据。研究人员将试图确定特定神经元和神经递质在调节这些行为中的作用。学习C。因为它的神经系统非常简单，并且在解剖学水平上具有很好的特征。这使得在分子和细胞水平上理解行为变得实用。虽然线虫的神经系统与脊椎动物的大脑相比过于简单，但神经活动的基本原理适用于广泛的生物体，因此本研究的结果也适用于广泛的生物体。

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