The computational worm: spatial orientation and its neuronal basis in C. elegans 

@article{Lockery2011TheCW,
  title={The computational worm: spatial orientation and its neuronal basis in C. elegans
},
  author={Shawn R. Lockery},
  journal={Current Opinion in Neurobiology},
  year={2011},
  volume={21},
  pages={782-790}
}
  • S. Lockery
  • Published 1 October 2011
  • Biology, Psychology
  • Current Opinion in Neurobiology
View on Elsevier
europepmc.org
79 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
2
Background Citations
31
Methods Citations
3
Results Citations
1

Figures from this paper

79 Citations

Nematode locomotion: dissecting the neuronal–environmental loop

A gate-and-switch model for head orientation behaviors in C. elegans

RIA is part of a sensorimotor pathway that is dynamically regulated according to head orientation at two levels: the first is a gate that filters sensory representations in RIA, and the second is a switch that routes RIA synaptic output to dorsal or ventral head motor neurons.

Integration of spatially opposing cues by a single interneuron guides decision making in C. elegans

A cellular mechanism that mediates spatial computation of nociceptive cues for efficient decision-making in C. elegans is uncovered, which stems from distinct anatomical localization of inhibitory and excitatory glutamate-gated receptors along the AVA process and from different threshold sensitivities of the sensory neurons to aversive stimuli.

A Gate-and-Switch Model for Head Orientation Behaviors in Caenorhabditis elegans

The results suggest that RIA is part of a sensorimotor pathway that is dynamically regulated according to head orientation at two levels: the first is a gate that filters sensory representations in RIA, and the second is a switch that routes RIA synaptic output to dorsal or ventral head motor neurons.

Neural substrates of navigational decision-making in Drosophila larva anemotaxis

This work characterize for the first time the navigational strategies of Drosophila larvae in gradients of air-current speeds using high-throughput behavioral assays and quantitative behavioral analysis and identifies the sensory neurons and circuit elements in the ventral nerve cord and brain of the larva required for navigational decisions during anemotaxis.

Circuit and Behavioral Analysis of Klinotaxis in Caenorhabditis elegans

This dissertation investigates the neural basis of the sensorimotor transformation underlying a spatial orientation strategy in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and finds a minimal neuronal network for klinotaxis to sodium chloride including the ASE, AIY, AIZ, and SMB neuron classes that displays left/right asymmetry across the sensory neuron, interneuron, and motor neuron levels.

A stochastic neuronal model predicts random search behaviors at multiple spatial scales in C. elegans

A mathematical model of random search abstracted from the C. elegans connectome is formulated and fit to a large-scale kinematic analysis of C. nematode Caenorhabditis elegans behavior at submicron resolution, indicating that random search in the organism can be understood in terms of a neuronal flip-flop circuit involving reciprocal inhibition between two populations of stochastic neurons.

Dynamics of Neural Activity During Chemotaxis in Caenorhabditis Elegans

It is discovered that controlling the activity in just one pair of interneurons (AIY) is sufficient to manipulate the animal to locate, turn towards and track a virtual light gradient.

Past and Recent Endeavours to Simulate Caenorhabditis elegans

This short paper reviews past and present endeavours to reveal and harvest the potential of nervous system function in C. elegans and suggests that both robotics and information and computation technology would strongly benefit if the working principles of nervous systems could be extracted and applied to the engineering of brain-mimetic computational architectures.

A population of central complex neurons promoting airflow-guided orientation in Drosophila

It is found that a group of columnar neurons targeting the ventral fan-shaped body (ventral P-FNs) were consistently tuned for airflow direction, and silenced neurons prevented flies from adopting stable orientations relative to airflow in closed-loop flight.
...

80 References

Neuronal Control of Locomotion in C. elegans Is Modified by a Dominant Mutation in the GLR-1 Ionotropic Glutamate Receptor

A Neural Network Model of Chemotaxis Predicts Functions of Synaptic Connections in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Common patterns of connectivity between the model and biological networks suggest new functions for previously identified connections in the C. elegans nervous system, and it is shown that feedback regulates the latency between sensory input and behavior.

Circuit motifs for spatial orientation behaviors identified by neural network optimization.

This study used an unbiased optimization algorithm to seek values of neuronal time constants, resting potentials, and synaptic strengths sufficient for each type of behavior and found many different hill-climbing and goal-seeking networks that performed equally well in the two tasks.

Evolution and Analysis of Minimal Neural Circuits for Klinotaxis in Caenorhabditis elegans

A minimalistic neural network, comprised of an ON-OFF pair of chemosensory neurons and a pair of neck muscle motor neurons, is sufficient to generate realistic klinotaxis behavior, suggesting that the model may be operating according to principles similar to those of the biological network.

Temporal Activity Patterns in Thermosensory Neurons of Freely Moving Caenorhabditis elegans Encode Spatial Thermal Gradients

It is shown that the worm is able, in principle, to evaluate and guide its own thermotactic behaviors with respect to ambient spatial thermal gradients by monitoring the activity of this single thermosensory neuron.

A Hub-and-Spoke Circuit Drives Pheromone Attraction and Social Behavior in C. elegans

The coordination of social behaviours by RMG suggests an anatomical hub-and-spoke model for sensory integration in aggregation, and points to functions for related circuit motifs in the C. elegans wiring diagram.

Genetic analysis of crawling and swimming locomotory patterns in C. elegans

It is shown that Caenorhabditis elegans switches between distinct forms of locomotion, or crawling versus swimming, when transitioning between solid and liquid environments.

Optogenetic analysis of synaptic transmission in the central nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

A model in which the energetic cost of escape behaviours in C. elegans is tuned to the intensity of the threat is proposed, and it is found that escape probability mirrors the time course of synaptic current in the command neuron.

A circuit for navigation in Caenorhabditis elegans.

The roles of individual sensory neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons in exploratory behaviors under different conditions are dissected to suggest this circuit may represent a common substrate for multiple navigation behaviors.

A huband-spoke circuit drives pheromone attraction and social behaviour in C . elegans

The coordination of social behaviours by RMG suggests an anatomical hub-and-spoke model for sensory integration in aggregation, and points to functions for related circuit motifs in the C. elegans wiring diagram.
...