Work

Dimensionality and Dynamics in the Behavior of C. elegans

Year: 2008

Type: article

Abstract: A major challenge in analyzing animal behavior is to discover some underlying simplicity in complex motor actions. Here, we show that the space of shapes adopted by the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is low dimensional, with just four dimensions accounting for 95% of the shape variance. These dimensions provide a quantitative description of worm behavior, and we partially reconstruct "equations of motion" for the dynamics in this space. These dynamics have multiple attractors, and we find that the worm visits these in a rapid and almost completely deterministic response to weak thermal stimuli. Stimulus-dependent correlations among the different modes suggest that one can generate more reliable behaviors by synchronizing stimuli to the state of the worm in shape space. We confirm this prediction, effectively "steering" the worm in real time.

Source: PLoS Computational Biology

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000028

Authors: Greg J. Stephens, Bethany Johnson-Kerner, William Bialek, William S. Ryu

Institution: Princeton University

Language: English

Topic: Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research

Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,043

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Los Alamos National Laboratory