Evolution and Analysis of Minimal Neural Circuits for Klinotaxis in Caenorhabditis elegans
Open accessAbstract
Chemotaxis during sinusoidal locomotion in nematodes captures in simplified form the general problem of how dynamical interactions between the nervous system, body, and environment are exploited in the generation of adaptive behavior. We used an evolutionary algorithm to generate neural networks that exhibit klinotaxis, a common form of chemotaxis in which the direction of locomotion in a chemical gradient closely follows the line of steepest ascent. Sensory inputs and motor outputs of the model networks were constrained to match the inputs and outputs of the Caenorhabditis elegans klinotaxis network. We found that 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. Importantly, emergent properties of model networks reproduced two key experimental observations that they were not designed to fit, suggesting that the model may be operating according to principles similar to those of the biological network. A dynamical systems analysis of 77 evolved networks revealed a novel neural mechanism for spatial orientation behavior. This mechanism provides a testable hypothesis that is likely to accelerate the discovery and analysis of the biological circuitry for chemotaxis in C. elegans .
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The motor neuron principles are consistent with those observed in the previous sensorimotor-only model.
“This is consistent with the principles observed in the motor neurons of the previous sensorimotor-only model [77].”
From Connecting a Connectome to Behavior: An Ensemble of Neuroanatomical Models of C. elegans Klinotaxis (2013) · cites this paper as [77]
The sensorimotor transformation is qualitatively similar to the previous theoretical model, suggesting that the principles of operation of the neuroanatomical network are consistent with the simpler model.
“The sensorimotor transformation in Figure 5 is qualitatively similar to the previous theoretical model [77], which suggests the principles of operation of the neuroanatomical network are consistent with the simpler model.”
From Connecting a Connectome to Behavior: An Ensemble of Neuroanatomical Models of C. elegans Klinotaxis (2013) · cites this paper as [77]
The output of the model was consistent with both real worm tracks during klinotaxis and the previous theoretical model.
“Thus the output of the model was consistent with both real worm tracks during klinotaxis [63] and the previous theoretical model [77].”
From Connecting a Connectome to Behavior: An Ensemble of Neuroanatomical Models of C. elegans Klinotaxis (2013) · cites this paper as [77]
These principles are similar to those found in the previous sensorimotor-only model.
“These principles are similar to those found in the previous sensorimotor-only model [77].”
From Connecting a Connectome to Behavior: An Ensemble of Neuroanatomical Models of C. elegans Klinotaxis (2013) · cites this paper as [77]
Ablating the chemosensory neurons ASEL and ASER resulted in qualitatively similar deteriorations to klinotaxis performance to what has been observed experimentally and in the previous model.
“Ablating the chemosensory neurons ASEL and ASER resulted in qualitatively similar deteriorations to klinotaxis performance to what has been observed experimentally [63] and in the previous model [77] (Figure 11).”
From Connecting a Connectome to Behavior: An Ensemble of Neuroanatomical Models of C. elegans Klinotaxis (2013) · cites this paper as [77]
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Connecting a Connectome to Behavior: An Ensemble of Neuroanatomical Models of C. elegans Klinotaxis
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Izquierdo, E. J., & Lockery, S. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Oregon (US)
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2010-09-29
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 39
- Pages
- 12908-12917
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC3422662
- OpenAlex
- W1976542824
- Semantic Scholar
- b0f21435e132ca17ed1e7aa6791d45e719aa17b3
- Cited by
- 95
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 1.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0543643)
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (R21MH112105, MH051383, R29MH051383, R01MH051383)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Neural Networks and Applications
- Keywords
- klinotaxis, chemotaxis, Caenorhabditis elegans, evolved neural networks, chemosensory neurons, spatial orientation, emergent behavior, dynamical systems analysis, adaptive behavior
- MeSH terms
- Action Potentials, Algorithms, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Chemoreceptor Cells, Chemotaxis, Biological Evolution, Locomotion, Neck Muscles, Nerve Net, Neural Pathways, Salts, Neural Networks, Computer, Caenorhabditis elegans
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