Automated imaging of C. elegans behavior

Abstract

Automated systems for recording and analyzing behavior have many applications for the study of neurobiology in Caenorhabditis elegans. In particular, machine-based approaches allow for precise quantitative definitions of behavioral phenotypes that have traditionally been subjectively described by individual observers. Automated systems also facilitate the analysis of behaviors that occur over long time scales or are difficult to detect by eye. Here we describe the detailed methodology for the use of one recently described automated tracking system for C. elegans. These protocols make it possible to measure a wide range of parameters related to the morphology, body posture, and locomotion patterns of individual wild-type and mutant nematodes.