Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2009 Dec;19(6):637-43.
doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2009.09.009. Epub 2009 Nov 4.

Caenorhabditis elegans: a model system for systems neuroscience

Piali Sengupta  1 , Aravinthan D T Samuel
Affiliations
Review

Caenorhabditis elegans: a model system for systems neuroscience

Piali Sengupta et al. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2009 Dec.

Abstract

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is an excellent model organism for a systems-level understanding of neural circuits and behavior. Advances in the quantitative analyses of behavior and neuronal activity, and the development of new technologies to precisely control and monitor the workings of interconnected circuits, now allow investigations into the molecular, cellular, and systems-level strategies that transform sensory inputs into precise behavioral outcomes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Forward movement is driven by the propagation of contraction and relaxation of rows of muscle cells that line the dorsal and ventral sides of the animal. The activity of each muscle cell on the dorsal (ventral) side of the animal is driven by input from cholinergic DB (VB) motor neurons or inhibited by GABAergic input from DD (VD) motor neurons. Activity (inactivity) of each cell type is schematized by filled (open) shapes. Excitatory (inhibitory) connections are shown by arrows (bars). A motif of connectivity between motor neurons and muscle cells repeats along the length of the worm, and shows pathways for contralateral inhibition. For example, DB motor neurons can simultaneously excite a dorsal muscle cell while exciting VD motor neurons that inhibit the opposing ventral muscle cell. Not shown are gap junctions between identical cell types between adjacent motifs. Based on data from [2,3].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Marder E, Calabrese RL. Principles of rhythmic motor pattern generation. Physiol Rev. 1996;76:687–717. - PubMed
    1. Grillner S, Kozlov A, Dario P, Stefanini C, Menciassi A, Lansner A, Hellgren Kotaleski J. Modeling a vertebrate motor system: pattern generation, steering and control of body orientation. Prog Brain Res. 2007;165:221–234. - PubMed
    1. White JG, Southgate E, Thomson JN, Brenner S. The structure of the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Phil Transact R Soc Lond B. 1986;314:1–340. - PubMed
    1. Chen BL, Hall DH, Chklovskii DB. Wiring optimization can relate neuronal structure and function. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2006;103:4723–4728. The layout of the worm nervous system could be derived from first principles using the concept of wire minimization, reducing the amount of neuronal fiber that is required to produce the pattern of synaptic connectivity in worm neuronal circuits. Additional synaptic connectivity that was not completed in the original wiring diagram was found in the motor circuit. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pierce-Shimomura JT, Chen BL, Mun JJ, Ho R, Sarkis R, McIntire SL. Genetic analysis of crawling and swimming locomotory patterns in C. elegans. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2008;105:20982–20987. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources