Functional connectivity in the C. elegans brain

ORAL

Abstract

The nematode C. elegans plays an important role in the study of nervous systems. Thanks to its unique properties, we have an exquisitely detailed knowledge of its brain, including its complete anatomical connectome, that describes the map of the connections between all the neurons in its brain. While the connectome has been instrumental in elucidating specific circuits, it has not allowed the community to fully understand whole-brain neural dynamics. Neural dynamics is governed by functional connectivity, the properties of the interactions between neurons, which include their strength, sign, direction, and temporal properties. In contrast, the connectome only tells us which neurons interact with which others. Measuring functional connectivity is therefore fundamental to understanding the brain.

I will present functional connectivity measurements in C. elegans obtained via sequential optogenetic stimulation of individual neurons and simultaneous whole-brain imaging of neural activity as a first step towards probing the relationship between neuroanatomy  and neural function.

*Funding:Swartz Fellowship for Theoretical Neuroscience to F.R.NIH under New Innovator Grant No. DP2NS116768 to A.M.LNSF (Center for the Physics of Biological Function PHY-1734030)

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Presenters

  • Francesco Randi

    • Princeton University
    • Department of Physics, Princeton University, USA

Authors

  • Francesco Randi

    • Princeton University
    • Department of Physics, Princeton University, USA

  • Anuj K Sharma

    • Princeton University
    • Department of Physics, Princeton University, USA
    • Physics, Princeton University

  • Sophie Dvali

    • Department of Physics, Princeton University, USA

  • Andrew M Leifer

    • Princeton University
    • Department of Physics, Princeton University, USA
    • Physics and Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University