Neuronal, mathematical, and molecular bases of perceptual decision-making in C. elegans

Tanimoto, Yuki; Kimura, Koutarou D.

doi:10.1016/j.neures.2018.10.010

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…Two smaller, much-studied animals also illustrate both the interruption motif and the intimate motif of cooperation between servomechanisms and oscillators: the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans [33,34] and the larvae of Drosophila melanogaster [35]. The small-brained C. elegans , with 302 neurons, practices a chemotaxic mechanism called weathervaning in which it gradually curves towards the peak of a chemical gradient [33,34]. Swings of the head—where chemosensors reside—left and right to compare chemical concentrations supply crucial information for the chemotaxis.…”

Section: Servomechanisms and Oscillators In Concert: Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In nematodes [15,34,44,46], Paramecium [15,43] and bacteria [15,20,21,45], their rates of occasional interruptions of forward movement fall under servomechanistic control. In these interruptions, the forward movement stops, and the organism turns in a quasi-random direction and then heads off in this new direction.…”

Section: Servomechanisms and Oscillators In Concert: Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Various adornments boost the interruption motif. In C. elegans , turns are biased toward bigger turn angles [46], and the much-studied worm also appears to try different directions in rapid succession with interruptions of movement with turns (the interruption is called a pirouette [44], the same term that is applied to saccades of scans in ants [51]) until it finds an improving gradient, after which it tends to maintain a mostly straight course, called a run [34,52]. The nematodes pull off this seemingly purposeful search-until-you-find-the-way servomechanism because reactions to worsening gradients are quick while reactions to an improving gradient are slower; the two are based on different neural mechanisms featuring different neurons.…”

Section: Servomechanisms and Oscillators In Concert: Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Oscillators and servomechanisms in orientation and navigation, and sometimes in cognition

Chen

2022

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Navigational mechanisms have been characterized as servomechanisms. A navigational servomechanism specifies a goal state to strive for. Discrepancies between the perceived current state and the goal state specify error. Servomechanisms adjust the course of travel to reduce the error. I now add that navigational servomechanisms work with oscillators, periodic movements of effectors that drive locomotion. I illustrate this concept selectively over a vast range of scales of travel from micrometres in bacteria to thousands of kilometres in sea turtles. The servomechanisms differ in sophistication, with some interrupting forward motion occasionally or changing travel speed in kineses and others adjusting the direction of travel in taxes. I suggest that in other realms of life as well, especially in cognition, servomechanisms work with oscillators.

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Section: Servomechanisms and Oscillators In Concert: Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Servomechanisms and Oscillators In Concert: Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Servomechanisms and Oscillators In Concert: Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Oscillators and servomechanisms in orientation and navigation, and sometimes in cognition

Chen

2022

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…Although these prerequisites and qualities of a theory (Popper, 2002) are acknowledged, it is not apparent on what axioms contemporary research of decision-making rests. On the one hand, studies of mutated mice, fruit flies, and nematodes correlate neural networks and molecular mechanisms with behavior to dazzling detail (Yapici et al, 2014;Tanimoto and Kimura, 2019). Yet, the central aspect of science, causality, remains unclear: Do the molecular structures and neural networks facilitate or force behavior?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Fundamental Nature of Motives

Annila

2022

Front. Neurosci.

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Decision-making is described as a natural process, one among others, consuming free energy in the least time. The thermodynamic tenet explains why data associated with decisions display the same patterns as any other data: skewed distributions, sigmoidal cumulative curves, oscillations, and even chaos. Moreover, it is shown that decision-making is intrinsically an intractable process because everything depends on everything else. However, no decision is arbitrary but bounded by free energy, such as resources and propellants, and restricted by mechanisms like molecular, neural, and social networks. The least-time maximation of entropy, equivalent to the minimization of free energy, parallels the optimization of subjective expected utility. As the system attains a state of balance, all driving forces vanish. Then there is no need or use to make further decisions. In general, the thermodynamic theory regards those decisions well-motivated that take into account forces, i.e., causes comprehensively in projecting motions, i.e., consequences.

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“…For example, approaching or withdrawing from an odor source causes gradual changes in the odor concentration sensed by an animal. Because odor concentration information is usually not delivered smoothly or consistently but rather unequally and/or with certain noise, the nervous systems of animals must process dynamically changing sensory stimuli properly using temporal differentiation and/or integration (Tanimoto and Kimura, 2019).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Calcium Imaging of Neuronal Activity under Gradually Changing Odor Stimulation in Caenorhabditis elegans

Tanimoto¹,

Kimura²

2021

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Olfactory behavior is among the most fundamental animal behaviors both in the wild and in the laboratory. To elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying olfactory behavior, it is critical to measure neural responses to odorant concentration changes resembling those that animals actually sense during olfactory behavior. However, reproducing the dynamically changing olfactory stimuli to an animal during such measurements of neural activity is technically challenging. Here, we describe technical details and protocols for odor stimulation during calcium imaging of the sensory neurons of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. In this system, the neuronal activity of C. elegans is measured using ratiometric calcium imaging during exposure to quantitatively controlled olfactory stimuli over time.Temporal changes in odor concentrations around the animal are precisely controlled according to a predesigned temporal odor gradient to reproduce a realistic odor concentration change during olfactory behavior in a behavioral arena. By monitoring neural activity in response to the realistic olfactory stimulus, it is possible to elucidate the mechanisms by which olfactory input is processed by neural activities and reflected in behavioral output.

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Neuronal, mathematical, and molecular bases of perceptual decision-making in C. elegans

Cited by 8 publications

References 82 publications

Oscillators and servomechanisms in orientation and navigation, and sometimes in cognition

Oscillators and servomechanisms in orientation and navigation, and sometimes in cognition

The Fundamental Nature of Motives

Calcium Imaging of Neuronal Activity under Gradually Changing Odor Stimulation in Caenorhabditis elegans

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