Hierarchical sparse coding in the sensory system of Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: Animals with compact sensory systems face an encoding problem where a small number of sensory neurons are required to encode information about its surrounding complex environment. Using Caenorhabditis elegans worms as a model, we ask how chemical stimuli are encoded by a small and highly connected sensory system. We first generated a comprehensive library of transgenic worms where each animal expresses a genetically encoded calcium indicator in individual sensory neurons. This library includes the vast majority of the sensory system in C. elegans. Imaging from individual sensory neurons while subjecting the worms to various stimuli allowed us to compile a comprehensive functional map of the sensory system at single neuron resolution. The functional map reveals that despite the dense wiring

SUBMITTER: Zaslaver A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4313814 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature