Feedback from network states generates variability in a probabilistic olfactory circuit.

ABSTRACT: Variability is a prominent feature of behavior and is an active element of certain behavioral strategies. To understand how neuronal circuits control variability, we examined the propagation of sensory information in a chemotaxis circuit of C. elegans where discrete sensory inputs can drive a probabilistic behavioral response. Olfactory neurons respond to odor stimuli with rapid and reliable changes in activity, but downstream AIB interneurons respond with a probabilistic delay. The interneuron response to odor depends on the collective activity of multiple neurons-AIB, RIM, and AVA-when the odor stimulus arrives. Certain activity states of the network correlate with reliable responses to odor stimuli. Artificially generating these activity states by modifying neuronal activity increases t

SUBMITTER: Gordus A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4821011 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature