Functionality and Robustness of Injured Connectomic Dynamics in C. elegans: Linking Behavioral Deficits to Neural Circuit Damage.

ABSTRACT: Using a model for the dynamics of the full somatic nervous system of the nematode C. elegans, we address how biological network architectures and their functionality are degraded in the presence of focal axonal swellings (FAS) arising from neurodegenerative disease and/or traumatic brain injury. Using biophysically measured FAS distributions and swelling sizes, we are able to simulate the effects of injuries on the neural dynamics of C. elegans, showing how damaging the network degrades its low-dimensional dynamical responses. We visualize these injured neural dynamics by mapping them onto the worm's low-dimensional postures, i.e. eigenworm modes. We show that a diversity of functional deficits arise from the same level of injury on a connectomic network. Functional deficits are quantified

SUBMITTER: Kunert JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5215891 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature