Worm thermotaxis: a model system for analyzing thermosensation and neural plasticity.
Elucidation of the principal mechanism for sensory transduction, learning and memory is a fundamental question in neurobiology. The simple nervous system composed of only 302 neurons and the description of neural wiring combined with developed imaging techniques facilitate cellular and circuit level analysis of behavior in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Recent comprehensive analysis of worm thermotaxis, an experience-modulated behavior, has begun to reveal molecular, cellular, and neural circuit basis of thermosensation and neural plasticity.
Mori
Ikue
I
Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology, Department of Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan. m46920a@nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Sasakura
Hiroyuki
H
Kuhara
Atsushi
A
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D013697:Thermosensing / Q000502:physiology*