title: Global brain dynamics embed the motor command sequence of Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: While isolated motor actions can be correlated with activities of neuronal networks, an unresolved problem is how the brain assembles these activities into organized behaviors like action sequences. Using brain-wide calcium imaging in Caenorhabditis elegans, we show that a large proportion of neurons across the brain share information by engaging in coordinated, dynamical network activity. This brain state evolves on a cycle, each segment of which recruits the activities of different neuronal sub-populations and can be explicitly mapped, on a single trial basis, to the animals' major motor commands. This organization defines the assembly of motor commands into a string of run-and-turn action sequence cycles, including decisions between alternative behaviors. These dynamics serve as a robust scaffold for action selection in response to sensory input. This study shows that the coordination of neuronal activity patterns into global brain dynamics underlies the high-level organization of behavior.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Molecular Pathology IMP, Vienna Biocenter VBC, Dr. Bohr-Gasse 7, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Saul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Molecular Pathology IMP, Vienna Biocenter VBC, Dr. Bohr-Gasse 7, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Harris S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Molecular Pathology IMP, Vienna Biocenter VBC, Dr. Bohr-Gasse 7, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schrödel
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Molecular Pathology IMP, Vienna Biocenter VBC, Dr. Bohr-Gasse 7, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Skora
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
authors.forename: Theodore H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lindsay
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Eviatar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yemini
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
authors.forename: Shawn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lockery
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Molecular Pathology IMP, Vienna Biocenter VBC, Dr. Bohr-Gasse 7, 1030 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: zimmer@imp.ac.at.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zimmer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D009415:Nerve Net; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction