University of Massachusetts Medical School Faculty Publications
Title
A C. elegans neuron both promotes and suppresses motor behavior to fine tune motor output [preprint]
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems
Publication Date
2020-11-03
Document Type
Article Preprint
Disciplines
Behavioral Neurobiology
Abstract
How neural circuits drive behavior is a central question in neuroscience. Proper execution of motor behavior requires the precise coordination of many neurons. Within a motor circuit, individual neurons tend to play discrete roles by promoting or suppressing motor output. How exactly neurons function in specific roles to fine tune motor output is not well understood. In C. elegans, the interneuron RIM plays important yet complex roles in locomotion behavior. Here, we show that RIM both promotes and suppresses distinct features of locomotion behavior to fine tune motor output. This dual function is achieved via the excitation and inhibition of the same motor circuit by electrical and chemical neurotransmission, respectively. Additionally, this bi-directional regulation contributes to motor adaptation in animals placed in novel environments. Our findings reveal that individual neurons within a neural circuit may act in opposing ways to regulate circuit dynamics to fine tune behavioral output.
Keywords
Neuroscience, motor behavior, neurons
Rights and Permissions
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
DOI of Published Version
10.1101/2020.11.02.354472
Source
bioRxiv 2020.11.02.354472; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.02.354472. Link to preprint on bioRxiv
Journal/Book/Conference Title
bioRxiv
Repository Citation
Li Z, Zhou J, Wani KA, Yu T, Ronan EA, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Liu J, Xu XS. (2020). A C. elegans neuron both promotes and suppresses motor behavior to fine tune motor output [preprint]. University of Massachusetts Medical School Faculty Publications. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.02.354472. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/faculty_pubs/1844
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
This article is a preprint. Preprints are preliminary reports of work that have not been certified by peer review.