Deep analysis of the neuroloop mechanism controlled by the forward motion of the beautiful hidden nematode.

Recently, professor hot spring research group of Hefei Microscale Physical Scienceresearch Research Center, School of Life Sciences, And Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligent Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences combined experiments and theories to propose a model of neuromuscular dynamics such as downstream pathway signals, ontobody mechanical sensor feedback, and central model generator situated deeply to analyze the neural loop of dynamic movement control of the forward motion of the beautiful hidden rod nematode.
the results, published in the Proceedings Ofans Proceedings (PNAS) on the study of Descending ed rya lys undulatod wave propagation ations in Caenorhabditis elegans through gap junctions.
animals need to perform coordinated motion on an ongoing basis, in which precisely encoded oscillation signals in spatial patterns and time series control the muscles of different parts of the body.
this signal is generated by neurons or neural loops with inner rhythms, known to scientists as central pattern generators (CPG). The perfect coupling mechanism between the
hub mode generator is an important basis for coordinating continuous motion.
Although the rhythmic activity of the central mode generator can be maintained without sensory input, feedback from the animal body body body sensory signal and other mechanical sensory signals can adjust their state during motion;
a deep understanding of motion control requires quantifying the above descriptions and comparing them with new theoretical predictions and experiments.
, the hot spring team chose to study the beautiful nematodes: the millimeter-length worm is transparent and has only 302 neurons, making it possible for quantitative studies.
by combining molecular genetics, light genetics, calcium dynamic imaging, and computational models, they found that nematodes control the motor neurons of the muscles to form a distributed central pattern generator, and that the downlink path neurons use their electric synapses formed with motor neurons to directly suppress or activate motor neurons, triggering their transition from steady state to oscillation altogether.
interesting is that some central pattern generators in the middle of the body have a much higher oscillation frequency than normal forward motion, so how do nematodes eventually coordinate these different frequencies? They found that the ontome sensory signals from head to tail, which are also conducted by motor neurons, modulated the body's motion frequency and eventually showed coherent forward movement.
diagram: (A) Nematode forward motion loop electrosyd connection diagram. there is an electricsssstic connection between the
downpass neurons and all the progressive motor neurons that control the back and abdominal muscles.
(B) nematodebody body rear produces a high-frequency swing diagram.
when using the method of photogenetic instantaneous suppression to cut off the downward signal at the front of the nematode and the body to feel feedback, the CPG located in the middle of the nematode's body begins to exhibit its inner high frequency and drives the tail swing.
(C) nematodes coordinate forward motion in a neural loop model.
the downlink path neurons coordinate the distributed central mode generator to produce coherent forward motion by electrosytic connection of the ontol sensory signals that are perceived by motor neurons. The work of the
Hot Springs Research Group shows that the nervous system of the beautiful nematodes is simple but complex.
in order to achieve the algorithmic operation of motion control, nematodes compress the function of different kinds of neurons in higher animals into the same kind of neurons, resulting in some kind of minimalism.
studying numerically simple systems is better for obtaining clear physical images and finding conservative working principles.
's findings make a key effort to systematically understand motor neural loops and build a complete mathematical model.
the co-authors of the thesis are Xu Tianxuan, a graduate student of the hot spring research group, and the communication author is hot spring, and the physics undergraduate student of the Junior Class College, Yu Shuai, is involved in the mathematical modeling work, and the work is also attended by the University of Toronto Professor Zhen Mei Research Group.
the project is supported by the 100-person program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Hot Springs), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Hot Springs) and the Canadian Institute of Health Foundation (Zhenmei).
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