Decoding locomotion from population neural activity in moving C. elegans

We investigated the neural representation of locomotion in the nematode C. elegans by recording population calcium activity during movement. We report that population activity more accurately decodes locomotion than any single neuron. Relevant signals are distributed across neurons with diverse tuni...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife Vol. 10
Main Authors: Hallinen, Kelsey M, Dempsey, Ross, Scholz, Monika, Yu, Xinwei, Linder, Ashley, Randi, Francesco, Sharma, Anuj K, Shaevitz, Joshua W, Leifer, Andrew M
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 29.07.2021
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Subjects:
Animals
behavior
calcium imaging
decoding
Hypotheses
Immobilization
Investigations
Locomotion
Neural coding
neural dynamics
Neurons
Neuroscience
Physics of Living Systems
Population
population code
Velocity
ISSN:2050-084X, 2050-084X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We investigated the neural representation of locomotion in the nematode C. elegans by recording population calcium activity during movement. We report that population activity more accurately decodes locomotion than any single neuron. Relevant signals are distributed across neurons with diverse tunings to locomotion. Two largely distinct subpopulations are informative for decoding velocity and curvature, and different neurons’ activities contribute features relevant for different aspects of a behavior or different instances of a behavioral motif. To validate our measurements, we labeled neurons AVAL and AVAR and found that their activity exhibited expected transients during backward locomotion. Finally, we compared population activity during movement and immobilization. Immobilization alters the correlation structure of neural activity and its dynamics. Some neurons positively correlated with AVA during movement become negatively correlated during immobilization and vice versa. This work provides needed experimental measurements that inform and constrain ongoing efforts to understand population dynamics underlying locomotion in C. elegans .
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These authors contributed equally to this work.
Max Planck Research Group Neural Information Flow, Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (caesar), Bonn, Germany.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/eLife.66135