Abstract
Neurons cooperate and interact with one another to generate behavior. While individual neurons and their ensembles are often probed in isolation, very little is known about their relationships on a global scale. Here, we define six groups of neurons with interactions that encode and process food stimulus responses in Caenorhabditis elegans. Using brain-wide calcium imaging in restrained animals, we categorized active neurons into either: sensory (On or Off) or motor (forward, backward, dorsal or ventral turn) neuron groups. Next, we show that stimulus onset rapidly shifts activity from backward to forward motor neuron groups, while prolonged stimulus removal is required to initiate converse activity. Finally, we use a gated multinomial logistic regression model to understand how stimulus processing depends on network state. This study shows how neural activity is coordinated across a network to generate global dynamics that drive behavior.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.