Calcium dynamics regulating the timing of decision-making in C. elegans

• Published in: eLife Vol. 6
• Main Authors: Tanimoto, Yuki, Yamazoe-Umemoto, Akiko, Fujita, Kosuke, Kawazoe, Yuya, Miyanishi, Yosuke, Yamazaki, Shuhei J, Fei, Xianfeng, Busch, Karl Emanuel, Gengyo-Ando, Keiko, Nakai, Junichi, Iino, Yuichi, Iwasaki, Yuishi, Hashimoto, Koichi, Kimura, Koutarou D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 23.05.2017; eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
• Subjects: Animals; Bearings; Behavior; Behavior, Animal; Caenorhabditis elegans - physiology; Calcium (intracellular); Calcium - metabolism; Calcium channels; Calcium channels (L-type); Calcium channels (voltage-gated); Calcium Channels - metabolism; calcium imaging; Calcium signalling; Clinical decision making; Decision Making; Drosophila; Insects; mathematical modeling; molecular genetics; Molecular modelling; navigation; Neurons; Neuroscience; Odor; olfaction; Olfactory neurons; Pain perception; Physiology; Science; Smell; Spatial Navigation; Time Factors; molecular genetics; C. elegans; navigation; decision-making; neuroscience; mathematical modeling; olfaction; calcium imaging
• ISSN: 2050-084X; 2050-084X
• DOI: 10.7554/elife.21629

Brains regulate behavioral responses with distinct timings. Here we investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the timing of decision-making during olfactory navigation in . We find that, based on subtle changes in odor concentrations, the animals appear to choose the appropriate migratory direction from multiple trials as a form of behavioral decision-making. Through optophysiological, mathematical and genetic analyses of neural activity under virtual odor gradients, we further find that odor concentration information is temporally integrated for a decision by a gradual increase in intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca ] ), which occurs via L-type voltage-gated calcium channels in a pair of olfactory neurons. In contrast, for a reflex-like behavioral response, [Ca ] rapidly increases via multiple types of calcium channels in a pair of nociceptive neurons. Thus, the timing of neuronal responses is determined by cell type-dependent involvement of calcium channels, which may serve as a cellular basis for decision-making.