Beyond the Wires – Worm Brains Reveal Hidden Neural Connections

Show notes

In this episode, we go beyond the famous C. elegans connectome to explore how signal propagation doesn’t always follow the wires. Using powerful whole-brain calcium imaging combined with single-cell optogenetic activation, researchers mapped over 23,000 neuron pairings to build a functional atlas that rewrites parts of the worm’s wiring diagram.

We dive into:

• How extrasynaptic neuropeptide signalling connects neurons outside synapses

• The discovery of functional connections invisible in the wiring diagram

• How C. elegans neural signals propagate both directly and indirectly

• The creation of a functional connectome that predicts spontaneous activity better than anatomy alone

• The surprising flexibility and plasticity of even simple nervous systems

📖 Based on the research article:

“Neural signal propagation atlas of Caenorhabditis elegans”

Francesco Randi, Anuj K. Sharma, Sophie Dvali & Andrew M. Leifer

Published in Nature (2023).

🔗 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06683-4

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This podcast is generated with artificial intelligence and curated by Veeren. If you’d like your publication featured on the show, please get in touch.

📩 More info:

🔗 ⁠⁠www.veerenchauhan.com⁠⁠

📧 veeren.chauhan@nottingham.ac.uk