IBI Seminar: Foraging for information - mechanisms of interaction between neural circuits
Dmitry Fedosov
Monika Scholz
Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior – caesar, Bonn, Germany
Join us in person in the PGI Hörsaal (PGI Lecture Theatre, Building 04.8, Room 365) or online at
https://go.fzj.de/IBI-Colloquium
Abstract:
Finding the next bite of food is essential for survival. But how are motion towards food and subsequent ingestion coordinated? And how does sensory information play a role in making decisions about what to eat next?
Using the transparent nematode C. elegans as a model, we investigate how animals integrate sensory information while searching for food. In C. elegans, only 20 neurons out of a total of 302 neurons are controlling its feeding behavior, while the remainder controls locomotion and many of its senses.
I will show how a combination of comparative, circuit-level and behavioral approaches allows us to investigate these questions. I will discuss how work on the compact nervous system of a nematode could lead us to principles of information processing in nervous systems that are relevant beyond a specific nematode.