ArticleJournal of the Royal Society, Interface2015
A consistent muscle activation strategy underlies crawling and swimming in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Article in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed.
- Auxin-inducible degradation of UNC-116 in C. elegans inhibits bidirectional dense core vesicle transport and worm locomotion on different timescales.Journal of cell science · 2026Article
- Behavioral and Morphological Effects of Natural Sweeteners onmicroPublication biology · 2026Article
- Dimensionality of locomotor behaviors in developing C. elegans.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- The neuropeptidergic connectome of C. elegans.Neuron · 2023Article
- Extrasynaptic signaling enables an asymmetric juvenile motor circuit to produce symmetric undulation.Current biology : CB · 2022Article
- Phase response analyses support a relaxation oscillator model of locomotor rhythm generation ineLife · 2021Article
- Proprioception, the regulator of motor function.BMB reports · 2021Review
- A Neuromechanical Model of Multiple Network Rhythmic Pattern Generators for Forward Locomotion inFrontiers in computational neuroscience · 2021Article
- Assessing motor-related phenotypes of Caenorhabditis elegans with the wide field-of-view nematode tracking platform.Nature protocols · 2020Article
- Bioelectronics for Millimeter-Sized Model Organisms.iScience · 2020Review
- Article
- From head to tail: a neuromechanical model of forward locomotion inPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Article
- c302: a multiscale framework for modelling the nervous system ofPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Article
- Signatures of proprioceptive control inPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Article
- Three-dimensional simulation of thePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Article
- The tactile receptive fields of freely moving Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes.Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro · 2018Article
- NemaFlex: a microfluidics-based technology for standardized measurement of muscular strength of C. elegans.Lab on a chip · 2018Article
- Coupling of Rigor Mortis and Intestinal Necrosis during C. elegans Organismal Death.Cell reports · 2018Article
- Reflective imaging improves spatiotemporal resolution and collection efficiency in light sheet microscopy.Nature communications · 2017Article
- Scalable electrophysiology in intact small animals with nanoscale suspended electrode arrays.Nature nanotechnology · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Although undulatory swimming is observed in many organisms, the neuromuscular basis for undulatory movement patterns is not well understood. To better understand the basis for the generation of these movement patterns, we studied muscle activity in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Caenorhabditis elegans exhibits a range of locomotion patterns: in low viscosity fluids the undulation has a wavelength longer than the body and propagates rapidly, while in high viscosity fluids or on agar media the undulatory waves are shorter and slower. Theoretical treatment of observed behaviour has suggested a large change in force-posture relationships at different viscosities, but analysis of bend propagation suggests that short-range proprioceptive feedback is used to control and generate body bends. How muscles could be activated in a way consistent with both these results is unclear. We therefore combined automated worm tracking with calcium imaging to determine muscle activation strategy in a variety of external substrates. Remarkably, we observed that across locomotion patterns spanning a threefold change in wavelength, peak muscle activation occurs approximately 45° (1/8th of a cycle) ahead of peak midline curvature. Although the location of peak force is predicted to vary widely, the activation pattern is consistent with required force in a model incorporating putative length- and velocity-dependence of muscle strength. Furthermore, a linear combination of local curvature and velocity can match the pattern of activation. This suggests that proprioception can enable the worm to swim effectively while working within the limitations of muscle biomechanics and neural control.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.