ArticleNature communications2019
Bounded rationality in C. elegans is explained by circuit-specific normalization in chemosensory pathways.
Article in Nature communications, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Experience-Dependent Gain Modulation Drives Thermosensory Responses in Behavior.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Early versus late noise differentially enhances or degrades context-dependent choice.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Calcium levels in ASER neurons determine behavioral valence by engaging distinct neuronal circuits in C. elegans.Nature communications · 2025Article
- C. elegans foraging as a model for understanding the neuronal basis of decision-making.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2024Review
- Pre-acquired Functional Connectivity Predicts Choice Inconsistency.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Article
- The nematode wormeLife · 2023Article
- On the reliability of individual economic rationality measurements.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Decision neuroscience and neuroeconomics: Recent progress and ongoing challenges.Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science · 2022Review
- The role of food odor in invertebrate foraging.Genes, brain, and behavior · 2022Review
- Divisive normalization does influence decisions with multiple alternatives.Nature human behaviour · 2020Article
- Addendum: Irrational behavior in C. elegans arises from asymmetric modulatory effects within single sensory neurons.Nature communications · 2019Article
- The Conscious Nematode: Exploring Hallmarks of Minimal Phenomenal Consciousness inInternational journal of psychological researchArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Rational choice theory assumes optimality in decision-making. Violations of a basic axiom of economic rationality known as "Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives" (IIA) have been demonstrated in both humans and animals and could stem from common neuronal constraints. Here we develop tests for IIA in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, an animal with only 302 neurons, using olfactory chemotaxis assays. We find that in most cases C. elegans make rational decisions. However, by probing multiple neuronal architectures using various choice sets, we show that violations of rationality arise when the circuit of olfactory sensory neurons is asymmetric. We further show that genetic manipulations of the asymmetry between the AWC neurons can make the worm irrational. Last, a context-dependent normalization-based model of value coding and gain control explains how particular neuronal constraints on information coding give rise to irrationality. Thus, we demonstrate that bounded rationality could arise due to basic neuronal constraints.
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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.