ArticleCurrent biology : CB2022
Reprogramming the topology of the nociceptive circuit in C. elegans reshapes sexual behavior.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative connectomics reveals stage-specific gap junction rewiring that reshapes avoidance behavior.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Sexual dimorphism in the nervous system: Three principles from the nematode C.elegans.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2026Review
- Cold and lithium delay forgetting of olfactory memories in Caenorhabditis elegans.Nature neuroscience · 2026Article
- Building the connectome of a small brain with a simple stochastic developmental generative model.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Microfluidics-Enabled Simultaneous Imaging of Neural Activity and Behavior in Chemically Stimulated, Head-FixedbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Soma to neuron communication links stress adaptation to stress avoidance behavior.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Decoding sexual dimorphism of the sex-shared nervous system at single-neuron resolution.Science advances · 2025Article
- Evolution of neural circuits in the origin of behavioral novelty.Current opinion in behavioral sciences · 2025Article
- Sources of behavioral variability in C. elegans: Sex differences, individuality, and internal states.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2025Review
- The PVD neuron has male-specific structure and mating function inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Modulation by NPY/NPF-like receptor underlies experience-dependent, sexually dimorphic learning.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Homeostatic synaptic normalization optimizes learning in network models of neural population codes.eLife · 2024Article
- Automated dual olfactory device for studying head/tail chemosensation inAPL bioengineering · 2024Article
- Sex-specific developmental gene expression atlas unveils dimorphic gene networks in C. elegans.Nature communications · 2024Article
- C. elegans males optimize mate-preference decisions via sex-specific responses to multimodal sensory cues.Current biology : CB · 2024Article
- Understanding neural circuit function through synaptic engineering.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2024Review
- Article
- The synaptic basis for sexual dimorphism in the invertebrate nervous system.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2023Review
- Input density tunes Kenyon cell sensory responses in the Drosophila mushroom body.Current biology : CB · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The effect of the detailed connectivity of a neural circuit on its function and the resulting behavior of the organism is a key question in many neural systems. Here, we study the circuit for nociception in C. elegans, which is composed of the same neurons in the two sexes that are wired differently. We show that the nociceptive sensory neurons respond similarly in the two sexes, yet the animals display sexually dimorphic behaviors to the same aversive stimuli. To uncover the role of the downstream network topology in shaping behavior, we learn and simulate network models that replicate the observed dimorphic behaviors and use them to predict simple network rewirings that would switch behavior between the sexes. We then show experimentally that these subtle synaptic rewirings indeed flip behavior. Interestingly, when presented with aversive cues, rewired males were compromised in finding mating partners, suggesting that network topologies that enable efficient avoidance of noxious cues have a reproductive "cost." Our results present a deconstruction of the design of a neural circuit that controls sexual behavior and how to reprogram it.
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Registered trials
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.