Colón-Ramos discusses how his group uses the approaches they have developed to reduce system’s level questions, like behavior, to cell biological questions at the synapse. He describes his lab’s discovery that two plasticity mechanisms—sensory adaptation and presynaptic plasticity—act within a single cell in C. elegans to encode thermosensory information and actuate a temperature-preference memory. The integration of these plasticity mechanisms result in a single-cell logic system that can both represent sensory stimuli and guide memory-based behavioral preference. These findings allow the Colón-Ramos group to directly link cell biological changes at the neuronal synapse with memory and behavior.
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Cell Biology of the Neuronal Synapse and Behavior in C. elegans
How is the neuronal synapse assembled to produce specific behaviors and store memories? Dr. Colon-Ramos studies C. elegans to address this fundamental question. (Talk recorded in July 2017)
- Part 1: Cell Biology of the Neuronal Synapse and Behavior in C. elegansAudience:
- Student
- Researcher
- Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
- Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Duration: 00:34:04 - Part 2: Mechanisms of Neuronal Synapse Assembly and Function: Lessons from C. elegansAudience:
- Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
- Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Duration: 00:38:27 - Part 3: Actuating Memory: How C. elegans Remembers a Learned Behavioral PreferenceAudience:
- Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
- Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Duration: 00:37:57