Nematodes socialize during feeding on bacteria; this behaviour depends on sophisticated integration of multiple sensory cues by a subset of the animal's 302 neurons. The RMG neurons are identified as the hub for such computations. Non-synaptic communication through 'gap junctions' is the key to RMG's regulation of neighbouring sensory neurons such as ASK (which responds to pheromones, a functional architecture that could be generalized to several other neuronal circuits).
- Evan Z. Macosko
- Navin Pokala
- Cornelia I. Bargmann