Monitoring neural activity during sleep/wake events in adult C. elegans by automated sleep detection and stimulation

Daniel E Lawler; Dirk R Albrecht

doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2022.101532

Monitoring neural activity during sleep/wake events in adult C. elegans by automated sleep detection and stimulation

STAR Protoc. 2022 Sep 16;3(3):101532. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2022.101532. Epub 2022 Jul 13.

Authors

Daniel E Lawler¹, Dirk R Albrecht²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609, USA.
² Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609, USA. Electronic address: dalbrecht@wpi.edu.

Abstract

Sleep in adult C. elegans occurs spontaneously, making timing of individual sleep/wake state transitions unpredictable. This protocol presents a closed-loop system to automatically detect sleep state transitions, trigger stimulation, and record evoked neural responses. This allows users to assess functional consequences of behavioral states in an unbiased manner and identify state-dependent neuromodulation. This closed-loop system is flexible and can be configured to detect any visible events, such as behavior patterns or optical reporters, and measure corresponding evoked neural responses. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Lawler et al. (2021).

Keywords: Behavior; Microscopy; Model Organisms; Neuroscience.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Animals
Caenorhabditis elegans* / physiology
Sleep* / physiology

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding