A Neural Network Model of Caenorhabditis Elegans: The Circuit of Touch Sensitivity

Angelo Cangelosi; Domenico Parisi

doi:10.1023/A:1009615807222

Neural Processing Letters

December 1997, Volume 6, Issue 3, pp 91–98

A Neural Network Model of Caenorhabditis Elegans: The Circuit of Touch Sensitivity

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Authors and affiliations

Angelo Cangelosi
Domenico Parisi

Article

DOI: 10.1023/A:1009615807222

Cite this article as:: Cangelosi, A. & Parisi, D. Neural Processing Letters (1997) 6: 91. doi:10.1023/A:1009615807222

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Abstract

The paper presents a neural network model of the touch sensitivity circuit of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We describe a serie of simulations in which neural networks are trained, using a genetic algorithm, to reproduce the habituation of the nematode's touch sensitive behavior. A lesion study of the network allows to make a direct comparison between the fine functioning of the model and the data collected in real organisms. The model accords well with the known neurobiological data and it suggests some hypotheses about the functioning of the neural circuit and of single neurons.

computational neuroscienceC. elegansgenetic algorithmlesion study

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Authors and Affiliations

Angelo Cangelosi
- 1
Domenico Parisi
- 1
- 2

1.Department of Neural Systems and Artificial LifeInstitute of PsychologyRomeItaly
2.Center for Neural and Adaptive SystemsUniversity of Plymouth, Drake CircusPlymouth

A Neural Network Model of Caenorhabditis Elegans: The Circuit of Touch Sensitivity

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