Behavioral Tests for Associative Learning in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Learning is critical for survival as it provides the capacity to adapt to a changing environment. At the molecular and cellular level, learning leads to alterations within neural circuits that include synaptic rewiring, synaptic plasticity, and protein level/gene expression changes. There has been substantial progress in recent years on dissecting how learning and memory is regulated at the molecular and cellular level, including the use of compact invertebrate nervous systems as experimental models. This progress has been facilitated by the establishment of robust behavioral assays that generate a quantifiable readout of the extent to which animals learn and remember. This chapter will focus on protocols of behavioral tests for associative learning using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, with its unparalleled genetic tractability, compact nervous system of ~300 neurons, high level of conservation with mammalian systems, and amenability to a suite of behavioral tools and analyses. Specifically, we will provide a detailed description of the methods for two behavioral assays that model associative learning, one measuring appetitive olfactory learning and the other assaying aversive gustatory learning.