In this project, using novel experimental technique and theoretical tools from condensed matter physics, the PI will address the questions of how the dynamics of neuronal circuits lead to behavior and how neuronal circuits make decisions. The goal of the research is to study how information is coded in the dynamics of a circuit of five pairs of interneurons and how this circuit controls the locomotory behavior of the nematode C. elegans. The project will use confocal fluorescence microscopy in conjunction with a novel system that the PI has developed for an all-optical interrogation of neural circuits in vivo. The results from quantitative experiments will be used to distinguish between models of how information is coded in the activity of each of the ten neurons, measure the bandwidth of the information channel from each of these neurons to the motor output, model the dynamics of the interneuron circuit and determine if it can make locomotory decisions and sustain spontaneous activity. The goal of the educational part of the proposal is to improve the mathematical skills of biology majoring students, inculcate quantitative thinking and promote research at the interface of physics and biology. To do so, the PI will develop an undergraduate course to teach mathematics to biologists, promote quantitative research through undergraduate internships, graduate student and postdoctoral fellow mentoring and help incorporate basic quantitative methods into biology education at the high school level. The PI will devote resources to develop material for both high school students and teachers to inform and excite them about the opportunities in inter-disciplinary research and to help in teaching mathematics using examples from biology.
