| RRC ID |
45640
|
| Author |
Sammut M, Cook SJ, Nguyen KCQ, Felton T, Hall DH, Emmons SW, Poole RJ, Barrios A.
|
| Title |
Glia-derived neurons are required for sex-specific learning in C. elegans.
|
| Journal |
Nature
|
| Abstract |
Sex differences in behaviour extend to cognitive-like processes such as learning, but the underlying dimorphisms in neural circuit development and organization that generate these behavioural differences are largely unknown. Here we define at the single-cell level-from development, through neural circuit connectivity, to function-the neural basis of a sex-specific learning in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We show that sexual conditioning, a form of associative learning, requires a pair of male-specific interneurons whose progenitors are fully differentiated glia. These neurons are generated during sexual maturation and incorporated into pre-exisiting sex-shared circuits to couple chemotactic responses to reproductive priorities. Our findings reveal a general role for glia as neural progenitors across metazoan taxa and demonstrate that the addition of sex-specific neuron types to brain circuits during sexual maturation is an important mechanism for the generation of sexually dimorphic plasticity in learning.
|
| Volume |
526(7573)
|
| Pages |
385-390
|
| Published |
2015-10-15
|
| DOI |
10.1038/nature15700
|
| PMID |
26469050
|
| PMC |
PMC4650210
|
| MeSH |
Animals
Brain / cytology
Caenorhabditis elegans / cytology*
Caenorhabditis elegans / physiology*
Cell Division
Cell Separation
Cell Transdifferentiation
Chemotaxis
Conditioning, Classical / physiology
Interneurons / classification
Interneurons / cytology*
Interneurons / physiology*
Learning / physiology*
Male
Neural Pathways
Neural Stem Cells / cytology
Neurogenesis
Neuroglia / cytology*
Neuronal Plasticity
Reproduction / physiology
Sex Characteristics*
Sexual Behavior, Animal / physiology
Sexual Maturation
Single-Cell Analysis
|
| IF |
42.779
|
| Times Cited |
49
|
|
WOS Category
|
NEUROSCIENCES
|
| Resource |
| C.elegans |
tm1996 |
