Comparative connectomics reveals stage-specific gap junction rewiring that reshapes avoidance behavior

Authors:
Preprint
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Environmental stress can remodel neural circuits, yet how such rewiring generates behavioral adaptation remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated how dauer-specific circuit remodeling alters nociceptive behavior. We discovered that dauers exhibit significantly shorter avoidance durations than adults. Through comparative connectomics, we observed a substantial expansion of gap junctions within the dauer nociceptive circuit and found that dauer neurons exhibit more transient activity dynamics as a result of this rewiring. Modeling neuronal activity demonstrated that removing dauer-specific connectivity constraints failed to reproduce transient characteristics, validating the functional role of dauer-specific gap junctions. Furthermore, introducing synthetic dauer-specific gap junctions into adults was sufficient to recapitulate dauer-like activity patterns and shorten avoidance duration. Despite extensive rewiring, avoidance initiation remained preserved across developmental stages. Our findings show that the dauer neural circuit is selectively rewired through gap junction remodeling to balance flexibility and stability for survival under stress.
Funding Information
  • Samsung Science and Technology Foundation (SSTF-BA1501-52)

This publication has 45 references indexed in Scilit: