Theory of the locomotion of nematodes: Control of the somatic motor neurons by interneurons (Q1311381)

The only animal of which the complete neural circuitry is known at the submicroscopical level is the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. This anatomical knowledge is complemented by functional insight from electrophysiological experiments in the related nematode Ascaris lumbricoides, which show that Ascaris motor neurons transmit signals electrotonically and not with unattenuated spikes. We developed a mathematical model for electrotonic neural networks and applied it to the motor nervous system of nematodes. This enabled us to reproduce experimental results in Ascaris quantitatively.