Abstract
Brain-body communication plays a central role in modulating ageing in response to diet. How the brain effectively encodes nutrient information despite environmental fluctuations is a fundamental question in biology. Using a systems biology approach that combines genetics and neuroscience, we investigate temperature-dependent plasticity in a C. elegans neural network that encodes food abundance to modulate lifespan. This plasticity in network connectivity reflects novel forms of neural computations that enable the organism to adjust its lifespan in response to food, despite big changes in temperature. We will combine high-throughput microscopy, advanced genetics, and modelling to study temperature-robustness in this neural network.
References
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