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Imaging whole nervous systems: insights into behavior from worms to fish

Nature Methods volume 16, pages 14–15 (2019)Cite this article

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The development of systems combining rapid volumetric imaging with three-dimensional tracking has enabled the measurement of brain-wide dynamics in freely behaving animals such as worms, flies, and fish. These advances provide an exciting opportunity to understand the organization of neural circuits in the context of voluntary and natural behaviors. In this Comment, we highlight recent progress in this burgeoning area of research.

Ethology aims to understand the natural behaviors of freely behaving animals. A true marriage of ethology and neuroscience requires access to neurons that drive voluntary behavior. This in turn requires experimental intervention and, with it, compromise. The insertion of recording devices into the brain, whether electrical or optical, is disruptive to the animal and laborious for the experimenter. When a behavior is studied in the laboratory, an animal’s movements and the richness of its sensory environment are often limited.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell and Systems Biology, Toronto, ON, Canada

    John A. Calarco

  2. Center for Brain Science and Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Aravinthan D. T. Samuel

Authors
  1. John A. Calarco
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  2. Aravinthan D. T. Samuel
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Correspondence to Aravinthan D. T. Samuel.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Calarco, J.A., Samuel, A.D.T. Imaging whole nervous systems: insights into behavior from worms to fish. Nat Methods 16, 14–15 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-018-0276-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-018-0276-8

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