@article {6528,
	title = {Intensity discrimination deficits cause habituation changes in middle-aged Caenorhabditis elegans.},
	journal = {Neurobiology of Aging},
	volume = {34},
	year = {2013},
	month = {2013 Feb},
	pages = {621-31},
	abstract = {<p>The ability to learn and remember is critical for all animals to survive in the ever-changing environment. As we age, many of our biological faculties decay and of these, decline in learning and memory can be the most distressing. To carefully define age-dependent changes in learning during reproductive age in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, we performed a parametric behavioral study of habituation to nonlocalized mechanical stimuli (petri plate taps) over a range of intensities in middle-aged worms. We found that as worms age (from the onset of reproduction to the end of egg laying), response probability habituation increases (at both 10- and 60-second interstimulus intervals) and that these age-related changes were associated with a decrease in the discrimination between stimuli of different intensities. We also used optogenetics to investigate where these age-dependent changes occur. Our data suggest that the changes occur upstream of mechanosensory neuron depolarization. These data support the idea that declines in stimulus intensity discrimination abilities during aging may be one variable underlying age-related cognitive deficits.</p>
},
	keywords = {Age Factors, Aging, Animal, Animals, Behavior, Caenorhabditis elegans, Discrimination (Psychology), Habituation, Memory, Physical Stimulation, Psychophysiologic, Short-Term},
	issn = {1558-1497},
	doi = {10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2012.03.016},
	author = {Timbers, Tiffany A and Giles, Andrew C and Ardiel, Evan L and Kerr, Rex A and Rankin, Catharine H}
}
@article {6135,
	title = {High-throughput behavioral analysis in C. elegans.},
	journal = {Nature Methods},
	volume = {8},
	year = {2011},
	month = {2011 Jun 5},
	pages = {592-8},
	abstract = {<p>We designed a real-time computer vision system, the Multi-Worm Tracker (MWT), which can simultaneously quantify the behavior of dozens of Caenorhabditis elegans on a Petri plate at video rates. We examined three traditional behavioral paradigms using this system: spontaneous movement on food, where the behavior changes over tens of minutes; chemotaxis, where turning events must be detected accurately to determine strategy; and habituation of response to tap, where the response is stochastic and changes over time. In each case, manual analysis or automated single-worm tracking would be tedious and time-consuming, but the MWT system allowed rapid quantification of behavior with minimal human effort. Thus, this system will enable large-scale forward and reverse genetic screens for complex behaviors.</p>
},
	keywords = {Animal, Animals, Behavior, Caenorhabditis elegans, Chemotaxis, Computer-Assisted, Image Processing, Movement, Software, Stochastic Processes, Time Factors},
	issn = {1548-7105},
	doi = {10.1038/nmeth.1625},
	author = {Swierczek, Nicholas A and Giles, Andrew C and Rankin, Catharine H and Kerr, Rex A}
}
