Perpetually hungry, worms are strategic when it comes to searching for food. The microscopic roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, or C. elegans, is known to spend up to 20 minutes seeking out snacks in its immediate surroundings before endeavoring to look elsewhere. Now, Rockefeller scientists have identified circuits in the C. elegans brain that underlie this behavior. In a new study, published in Neuron, the researchers describe neural mechanisms responsible for local search, showing that this response can be triggered by either smell- or touch-related cues.
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