Neuronal, mathematical, and molecular bases of perceptual decision-making in C. elegans

Animals process sensory information from the environment to make behavioral decisions. Although environmental information may be ambiguous or gradually changing, animals can still choose one behavioral option among several through perceptual decision-making. Perceptual decision-making has been intensively studied in primates and rodents, and neural activity that accumulates sensory information has been shown to be crucial. However, it remains unclear how the accumulating neural activity is generated, and whether such activity is a conserved decision-making strategy across the animal kingdom. Here, we review the previous perceptual decision-making studies in vertebrates and invertebrates and our recent achievement in an invertebrate model animal, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. In the study, we analyzed temporal dynamics of neuronal activity during perceptual decision-making in navigational behavior of C. elegans. We identified neural activity that accumulates sensory information and elucidated the molecular mechanism for the accumulating activity, which may be relevant to decision-making across the animal kingdom.