Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Neuronal Communication

Neuronal Communication

Neurons, the fundamental units of the brain and nervous system, communicate through complex electrochemical signals that underpin all cognitive and bodily functions. This communication is primarily facilitated by a process involving the generation and propagation of an action potential along the axon of the neuron. When the internal electrical charge of a neuron surpasses a certain threshold, an action potential is triggered. This rapid change in voltage travels swiftly along the axon to the...

Neural Circuits

Neural Circuits

Neural circuits and neuronal pools are two of the main structures found in the nervous system. Neural circuits are networks of neurons that work together to carry out a specific task or process. They consist of interconnected neurons and glial cells, which provide structural and metabolic support.
Neuronal pools are collections of nerve cells with similar functions and interact through chemical and electrical signals. These pools include both interneurons (the central neural circuit nodes that...

Hierarchy of Motor Control

Hierarchy of Motor Control

The hierarchy of motor control refers to the different levels of organization and processing involved in controlling movement in the body. These levels range from higher cortical areas involved in planning and decision-making to lower spinal cord reflexes that respond automatically to external stimuli.

The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation

The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation

A postsynaptic neuron usually receives numerous impulses from several other presynaptic neurons. The axon hillock of the postsynaptic neuron integrates all these signals and determines the likelihood of firing an action potential.
Sometimes a single EPSP is strong enough to induce an action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. However, multiple presynaptic inputs must often create EPSPs around the same time for the postsynaptic neuron to be sufficiently depolarized to fire an action potential....

Synaptic Signaling

Synaptic Signaling

Neurons communicate at synapses, or junctions, to excite or inhibit the activity of other neurons or target cells, such as muscles. Synapses may be chemical or electrical.
Most synapses are chemical, meaning an electrical impulse or action potential spurs the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. The neuron sending the signal is called the presynaptic neuron, and the neuron receiving the signal is the postsynaptic neuron.
The presynaptic neuron fires an action potential that...

Synaptic Signaling

Synaptic Signaling

Neurons communicate at synapses, or junctions, to excite or inhibit the activity of other neurons or target cells, such as muscles. Synapses may be chemical or electrical.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Brain-immune interactions generate pathogen-specific sickness states.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025

Same author

Cell Type-Specific Hormonal Signaling Configures Hypothalamic Circuits for Parenting.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025

Same author

The new frontier in understanding human and mammalian brain development.

Nature·2025

Same author

Symmetries and synchronization from whole-neural activity in the <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> connectome: Integration of functional and structural networks.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025

Same author

Sensory input, sex and function shape hypothalamic cell type development.

Nature·2025

Same author

Neuro-cognitive multilevel causal modeling: A framework that bridges the explanatory gap between neuronal activity and cognition.

PLoS computational biology·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 2, 2026

Optogenetic Entrainment of Hippocampal Theta Oscillations in Behaving Mice

Optogenetic Entrainment of Hippocampal Theta Oscillations in Behaving Mice

Published on: June 29, 2018

Nested Neuronal Dynamics Orchestrate a Behavioral Hierarchy across Timescales.

Harris S Kaplan¹, Oriana Salazar Thula¹, Niklas Khoss¹

¹Department of Neurobiology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna BioCenter (VBC), Campus-Vienna-BioCenter 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria.

|December 2, 2019

Summary

Animal behavior, including in C. elegans, is organized hierarchically. This study reveals nested neuronal dynamics across three timescales that control complex behaviors by linking slow population activity to faster motor neuron oscillations.

Keywords:

C. elegans neuroscience behavior organization behavioral hierarchy ethology hierarchical organization motor control neuronal dynamics neuronal oscillations quantitative behavior whole-brain imaging

More Related Videos

Real-time Electrophysiology: Using Closed-loop Protocols to Probe Neuronal Dynamics and Beyond

Real-time Electrophysiology: Using Closed-loop Protocols to Probe Neuronal Dynamics and Beyond

Published on: June 24, 2015

Photodiode-Based Optical Imaging for Recording Network Dynamics with Single-Neuron Resolution in Non-Transgenic Invertebrates

Photodiode-Based Optical Imaging for Recording Network Dynamics with Single-Neuron Resolution in Non-Transgenic Invertebrates

Published on: July 9, 2020

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 2, 2026

Optogenetic Entrainment of Hippocampal Theta Oscillations in Behaving Mice

Optogenetic Entrainment of Hippocampal Theta Oscillations in Behaving Mice

Published on: June 29, 2018

Real-time Electrophysiology: Using Closed-loop Protocols to Probe Neuronal Dynamics and Beyond

Real-time Electrophysiology: Using Closed-loop Protocols to Probe Neuronal Dynamics and Beyond

Published on: June 24, 2015

Photodiode-Based Optical Imaging for Recording Network Dynamics with Single-Neuron Resolution in Non-Transgenic Invertebrates

Photodiode-Based Optical Imaging for Recording Network Dynamics with Single-Neuron Resolution in Non-Transgenic Invertebrates

Published on: July 9, 2020

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Ethology
Systems Biology

Background:

Animal behavior exhibits hierarchical organization across timescales.
Neuronal dynamics underlying single-timescale behaviors are known, but cross-timescale interactions remain unclear.
Understanding how neuronal activity across different timescales generates complex behaviors is a key challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how neuronal dynamics across multiple timescales interact to create hierarchical behavioral organization.
To elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying the control of complex behaviors in Caenorhabditis elegans.
To identify repeated dynamical motifs in the nervous system that implement behavioral hierarchies.

Main Methods:

Utilized ethological studies of Caenorhabditis elegans behavior.
Analyzed neuronal population dynamics across brain and motor systems.
Investigated nested neuronal oscillations at different timescales.

Main Results:

Demonstrated a three-timescale behavioral hierarchy in C. elegans implemented by nested neuronal dynamics.
Showed that slow neuronal population dynamics control faster motor neuron oscillations.
Revealed that these oscillations are further nested, allowing flexible behavioral control within a rigid hierarchy.

Conclusions:

Nested neuronal activity patterns are a recurring motif in the C. elegans nervous system.
These nested dynamics enable a controllable hierarchical organization of animal behavior.
The findings provide a framework for understanding how neural activity across timescales generates complex behaviors.