{
  "abstract": "Behavior arises from the interplay between spontaneous brain dynamics and sensory-driven responses, yet how spontaneous neural activity shapes variability in decision-making remains unclear. We leverage the tractable C. elegans nervous system to address this question. During oxygen avoidance, we observe binary trial-to-trial variability in behavioral responses. Whole-brain calcium imaging reveals a brain-wide sensory-to-motor transformation in which sensory neurons faithfully encode the stimulus but do not predict choice. Instead, decision-related information is distributed across interneurons and motor neurons, encoded through a neuronal subspace. This decision-biasing state evolves slowly during the pre-stimulus period, resembling preparatory dynamics for spontaneous behavioral transitions but receives neuromodulatory contributions. Optogenetic manipulations reveal that only a subset of neurons within this distributed representation are causally connected to choice. This reveals a dissociation between broad information sharing and control via dedicated localized nodes. Thus, response variability arises from slowly evolving modulation of brain states rather than stochastic circuit noise.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "The University of Vienna"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "J. Madhusudhanan"
    },
    {
      "name": "A. Parinov"
    },
    {
      "name": "C. Fieseler"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "M. Zimmer"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c7pxe0tfj70hn.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.03.749061",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.749061v1.full",
  "id": "c7pxe0tfj70hn",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.749061v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2805|Neural dynamics and brain function"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7211976222",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.749061v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-03",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c7pxe0tfj70hn.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:15Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.03.749061",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.749061v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Flexible modulation of neuronal population dynamics drives variable decision-making in C. elegans",
  "title_text": "Flexible modulation of neuronal population dynamics drives variable decision-making in C. elegans",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:15Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c7pxe0tfj70hn",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}