{ "abstract": "A central question in neuroscience is how neural processing generates or encodes behavior. Caenorhabditis elegans is well suited to addressing this question, given its compact nervous system and near-complete structural connectome. Despite this, findings from previous studies remain inconclusive. While some have shown that the connectome can robustly encode specific behaviors such as locomotion, others report that functional connectivity can be reconfigured across behaviors. We aim to understand the relationship between structural connectivity, functional connectivity and biological behavior in silico by using an experimentally motivated computational model leveraging the structural connectome. Stimulation of specific neurons in the model induces oscillatory neural responses, enabling us to infer neuronal functional connectivity. Functional connectivity is found to be stronger among some neurons, allowing us to identify functional communities. We find that electrical synapses play a critical role in determining functional communities, and the resulting mesoscale functional architecture is predominantly gap junctionally assortative. Furthermore, comparison with behavioral circuits shows that locomotion circuits are largely segregated into distinct functional communities while other circuits are more distributed across multiple functional communities. We also observe that stimulation of neurons belonging to these distributed circuits elicits a more synchronized neuronal response compared to stimulation of neurons within the more segregated circuits. This is consistent with the presence of behavioral patterns that originate in one circuit and terminate in another (e.g., chemosensation leading to locomotion), such that stimulation of one circuit can activate the other and eventually result in a synchronized response. We also find a large repertoire of chimera-like synchronization patterns upon stimulation of certain sensory circuits (chemosensation, mechanosensation) indicating high dynamical flexibility. Overall, our results demonstrate that while certain behaviors are governed by functionally segregated circuits, others emerge from the synchronization of multiple functional communities, which are, to begin with, influenced by the underlying structural connectivity. Author summary: Animals constantly transform sensory inputs into actions, but it is still unclear how this mapping from neural activity to behavior is implemented in a real nervous system. Caenorhabditis elegans offers a unique testbed for this question because its entire wiring diagram is nearly completely mapped. Yet, previous works have reached mixed conclusions about how well this anatomical circuit diagram predicts actual patterns of activity and behavior. Here, we use a biologically inspired computational model of the C. elegans nervous system to bridge this gap between structure, function, and behavior. By virtually stimulating individual neurons and observing the resulting network-wide oscillations, we infer how strongly different pairs and groups of neurons interact in functional terms. We then use network analysis tools to identify groups of neurons that tend to co-activate, and relate these functional communities to known behavioral circuits for locomotion and sensory processing. We find that gap junctions play a key role in shaping functional communities, and that locomotion-related neurons are more functionally segregated than neurons involved in other behavioral circuits, which are more functionally distributed. Our results suggest that some behaviors rely on specialized, functionally isolated circuits, whereas others emerge from the coordinated activity of multiple functional communities.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Complexity Science Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada", "Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada", "Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada", "Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada" ], "article_type": "Research Article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 4, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Gourab Kumar Sar" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Andrew Patton" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Emma Towlson" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Jörn Davidsen" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cbgp7e71tbcgj.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014152", "fulltext_url": "https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014152", "id": "cbgp7e71tbcgj", "issns": [ "1553-7358" ], "landing_url": "https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014152", "language": null, "licence": "CC-BY-4.0", "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0", "licence_source": "journal", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "openalex", "2805|Neural dynamics and brain function" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Anatomy/Nervous system/Neuroanatomy/Connectomics" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Anatomy/Nervous system/Synapses" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Anatomy/Nervous system/Synapses/Gap junctions" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Cell physiology/Junctional complexes/Gap junctions" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Cellular types/Animal cells/Neurons" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Cellular types/Animal cells/Neurons/Motor neurons" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Brain mapping/Connectomics" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Cellular neuroscience/Neurons" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Cellular neuroscience/Neurons/Motor neurons" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive science/Cognitive psychology/Perception/Sensory perception" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Neuroanatomy/Connectomics" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Neurophysiology/Synapses" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Neurophysiology/Synapses/Gap junctions" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Sensory perception" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Organisms/Eukaryota/Animals/Invertebrates/Nematoda/Caenorhabditis/Caenorhabditis elegans" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Physiology/Electrophysiology/Neurophysiology/Synapses" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Physiology/Electrophysiology/Neurophysiology/Synapses/Gap junctions" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Behavior" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Cognitive psychology/Perception/Sensory perception" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Zoology/Animals/Invertebrates/Nematoda/Caenorhabditis/Caenorhabditis elegans" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Anatomy/Nervous system/Neuroanatomy/Connectomics" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Anatomy/Nervous system/Synapses" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Anatomy/Nervous system/Synapses/Gap junctions" ], [ "plos", "/Research and analysis methods/Animal studies/Experimental organism systems/Animal models/Caenorhabditis elegans" ], [ "plos", "/Research and analysis methods/Animal studies/Experimental organism systems/Model organisms/Caenorhabditis elegans" ], [ "plos", "/Research and analysis methods/Model organisms/Caenorhabditis elegans" ], [ "plos", "/Social sciences/Psychology/Behavior" ], [ "plos", "/Social sciences/Psychology/Cognitive psychology/Perception/Sensory perception" ] ], "openalex": "W7213319572", "pdf_url": "https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014152&type=printable", "pmcid": null, "pmid": null, "published": "2026-09-15", "publisher": "Public Library of Science", "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cbgp7e71tbcgj.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:49Z", "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014152", "source": "plos", "url": "https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014152" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "biology", "origin": "plos:neuroscience", "subfield": "neuroscience" }, { "field": "medicine", "origin": "plos:anatomy", "subfield": "physiology" } ], "title": "Synchronization properties in C. elegans: Relating behavioral circuits to structural and functional neuronal connectivity", "title_text": "Synchronization properties in C. elegans: Relating behavioral circuits to structural and functional neuronal connectivity", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:49Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cbgp7e71tbcgj", "venue": "PLOS Computational Biology", "versions": [] }