Plasticity in Caenorhabditis elegans
2002
textabstractAll animals have the ability to perceive and respond to external cues. Cuesmay
signify the presence of good things, such as food, a potential mate or shelter,
or bad things, such as predators, competitors, or a hazardous environment.
Typically, an organism will be exposed to a mixture of positive and negative
cues, requiring the animal to weigh the inputs and subsequently determine its
behavioural response based on that information. However, the response may
vary: a certain stimulus may elicit different behavioural responses, depending
on the context of the stimulus, previous experiences of the organism, its age or
developmental stage. This variability is called plasticity, and is well known in
many animal species. The ensuing flexibility is thought to enhance the chances
of survival and to be essential for memory formation and for many aspects
of development. It has even been proposed to be one of the driving forces of
natural selection and evolution (Price et al., 2003; Agrawal 2001). However,
despite the broad impact of behavioural plasticity, the cellular and molecular
mechanisms are thus far poorly understood.
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