A system for the high-throughput analysis of acute thermal avoidance and adaptation in .

Nociception and its plasticity are essential biological processes controlling adaptive behavioral responses in animals. These processes are also linked to different pain conditions in human and have received considerable attention, notably studies in rodent models and the use of heat-evoked withdrawal behavior assays as a readout of unpleasant experience. More recently, invertebrates have also emerged as useful complementary models, with their own set of advantages, including their amenability to genetic manipulations, the accessibility and relative simplicity of their nervous system and ethical concerns linked to animal suffering.

Specific Ion Channels Control Sensory Gain, Sensitivity, and Kinetics in a Tonic Thermonociceptor.

Pain sensation and aversive behaviors entail the activation of nociceptor neurons, whose function is largely conserved across animals. The functional heterogeneity of nociceptors and ethical concerns are challenges for their study in mammalian models. Here, we investigate the function of a single type of genetically identified C.

Identification of avoidance genes through neural pathway-specific forward optogenetics.

Understanding how the nervous system bridges sensation and behavior requires the elucidation of complex neural and molecular networks. Forward genetic approaches, such as screens conducted in C. elegans, have successfully identified genes required to process natural sensory stimuli.