Abstract:
Nearly all of our actions are based on making choices. The alternatives and their consequences, with input from our memory, our senses, and other factors, are weighed through an incredibly complex neural process. However, this process remains poorly understood. Using a simple food-choice behavioral assay, we tested the decision-making of Caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode worm. It is hoped that a clear understanding, both at the neural level and at the behavioral level, of the decision-making process of this organism will help elucidate analogous processes in higher organisms such as humans.