Nature Communications (May 2022)

C. elegans enteric motor neurons fire synchronized action potentials underlying the defecation motor program

  • Jingyuan Jiang,
  • Yifan Su,
  • Ruilin Zhang,
  • Haiwen Li,
  • Louis Tao,
  • Qiang Liu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30452-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 15

Abstract

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Most neurons in the nematode C. elegans communicate in an analog manner. Here, the authors demonstrate that enteric motor neurons can fire all-or-none action potentials, and that this digital communication is important for defecation.