A Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Plays Separate Roles in Sensory Integration and Associative Learning in C. Elegans

AbstractAssociative learning and sensory integration are two behavioral processes that involve the sensation and processing of stimuli followed by an altered behavioral response to these stimuli, with learning requiring memory formation and retrieval. We found that the cellular and molecular actions ofscd-2dissociate sensory integration and associative learning. This was discovered through investigation of aCaenorhabditis elegansmutation (lrn-2(mm99)) affecting both processes. After mapping and sequencing,lrn-2was found to be allelic to the gene,scd-2.scd-2-mediated associative learning and sensory integration operate in separate neurons as separate processes. We also find that memories can form from associations that are processed and stored independently from the integration of stimuli preceding an immediate behavioral decision.