Andrew M. Leifer

High-speed whole-brain imaging in Drosophila

This paper introduces light beads microscopy (LBM) to enable high-speed volumetric imaging of Drosophila brains, revealing fast neural responses to auditory stimuli.

Synaptic and neural pathway redundancy enables the robustness of a sensory-motor reflex and promotes predation escape in C. elegans

The paper identifies genetic redundancy in the touch response circuit of C. elegans, showing how it contributes to the robustness of sensory-motor reflexes and enhances escape behaviors.

Decoding sexual dimorphism of the sex-shared nervous system at single-neuron resolution

The paper profiles single-cell RNA sequencing data from sex-shared neurons in C. elegans to reveal molecular dimorphism and sex-biased gene expression patterns.

Functional Interrogation of Neuronal Subtypes via Intersectional Expression of Optogenetic Actuator Reveals Non-linear Components in a Linear Circuit

The paper uses a split GAL4-based genetic AND gate to optogenetically interrogate specific touch receptor neuron subtypes in C. elegans, revealing non-linear components in a seemingly linear neural circuit.

Hierarchical behavior control by a single class of interneurons

This study identifies a dual role for SAA interneurons in C. elegans, influencing both short-term rhythmic motor activity and long-term behavioral transitions.

Bridging the gap between the connectome and whole-brain activity in C. elegans

The paper develops a connectome-constrained dynamical model for C. elegans that captures causal neural interactions and shows anatomical connectivity is sufficient for accurate predictions.

An inhibitory acetylcholine receptor gates context dependent mechanosensory processing in C. elegans

The paper identifies an inhibitory acetylcholine receptor in C. elegans that gates context-dependent mechanosensory processing during turning behavior.

Programmed Cell Death Modifies Neural Circuits and Tunes Intrinsic Behavior

The paper shows that blocking programmed cell death in C. elegans leads to extra neurons that alter specific behaviors like reversal frequency and duration.

TWISP: A Transgenic Worm for Interrogating Signal Propagation in C. elegans

The paper introduces TWISP, a transgenic C. elegans strain that enables optical measurements of signal propagation at brain scale and cellular resolution.

Decoding locomotion from population neural activity in moving C. elegans

The paper decodes locomotion from population neural activity in C. elegans, finding that neural populations, not single neurons, better decode movement and that immobilization alters neural correlations.