%0 Journal Article %A Hiu E. Lau %A Zachary T. Cecere %A Zheng Liu %A Claire J. Yang %A Tatyana O. Sharpee %A Sreekanth H. Chalasani %T Neural mechanisms driving hunger-induced changes in sensory perception and behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans %D 2017 %R 10.1101/156109 %J bioRxiv %P 156109 %X While much is known about how external cues affect neural circuits, less is known about how internal states modify their function. We acutely food-deprived C. elegans and analyzed its responses in integrating attractant and repellent signals. We show that food deprivation leads to a reversible decline in repellent sensitivity; with no effect on appetitive behavior allowing animals to engage in higher risk behavior. Multiple tissues including the intestine and body wall muscles use a conserved transcription factor, MondoA, to detect the lack of food and release AEX-5 convertase processed peptides from dense core vesicles. Subsequently, ASI chemosensory neurons use the DAF-2 insulin receptor and non-canonical signaling to integrate the tissue-released peptide signals modifying their stimulus-evoked adaptation rate. We suggest that altering ASI neuronal dynamics affects its function and modifies behavior. Together, these studies show how internal state signals modify sensory perception and risk assessment to generate flexible behaviors. %U https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2017/06/26/156109.full.pdf