PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dunn, Raymond L.
AU  - Costello, Caitriona
AU  - Borchardt, Jackson M.
AU  - Sprague, Daniel Y.
AU  - Chiu, Grace C.
AU  - Miller, Julia M.
AU  - L’Etoile, Noelle
AU  - Kato, Saul
TI  - Relative phase of distributed oscillatory dynamics implements a working memory in a simple brain
AID  - 10.1101/2024.08.11.607402
DP  - 2024 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2024.08.11.607402
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2024/08/11/2024.08.11.607402.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2024/08/11/2024.08.11.607402.full
AB  - We report the existence of a working memory system in the nematode C. elegans that is employed for deferred action in a sensory-guided decision-making process. We find that the turn direction of discrete reorientations during navigation is under sensory-guided control and relies on a working memory that can persist over an intervening behavioral sequence. This memory system is implemented by the phasic interaction of two distributed oscillatory dynamical components. The interaction of oscillatory neural ensembles may be a conserved primitive of cognition across the animal kingdom.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.