Studies on the Development and Organisation of the Nervous System of Caenorhabditis elegans
by Richard Michael Durbin

Summary	1987 Preface -- 2001 Preface	Download whole document in pdf format (1.6Mb)
Part I - The Outgrowth of Nerve Processes in the Embryo	Part II - The Organisation of the Adult Nerve Ring	Appendix
Chapter 1: Introduction A review of neural guidance The C. elegans nervous system Chapter 2: Materials and Methods C. elegans neuronal nomenclature Electron microscopy Ablations Reconstruction Staging of reconstructed embryos Identification of neurons Chapter 3: The Pattern of Outgrowth in Normal Embryos Morphology of growth cones The attachment substrate for growth cones AVG pioneers the ventral cord Motor neurons Later ventral cord interneurons Decussation in the preanal and retrovesicular ganglia Growth cone insertions into other cells Chapter 4: Laser Ablation Experiments AVG DD3/5 PVP and PVQ DVC Chapter 5: Discussion Reliability Motor neuron outgrowth and formation of the dorsal cord Discussion Selective fasciculation Conclusion	Chapter 6: Introduction and Methods Introduction Methods Chapter 7: Synaptic Distributions and Reproducibility Synaptic distributions Adjacency and synapse formation Reciprocal synapses and joint chemical/electrical connections Connections between members of the same neuronal class Reproducibility of connections Reproducibility depends on the number of synapses made, not on adjacency Mismatches of chemical synapses are due to extra connections more often than to missing connections Connections are not determined purely by neuronal classes Differences between repeats of equivalent circuitry Connection formation and adjacency An underlying pattern of connectivity with additions? Localisation of synaptic specificity within neurons Conclusion Chapter 8: The Logical Organization of the Circuitry Directionality The organisation of the feedback The processing depth Discussion Chapter 9: Process Placement in the Nerve Ring Specific persistent contacts Identified bundles Discussion	Appendix 1: The statistical test for synapse number correlation with adjacency Appendix 2: The sorting algorithm used to order the neural circuitry Appendix 3: The method used to determine processing depth Appendix 4: The clustering algorithm used to detect bundles Conclusion References