# Emergence of Functional Network Dynamics from Single Cell Properties

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2021 · $396,250

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The collective dynamics of the network of neurons in the brain drive its primary holistic function — control of
organismal behavior. Pathologies of the nervous system that disrupt this coordinated activity result in
dysfunctional patterns of motor output and gross behavior. However, it is unknown how patterns of
coordinated activity arise from the properties of single neurons and their connections. In the next five years
we seek to develop a rigorous theory and biologically realistic model of the emergence of coordinated
dynamics in a complete network of neurons, similar to the current level of understanding of how the
dynamics of interacting molecular species produce goal-directed motile behavior in single-cell bacteria. We
focus on the relatively simple nervous system of C. elegans; with precisely 302 neurons, it is a natural
choice for such fundamental neurodynamical studies. To attack this problem, the research in our lab
utilizes a fusion of experimental and computational approaches including advanced microscopy, genomic
engineering, machine learning based image processing, quantitative behavior, and dynamical systems
analysis. We have developed novel approaches to quantitatively probe and characterize the signal
processing properties of single neurons as well as record and quantify the activity of the entire C. elegans
nervous system at single-cell resolution using volumetric calcium imaging under genetic perturbation. We
are now exploring the relationship between the microscopic properties of cellular signaling and the
macroscopic function of collective network dynamics. A mechanistic model of the composition and
maintenance of structured, controlled brain dynamics would provide a framework for understanding how
gross neurological disease states arise from cellular and molecular dysfunction.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10245166
- **Project number:** 5R35GM124735-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Saul S Kato
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $396,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10245166

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10245166, Emergence of Functional Network Dynamics from Single Cell Properties (5R35GM124735-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10245166. Licensed CC0.

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