Neuronal loss can considerably diminish neural circuit function, impairing normal behavior by disrupting information flow in the circuit. Here, we use genetically engineered electrical synapses to reroute the flow of information in a C. elegans damaged chemosensory circuit in order to restore organism behavior. We impaired chemotaxis by removing one pair of interneurons from the circuit then artificially coupled two other adjacent neuron pairs by ectopically expressing the gap junction protein, connexin, in them. This restored chemotaxis in the animals. We expected to observe linear and direct information flow between the connexin-coupled neurons in the recovered circuit but also revealed the formation of new potent left-right lateral electrical connections within the connexin-expressing neuron pairs. Our analysis suggests that these additional electrical synapses help restore circuit function by amplifying weakened neuronal signals in the damaged circuit in addition to emulating the wild-type circuit. A record of this paper’s transparent peer review process is included in the Supplemental Information.

神经元损失会大大削弱神经回路功能，通过破坏回路中的信息流来损害正常行为。在这里，我们使用基因工程的电突触来改变秀丽隐杆线虫中的信息流损坏的化学感应回路以恢复有机体的行为。我们通过从电路中移除一对中间神经元来削弱趋化性，然后通过在其中异位表达间隙连接蛋白连接蛋白来人工耦合另外两个相邻的神经元对。这恢复了动物的趋化性。我们希望在恢复的电路中观察到连接蛋白耦合神经元之间的线性和直接信息流，但也揭示了在表达连接蛋白的神经元对内形成了新的有效的左右横向电连接。我们的分析表明，这些额外的电突触除了模拟野生型电路外，还通过放大受损电路中减弱的神经元信号来帮助恢复电路功能。