UCSF

Here we find that the nematode C. elegans makes goal-oriented turns while foraging and can maintain a working memory of sensory activation prior to the execution of a turn. This information is integrated with body posture to localize appetitive stimuli. We construct a virtual-reality whole-brain imaging and neural perturbation system, and with it we find that this working memory is implemented by the coupled oscillation of two distributed neural motor command complexes. One complex decouples from motor output after sensory evidence accumulation and initiates turn execution; the second gates this process with a reliable time constant. We propose that the function of working memory via internalization of motor oscillations could represent the evolutionary origin of internal neural processing i.e. thought, and a foundation of higher cognition.