@inproceedings{6c47ee2a8987449a9e3447cb23d3781c,
title = "Model checking tap withdrawal in c. Elegans",
abstract = "We present what we believe to be the first formal verification of a biologically realistic (nonlinear ODE) model of a neural circuit in a multicellular organism: Tap Withdrawal (TW) in C. Elegans, the common roundworm. TW is a reflexive behavior exhibited by C. Elegans in response to vibrating the surface on which it is moving; the neural circuit underlying this response is the subject of this investigation. Specially, we perform reach-tube-based reachability analysis on the TW circuit model of Wicks et al. (1996) to estimate key model parameters. Underlying our approach is the use of Fan and Mitra{\textquoteright}s recently developed technique for automatically computing local discrepancy (convergence and divergence rates) of general nonlinear systems. The results we obtain are a significant extension of those of Wicks et al. (1996), who equip their model with fixed parameter values that reproduce the predominant TW response they observed experimentally in a population of 590 worms. In contrast, our techniques allow us to much more fully explore the model{\textquoteright}s parameter space, identifying in the process the parameter ranges responsible for the predominant behavior as well as the non-dominant ones. The verification framework we developed to conduct this analysis is model-agnostic, and can thus be re-used on other complex nonlinear systems.",
author = "Islam, {Md Ariful} and {De Francisco}, Richard and Chuchu Fan and Radu Grosu and Sayan Mitra and Smolka, {Scott A.}",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015. Copyright: Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.; null ; Conference date: 04-09-2015 Through 05-09-2015",
year = "2015",
doi = "10.1007/978-3-319-26916-0_11",
language = "English",
isbn = "9783319269153",
series = "Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)",
publisher = "Springer-Verlag",
pages = "195--210",
editor = "Alessandro Abate and David {\v S}afr{\'a}nek",
booktitle = "Hybrid Systems Biology - 4th International Workshop, HSB 2015, Revised Selected Papers",
}