Dr. Alfonso's seminar discussed using the roundworm C. elegans to study how neurons function differently between sexes. She studied three types of C. elegans - males, hermaphrodites, and mutants - and found that males prioritize mating behavior over food, hermaphrodites do not, and mutants lack viable sexual function. Her research demonstrates how neurotransmitters affect sex-specific neurons differently. Studying C. elegans' sex-specific neuronal behaviors can provide insights applicable to human neuroscience research.

1. Nicole S. Rivera Espinal
2nd Seminar October 10, 2014 Dr. Aixa Alfonso: The Use of C. elegans to Study
Differentiation and Function of Neurons with Gender-Specific Role
In this seminar we had the opportunity to learn about the Caenorhabditis elegans organism and
how the study of it helps in the field of neuro science. Dr. Alfonso explains to us that C. elegans is a
roundworm of about 1 mm in length, which lives in temperate soil environments and contains a great
amount of genes. She describes the benefit of working with this organism is that it is transparent, well
described in cell lineage, and has the same neurotransmitters as humans. In her study, she worked with
three types of C. elegans: males, hermaphrodites and mutants. She intends to see the differences in
behavior of each of them. Some of those differences are that if you place the organism C. elegans in
petri dishes with food in the center, you will see that the behavior of the hermaphrodite will be to stay
where the food is while the male will move away from the food looking for mating. Her research shows
that males display priority in mating behavior, hermaphrodites do not, and mutants are not viable
sexually because neurotransmitters affect mutants in different sex specific neurons . This study with C.
elegans is important, because it can be applied to studies with human in the following ways, comparing
the neuronal behavior in different sexes, studies linked with neurotransmitters, investigations involve
with sex determination.