RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 A Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Plays Separate Roles in Sensory Integration and Associative Learning in C. elegans JF eneuro JO eNeuro FD Society for Neuroscience SP ENEURO.0244-18.2019 DO 10.1523/ENEURO.0244-18.2019 VO 6 IS 4 A1 Glenn S. Wolfe A1 Vivian W. Tong A1 Emily Povse A1 Daniel M. Merritt A1 Gregory W. Stegeman A1 Stephane Flibotte A1 Derek van der Kooy YR 2019 UL http://www.eneuro.org/content/6/4/ENEURO.0244-18.2019.abstract AB Associative learning and sensory integration are two behavioral processes that involve the sensation and processing of stimuli followed by an altered behavioral response to these stimuli, with learning requiring memory formation and retrieval. We found that the cellular and molecular actions of scd-2 dissociate sensory integration and associative learning. This was discovered through investigation of a Caenorhabditis elegans mutation (lrn-2 (mm99)) affecting both processes. After mapping and sequencing, lrn-2 was found to be allelic to the gene, scd-2. scd-2-mediated associative learning and sensory integration operate in separate neurons as separate processes. We also find that memories can form from associations that are processed and stored independently from the integration of stimuli preceding an immediate behavioral decision.