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In 1973, Syndey Brenner established the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, as a model organism to understand the influence of genetics on behavior. C. elegans small genome and simple anatomy were just two reasons Brenner utilized them as a tool to understand how the nervous system operated. By 1998, C. elegans became the first multi-organism to have its entire genome sequenced and, shortly after, to have its entire neuronal circuitry mapped. This provided a detailed model to study how neurons function together to create and form the nervous system. While studying the nervous system in a simple organism has its limitations, C. elegans are a vital tool to understand how the nervous system works, and to understand neuronal diseases in higher organisms, such as humans  (Riddle et al., 1997).

Please navigate this website to learn more about C. elegans embryogenesis and neuronal development, as well as brain disease and the use of C. elegans in current brain research.