A Chemotaxis Assay Using 1% Benzaldehyde in a C. elegans Model of Alzheimer's Disease

Exposure to 100% benzaldehyde has been previously shown to cause avoidance of 1% benzaldehyde in C. elegans. Previous work in our lab investigated the effects of ferulic acid on learning behavior in a C. elegans model of Alzheimer’s disease. In that associative conditioning assay, 100% benzaldehyde was used during conditioning and 1% benzaldehyde was used during testing. Here, a chemotaxis assay following associative conditioning was employed to investigate whether CL2355 (human Aβ expression) C. elegans show a learning deficit compared to CL2122 (WT background) C. elegans. To investigate the legitimacy of the learned avoidance previously seen following pairing of two aversive stimuli, the effects of using 1% benzaldehyde during both conditioning and testing were investigated. Videos of the testing periods were captured using the WormLab® Imaging System. Chemotaxis indexes were calculated using WormLab® prior to statistical analysis via a two-way ANOVA in R. Here, CL2355 (human Aβ expression) C. elegans were found to show no learning deficit compared to CL2122 (WT background) C. elegans.