C. elegans undergoes periods of behavioral quiescence during larval molts (termed lethargus) and as adults. Little is known about the circuit mechanisms that establish these quiescent states. Lethargus and adult locomotion quiescence is dramatically reduced

Glutamate is a major excitatory neurotransmitter, and impaired glutamate clearance following synaptic release promotes spillover, inducing extra-synaptic signaling. The effects of glutamate spillover on animal behavior and its neural correlates are poorly

In search of the molecular identities of cold-sensing receptors, we carried out an unbiased genetic screen for cold-sensing mutants in C. elegans and isolated a mutant allele of glr-3 gene that encodes a kainate-type glutamate receptor. While glutamate