Automated Detection and Analysis of Foraging Behavior in C. elegans

Foraging is a rapid, side-to-side movement of the nose generated by C. elegans as it explores its environment. We present an automated method to detect and analyze foraging behavior in a video sequence. Morphological image processing methods are used to locate the nose position of the worm in each image. Then foraging events are detected by measuring the bending angle of the nose and analyzing it with periodograms. We measure foraging-related parameters which have not previously been studied. The algorithm can be used to characterize genetic mutations associated with this behavior.