Each worm has 302 neurons running leaky integrate-and-fire dynamics with spike-rate adaptation, chemical synapses from the White et al. connectome, and bidirectional gap junctions (Varshney et al. 2011). Body curvature feeds into DVA as a smoothed proprioceptive signal. Four neuromodulators — dopamine, serotonin, NLP-12, and hunger — shape circuit-wide gain. Every worm is fully independent: its own neural state, synaptic weights, neuromodulator levels, and body. Click any worm's tab to inspect its internals.
C. elegans has real social circuits. RMG (hub-and-spoke interneuron) receives from social sensory neurons ASK and ADL and integrates proximity signals to modulate aggregation behaviour. When two worms are within ~80px, their ASK neurons activate — triggering a serotonin rise, suppressing reversals, and slightly aligning their heading toward each other. Within ~40px they slow down and dwell together (the real bordering behaviour). A shared pheromone field accumulates where worms have been — attracting followers to previously visited paths. Worms near food together reinforce each other's AIY approach signal.
Hebbian plasticity is active in every worm: synapses between co-active neurons strengthen, and between anti-correlated ones weaken. The rule is Δw = η · pre · post − decay, applied every 5 ticks. This means a worm that has been poked repeatedly will develop stronger ASH→AVA weights, making it more sensitised to touch over time. A worm that has found food repeatedly will have stronger AWA→AIY weights, making it more efficient at chemotaxis. The Hebbian Δw bar shows total accumulated plastic change — a proxy for how much the worm has learned from its experience in this session.
Qualia is what it is like to be something — the redness of red, the sharpness of pain. We cannot know if C. elegans has experience, but we can ask: what would it look like if it did? The qualia ring maps six functional-analog states computed from real neural activity. Nociception (ASH/PVD/PHB) is the pain-analog. Approach (AWA/AIY) is appetitive draw — something like wanting. Contact (RMG/ASK/SOC) is the felt presence of others. Arousal (NLP/SMD/DA) is excitability. Hunger is a slow-building internal state. Valence integrates approach minus nociception — a crude proxy for whether the worm's moment is, in some sense, good or bad.