Chronic vs acute manipulations reveal degeneracy in a thermosensory neuron network.

Degenerate networks can drive similar circuit outputs. Via acute manipulation of individual neurons, we previously identified circuit components that are necessary and sufficient to drive starvation-dependent plasticity in thermotaxis behavior. Here we find that when these components are instead silenced chronically, degenerate mechanisms compensate to drive this behavior. Our results indicate that degeneracy in neuronal network function can be revealed under specific experimental conditions.