Structural Hallmarks of Neural Survival: A Multiscale Analysis of Tardigrade Neural Resilience

Tardigrades are microscopic invertebrates capable of surviving extreme environmental stress through a suspended metabolic state called cryptobiosis. Despite prior work describing the general organization of the tardigrade nervous system, the nervous system’s response to these stresses remains largely unknown. This project aims to uncover the structural mechanisms that enable tardigrade nervous systems to maintain functional resilience under extreme conditions. I will analyze immunofluorescence datasets from tardigrades exposed to desiccation, anoxia, freezing, and osmotic stress to compare light-level neuroanatomy across cryptobiotic states, and I will contribute to the construction of the first electron microscopy-level connectome of a healthy adult tardigrade through tracing and proofreading neuronal structures. Together, these aims will generate the first comparative structural analysis of the tardigrade nervous system across multiple cryptobiotic states and help define the structural basis of tardigrade neuroresilience.