Network Motif and Causal Degree Analysis of the C. elegans Connectome

The 279-neuron connectome of Caenorhabditis elegans is the only complete neural wiring diagram available for any organism. We apply a differentiable causal discovery framework (CDSM) to analyze causal motifs, degree distributions, and Granger-predictive structure. The connectome contains 2213 chemical synapses and 1080 gap junctions (3257 unique connections). Causal motif counting reveals 10793 chain motifs (Z=3.9), 1006 feedforward loops (Z=23.9), and 558 feedback loops (Z=6.7). Granger causal