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From Memory, Depression, Insomnia -- And Worms?:

Researchers have spent decades probing the causes of depression, schizophrenia and insomnia in humans. But a new study may have uncovered key insights into the origins of these and other conditions by examining a most unlikely research subject: worms

The project, which was led by Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist Kenneth Miller, Ph.D., examined the way eye-less microscopic worms known as C. elegans shy away from certain kinds of light. The researchers made several key findings, chief among them that exposing paralyzed C. elegans to ultraviolet light restored normal levels of movement in the worms.

 Miller’s discovery provides a window for understanding how the molecular signals in our nerve cells allow them to talk to each other to produce perceptions, behaviors, learning and memory.

Miller said he thinks the worms are hardwired to avoid damaging or lethal doses of direct sunlight, which includes UV rays.

“When you are only a few cells thick, getting a sunburn is fatal,” he said.

Miller emphasized that the research is still in its early stages. “We’re a long way from any treatments based on this research, but I think we’ve opened up a door that we didn’t know was there before,” he said. “There’s a lot of work left to be done, but I’m excited to see where this discovery leads us.”