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Evolution and Origins of Nervous Systems

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Neurogenetics

Part of the book series: Learning Materials in Biosciences ((LMB))

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Abstract

How the nervous systems appeared during evolution to become such a crucial feature of animals remains one of the most fascinating unanswered questions in biology. From the origin of neurons to their diverse organizations into nerve nets, brains, and nerve cords, the evolutionary mechanisms that led to the incredible diversity of nervous systems we can observe in nature are still mostly unknown. Many important questions are still debated among researchers to uncover the mysteries of the evolution of the nervous system. This chapter provides a short overview of the ongoing debates and hypotheses regarding the origin of neurons in early-branching metazoans as well as in some unicellular organisms. We describe the current knowledge about the organization and the unsuspected complexity of nerve nets in Cnidaria and highlight some of the current hypotheses about the centralization of nervous system in Bilateria.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

    Jules Duruz & Simon G. Sprecher

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  1. Jules Duruz
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  2. Simon G. Sprecher
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Correspondence to Simon G. Sprecher .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

    Boris Egger

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Duruz, J., Sprecher, S.G. (2023). Evolution and Origins of Nervous Systems. In: Egger, B. (eds) Neurogenetics . Learning Materials in Biosciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07793-7_8

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