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The Origin of the Neuron: The First Neuron in the Phylogenetic Tree of Life

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Astrobiology

Abstract

This contribution can be considered as an attempt to provide some kind of basic anchorage to look for neurons and nervous systems in possible new forms of life in the Universe. The peculiarities exhibited by the late protozoans and early groups of metazoans, led us to conclude taking into consideration the knowledge available at present, that the first neuron appeared in the Coelenterates, including Cnidarias and Ctenophores, and the first cerebral ganglia, as central component of a nervous system, appeared in the Platyhelminthes and Nematodes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute de Estudios Avanzados, IDEA, Apartado, 17606, Caracas 1015-A, Venezuela

    Raimundo Villegas, Cecilia Castillo & Gloria M. Villegas

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  1. Raimundo Villegas
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  2. Cecilia Castillo
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  3. Gloria M. Villegas
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Italy

    Julián Chela-Flores

  2. Instituto de Estudios Avanzados (IDEA), Venezuela

    Julián Chela-Flores

  3. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía (CONICET), Argentina

    Guillermo A. Lemarchand

  4. Centro de Estudios Avanzados, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Guillermo A. Lemarchand

  5. Department of Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204-5934, USA

    John Oró

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Villegas, R., Castillo, C., Villegas, G.M. (2000). The Origin of the Neuron: The First Neuron in the Phylogenetic Tree of Life. In: Chela-Flores, J., Lemarchand, G.A., Oró, J. (eds) Astrobiology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4313-4_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4313-4_15

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