Robledo Cardona, Simon (2021) How similar or different nervous systems are? Answers from the stem of the animal phylogenetic tree. Master's Thesis / Essay, Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences.
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Abstract
A critical question that often emerges in neuroscience research is how similar nervous systems from different animals are. For instance, studies using model organisms need to address this question in order to extrapolate results. In evolutionary biology, similarity and difference are studied parting on how they came to be, which leads to the adjectives convergent (traits with different origin that came to serve the same purpose) and divergent (traits with the same origin that came to serve a different or similar purpose). This essay aims to answer how convergent or divergent nervous systems are while observing the lower section of the animal phylogenetic tree. In other words, the question becomes: how similar were the nervous systems of the first animals that roamed the Earth? To answer, the early evolution of nervous systems is split in 4 main components: the cells and tissues that preceded nervous systems, the origins of neurons, and the electrical and wiring code. Across these aspects, a total of 14 traits were analyzed, out of which 9 were divergent. This leads to the conclusion that many of the components of primitive nervous systems had the same origin, and despite the fact that the divergence-convergence ratio is subject to change the more cases are analyzed, it is still likely to favor convergence. Many molecular and cellular traits of nervous systems were already present in the last animal common ancestor (e.g. ionotropic glutamate receptors, opsins, etc.) and only w
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master's Thesis / Essay) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Billeter, J.C. and Doubovetzky, N.P. |
| Degree programme: | Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences |
| Thesis type: | Master's Thesis / Essay |
| Language: | English |
| Date Deposited: | 30 Jul 2021 09:06 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Jul 2021 09:06 |
| URI: | https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/25516 |
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