ArticleEssays in biochemistry2022
The premetazoan ancestry of the synaptic toolkit and appearance of first neurons.
Article in Essays in biochemistry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Developing broad brains: the importance of an early introduction to evolutionary thinking in undergraduate neuroscience programs.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026Review
- On the molecular basis of enduring memory in neurons, and cell fate in fibroblasts.Nucleic acids research · 2026Review
- The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins and their changing roles in different organisms across evolution.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026Review
- Looking back: tracing the origins of sleep across the animal kingdom.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Electrical signaling and coordinated behavior in the closest relative of animals.Science advances · 2025Article
- Jellyfish for the study of nervous system evolution and function.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2024Review
- Gene networks and the evolution of olfactory organs, eyes, hair cells and motoneurons: a view encompassing lancelets, tunicates and vertebrates.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2024Review
- What is it like to be a choanoflagellate? Sensation, processing and behavior in the closest unicellular relatives of animals.Animal cognition · 2023Review
- SNARE Proteins in Synaptic Vesicle Fusion.Advances in neurobiology · 2023Article
- The salamander blastema within the broader context of metazoan regeneration.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2023Review
- Contribution of membrane-associated oscillators to biological timing at different timescales.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
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2 authors.
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Abstract
Neurons, especially when coupled with muscles, allow animals to interact with and navigate through their environment in ways unique to life on earth. Found in all major animal lineages except sponges and placozoans, nervous systems range widely in organization and complexity, with neurons possibly representing the most diverse cell-type. This diversity has led to much debate over the evolutionary origin of neurons as well as synapses, which allow for the directed transmission of information. The broad phylogenetic distribution of neurons and presence of many of the defining components outside of animals suggests an early origin of this cell type, potentially in the time between the first animal and the last common ancestor of extant animals. Here, we highlight the occurrence and function of key aspects of neurons outside of animals as well as recent findings from non-bilaterian animals in order to make predictions about when and how the first neuron(s) arose during animal evolution and their relationship to those found in extant lineages. With advancing technologies in single cell transcriptomics and proteomics as well as expanding functional techniques in non-bilaterian animals and the close relatives of animals, it is an exciting time to begin unraveling the complex evolutionary history of this fascinating animal cell type.
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