Some charismatic behaviors are capable of being performed by arthropods. They can transform information into shapes, colors, and even texture in a matter of seconds. They can use tools to solve problems. They can get bored.
Cephalopods have the most complex brains of any animal on the planet. The development process is still shrouded in mystery. Scientists have been wondering how cephalopods got their big brains. Two-thirds of the central processing tissue of these soft-bodied creatures is focused on the visual system. They think the process looks familiar.
In a study published in Current Biology, researchers from the FAS Center for Systems Biology describe how they used a new live-imaging technique to watch the creation of neurons in the embryo. The cells were tracked through the development of the nervous system in the eye. They saw something that surprised them.
The neural stem cells that they tracked behaved in a similar way to the cells that are found in the body of a fish. It suggests that despite diverging from each other 500 million years ago, vertebrates and cephalopods are still using the same mechanisms to make their big brains.
A lot of what we know about nervous system development in animals has been thought to be special to that group.
The fact that the process is very similar suggests that the two very large nervous systems are using the same mechanisms. Those mechanisms may be important for building big nervous systems.
A type of long fin squid called Doryteuthis pealeii is the focus of the scientists from the lab. In the northwest Atlantic Ocean, the squid are abundant. They are cute with big heads and big eyes.
The researchers used similar methods to study model organisms. They used cutting edge microscopes that could take high resolution pictures every ten minutes for hours at a time to see how individual cells behaved. The cells were marked with florescent dyes so they could be tracked.
The team was able to observe stem cells and how they are organized. A pseudostratified epithelium is a special type of cell. The cells are long so they can be packed tightly. The nucleus of the structures moved before and after they were divided. They said that this movement is important for the growth of the tissue.
The structure of the brain and eyes of animals is the same as it is for humans. One of the reasons the nervous system grew so large was due to it. In this instance, the squid tissue looked at by the scientists was remarkably similar to the tissues found in mammals and birds.
The research was done by two people in the lab.
The lab is going to look at how different cell types in the brain emerge. They want to know if they're expressed at different times, how they decide to become one type of neuron versus another, and if this action is similar across species.
There are a lot of potential discoveries that are excited by them.
One of the big lessons from this type of work is the importance of studying the diversity of life. You can come back to fundamental ideas about our own development if you study this diversity. You can talk to those questions.
There is more information on the current biology. The article was published in the journalcub.
Journal information: Current Biology
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