Royal Society discussion meeting: Origin and evolution of the nervous system
London, GB
Attendance type(s): In Person
Event Dates: 09—10 Mar 2015
Royal Society discussion meeting: Origin and evolution of the nervous system
Monday 9 Tuesday 10 March 2015
The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG
The origin of brains and central nervous systems is thought to have occurred before the Paleozoic era. Yet in the absence of tangible evidence there has been continued debate whether todays brains derive from one ancestral origin or whether similarities amongst them are due to convergent evolution. This meeting will consider the origin of nervous systems, integrating knowledge ranging from evolutionary theory and palaeontology to comparative developmental genetics and phylogenomics. It will cover discoveries of fossil brains, as well as correspondences of neural circuit organisation and behaviours, all of which allow evidence-based debates for and against the proposition that the nervous systems and brains of animals all derive from a common ancestor.