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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 7, 2026

Creating Avian Forebrain Chimeras to Assess Facial Development
04:10

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Published on: February 18, 2021

The bilaterian forebrain: an evolutionary chimaera.

Maria Antonietta Tosches1, Detlev Arendt

  • 1European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Developmental Biology Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69012 Heidelberg, Germany.

Current Opinion in Neurobiology
|October 2, 2013
PubMed
Summary

The insect, annelid, and vertebrate brains evolved from two distinct neural systems that merged during evolution. This "chimeric brain hypothesis" explains bilaterian diversification and brain architecture.

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Area of Science:

  • Comparative neurodevelopment
  • Evolutionary biology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Forebrains in insects, annelids, and vertebrates have two main output control centers: a sensory-neurosecretory center and a primordial locomotor center.
  • In vertebrates, these centers are located in the hypothalamus.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review comparative neurodevelopmental evidence on the evolution of brain output control centers.
  • To propose the "chimeric brain hypothesis" regarding the origin and integration of these centers.

Main Methods:

  • Review of comparative neurodevelopmental evidence.
  • Analysis of distinct regulatory networks involved in neuronal condensation and patterning.

Main Results:

  • The sensory-neurosecretory and locomotor centers evolved from separate neuronal condensations on opposite body sides (apical and blastoporal nervous systems).
  • Distinct gene regulatory networks (apical six3/rx vs. mediolateral nk/pax) were involved in their initial specification.
  • These systems became physically, functionally, and developmentally intermingled in bilaterian ancestors.

Conclusions:

  • The "chimeric brain hypothesis" offers a new perspective on the evolution of brain architecture.
  • This integration likely contributed to the success and diversification of bilaterian animals during the Cambrian period.