Co-expression of VAL- and TMT-opsins uncovers ancient photosensory interneurons and motorneurons in the vertebrate brain.

ABSTRACT: The functional principle of the vertebrate brain is often paralleled to a computer: information collected by dedicated devices is processed and integrated by interneuron circuits and leads to output. However, inter- and motorneurons present in today's vertebrate brains are thought to derive from neurons that combined sensory, integration, and motor function. Consistently, sensory inter-motorneurons have been found in the simple nerve nets of cnidarians, animals at the base of the evolutionary lineage. We show that light-sensory motorneurons and light-sensory interneurons are also present in the brains of vertebrates, challenging the paradigm that information processing and output circuitry in the central brain is shielded from direct environmental influences. We investigated two groups of

SUBMITTER: Fischer RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3679003 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature