Gastropod Feeding Systems: Evolution of Neural Circuits that Generate Diverse Behaviors
Gastropod Feeding Systems: Evolution of Neural Circuits that Generate Diverse Behaviors
- Paul BenjaminPaul BenjaminSchool of Life Sciences, University of Sussex
- , and Michael CrossleyMichael CrossleySchool of Life Sciences, University of Sussex
Summary
It is conceptually reasonable to explore how the evolution of behavior involves changes in neural circuitry. Progress in determining this evolutionary relationship has been limited in neuroscience because of difficulties in identifying individual neurons that contribute to the evolutionary development of behaviors across species. However, the results from the feeding systems of gastropod mollusks provide evidence for this concept of co-evolution because the evolution of different types of feeding behaviors in this diverse group of mollusks is mirrored by species-specific changes in neural circuitry. The evolution of feeding behaviors involves changes in the motor actions that allow diverse food items to be acquired and ingested. The evolution in neural control accompanies this variation in food and the associated changes in flexibility of feeding behaviors. This is present in components of the feeding network that are involved in decision making, rhythm generation, and behavioral switching but is absent in background mechanisms that are conserved across species, such as those controlling arousal state. These findings show how evolutionary changes, even at the single neuron level, closely reflect the details of behavioral evolution.
Keywords
Subjects
- Motor Systems
- Sensory Systems
- Invertebrate Neuroscience