Nick Strausfeld - "Evolution of arthropod brains and the origin of complex visual systems."

Recording of the speaker's talk at the Barcelona Brain and Technology Summer School, September 2012. Listen also to an interview with this and other speakers at www.csnetwork.eu/podcast.

"The first of two lectures will summarize evidence that nervous systems of ecdysozoans and deuterostomes share deep homology with respect to brain segmentation and that the organization of visual pathways underlying chromatic and achromatic visual processing show remarkable similarities. Neuroanatomical evidence demonstrates that the ground pattern of insect optic lobe neuropils and their cellular constituents are common to other arthropod groups, and that specific arthropod taxa offer insights into how visual systems are matched to specific types of ecologies. Studies of fossils and extant taxa further suggest that basic principles of neuronal organization and circuitry are common to both the visual systems and olfactory systems."