The gain in the brain is plain when evo meets devo

Evolutionary development of embryonic cerebrospinal fluid composition and regulation: an open research field with implications for brain development and function

Within the consolidated field of evolutionary development, there is emerging research on evolutionary aspects of central nervous system development and its implications for adult brain structure and function, including behaviour. The central nervous system is one of the most intriguing systems in complex metazoans, as it controls all body and mind functions. Its failure is responsible for a number of severe and largely incurable diseases, including neurological and neurodegenerative ones. Moreover, the evolution of the nervous system is thought to be a critical step in the adaptive radiation of vertebrates. Brain formation is initiated early during development. Most embryological, genetic and evolutionary studies have focused on brain neurogenesis and regionalisation, including the formation and function of organising centres, and the comparison of homolog gene expression and function among model organisms from different taxa. The architecture of the vertebrate brain primordium also reveals the existence of connected internal cavities, the cephalic vesicles, which in fetuses and adults become the ventricular system of the brain. During embryonic and fetal development, brain cavities and ventricles are filled with a complex, protein-rich fluid called cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). However, CSF has not been widely analysed from either an embryological or evolutionary perspective. Recently, it has been demonstrated in higher vertebrates that embryonic cerebrospinal fluid has key functions in delivering diffusible signals and nutrients to the developing brain, thus contributing to the proliferation, differentiation and survival of neural progenitor cells, and to the expansion and patterning of the brain. Moreover, it has been shown that the composition and homeostasis of CSF are tightly controlled in a time-dependent manner from the closure of the anterior neuropore, just before the initiation of primary neurogenesis, up to the formation of functional choroid plexuses. In this review, we draw together existing literature about the formation, function and homeostatic regulation of embryonic cerebrospinal fluid, from the closure of the anterior neuropore to the formation of functional fetal choroid plexuses, from an evolutionary perspective. The relevance of these processes to the normal functions and diseases of adult brain will also be discussed.

Evolutionary development of neural systems in vertebrates and beyond

The emerging field of "neuro-evo-devo" is beginning to reveal how the molecular and neural substrates that underlie brain function are based on variations in evolutionarily ancient and conserved neurochemical and neural circuit themes. Comparative work across bilaterians is reviewed to highlight how early neural patterning specifies modularity of the embryonic brain, which lays a foundation on which manipulation of neurogenesis creates adjustments in brain size. Small variation within these developmental mechanisms contributes to the evolution of brain diversity. Comparing the specification and spatial distribution of neural phenotypes across bilaterians has also suggested some major brain evolution trends, although much more work on profiling neural connections with neurochemical specificity across a wide diversity of organisms is needed. These comparative approaches investigating the evolution of brain form and function hold great promise for facilitating a mechanistic understanding of how variation in brain morphology, neural phenotypes, and neural networks influences brain function and behavioral diversity across organisms.