title: Animal evolution: looking for the first nervous system.
abstract: The human brain is easily the most baffling bit of biology on the planet. How did the nervous system evolve? What came first: neurons or synaptic proteins? A new paper studying the pancake-shaped Trichoplax suggests it was not the neurons.
authors: Dept. of Biology, University of Utah, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. Electronic address: jorgensen@biology.utah.edu.
authors: Erik M
authors: EM
authors: Jorgensen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000378:metabolism*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D009489:Neurosecretion / Q000502:physiology*; D054909:Placozoa / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology*