The Göttingen Cognition Forum: Curiosity & Interaction

Session

Neural Circuit Evolution

S6

15 Oct 2025, 14:20

Adam-von-Trott-Saal (Tagungszentrum am Wilhelmsplatz)

92. Evolution of action potential firing precision and axon initial segment scaffolds

Andreas Neef (Göttingen University, CIDBN)

15/10/2025, 14:20

Session 6: Neural circuit evolution

Oral presentation

“Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution.” Theodosius Dobzhansky
My talk will shine this light onto some specializations in neurons and neuronal networks. The starting point is the distributed nature of information transfer and encoding. In a mammal’s brain, a given input is relayed to hundreds or thousands of neurons, which then collectively transmit it further up the...

91. Information and the Evolution of Species-Specific Signals and Preferences

Daesung Cho (ENI Göttingen)

15/10/2025, 14:40

Session 6: Neural circuit evolution

Oral presentation

Sexual signals play a crucial role in driving speciation and evolution. A key function of these signals is to communicate species identity. Signaling species identity creates reproductive barriers by enabling recognition of conspecific mates and discrimination against incompatible heterospecifics. The signals and signal preferences can evolve rapidly in speciation events, yet research has...

98. A synthetic biology model of the early visual pathway to study the emergence of orientation selectivity

Julian Vogel (Göttingen University, CIDBN)

15/10/2025, 15:00

Session 6: Neural circuit evolution

Oral presentation

A fundamental property of neurons in the primary visual cortex is their preference for orientation of edges that is invariant under contrast changes.
We designed a synthetic hybrid neural circuit to study the emergence of orientation selectivity under different thalamo-cortical connection schemes. To this end, a computational model of the retino-thalamic pathway was combined with an in-vitro...

95. Marking homologous genetic neural lineages reveals developmental differences in brains of flies and beetles with likely relevance to circuitry and behavior

Gregor Bucher (University of Göttingen)

15/10/2025, 15:20

Session 6: Neural circuit evolution

Oral presentation

Evolutionary adaptations of brain structure and function are essential for animal survival and emerge during development. Some known divergences seen in brain development are likely relevant for brain function. For instance, adult neurogenesis in mushroom bodies is found in beetles but not in flies and might modify learning behavior. Further, beetle larvae have a partial central complex (CX)...

96. From ciliary beating to muscular locomotion: Developmental origins of nervous systems in the annelid Platynereis dumerilii

Mette Handberg-Thorsager (Göttingen University)

15/10/2025, 15:40

Session 6: Neural circuit evolution

Oral presentation

Marine invertebrate larvae with pelago-benthic life cycles employ distinct locomotory strategies: swimming larvae move by ciliary beating during the pelagic phase, while benthic adults use muscles for crawling. Despite the fundamental importance of this lifestyle and behavioural change, the developmental and evolutionary relationships between the underlying nervous systems remain poorly...

11. Human Cogntion blub

Rebecca Jürgens (UBPP)

Session 6: Neural circuit evolution

Oral presentation

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