Mushroom Body Evolution

Introduction: These figures summarize some salient points about the evolution, shapes, and properties of mushroom bodies. More detailed descriptions can be found in: Strausfeld, N.J., L. Hansen, Y. Li, R.S. Gomez and K. Ito (1998) Evolution, discovery, and interpretation of arthropod mushroom bodies. Learning and Memory.5:11-37; and in Strausfeld, N.J. (1998) Crustacean-insect relationships: the use of brain characters to derive phylogeny amongst segmented invertebrates. Brain Behav. Evol. 52:186-206.

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Figure 1: Early theories about the evolution of mushroom bodies.

Figure 2: The evolution of the mushroom bodies.

Figure 3: Mushroom body shapes are characteristic of different groups of insects.

Figure 4: Mushroom bodies vary in shape.

Figure 5: There are two types of insect mushroom bodies: calyxless and calycal.

Figure 6: Mushroom bodies of annelids (lophotrochozoan) are similar to those of insects (ecdysozoans).

Figure 7: Internal organization of the mushroom bodies are similar across taxa 1.

Figure 8: Internal organization of the mushroom bodies are similar across taxa II.

Figure 9: Mushroom bodies across taxa can be derived from developmental stages of a basal archetype.

Figure 10: Mushroom body neurons.

Figure 11: Afferents to the calyces derive from the protocerebrum as well as from sensory neuropils.

Figure 12: Efferent dendrites reflect internal organization.

Figure 13: Mushroom body neurons respond to a variety of sensory modalities.

Figure 14: Chelicerate mushroom bodies illustrate the relationship between glomeruli number and mushroom body size and elaboration.

Figure 15: Relationships amongst mushroom body neuropils and other brain areas.

Selected References

1. Ernst, K.-D., J. Boeckh, and V. Boeckh. 1977 A neuroanatomical study on the organization of the central antennal pathway in insects. II. Deutocerebral connections in Locusta migratoria and Periplaneta americana. Cell Tissue Res. 176, 285-308.
2. Power, M.E. 1946. The antennal centers and their connections with the brain of Drosophila melanogaster. J. Comp. Neurol. 85, 485-509.
3. Rodriguez, V. and E. Buchner. 1984. 2-Deoxyglucose mapping of odor-induced neuronal activity in the antennal lobes of Drosohila melanogaster. Brain Res. 324, 374-378.
4. Rodriguez, V. and L. Pinto. 1989. The antennal glomerulus as a functional unit of odor coding in Drosophila melanogaster. In Neurobiology of sensory systems. (eds. R.N. Singh and N.J. Strausfeld), pp. 387-396. Plenum, New York.
5. Rosa, R de., Grenier, J.K., Andreeva, T., Cook, C.E., Adoutte, A., Akam, M., Carroll, S. B. and G. Balavoine (1999) Hox genes in brachiopods and priapulids and protostome evolution. Nature 399:772-776.
6. Strausfeld, N.J. 1998b. Crustacean-Insect relationships: the use of brain characters to derive phylogeny amongst segmented invertebrates. Brain, Behavior and Evolution. 52, 186-206.
7. Strausfeld, N. J., L. Hansen, Y. Li, R. S. Gomez and K. Ito (1998). Evolution, discovery, and interpretation of arthropod mushroom bodies. Learning and Memory. 5, 11-37.
8. Stocker, R.F.M (1994) The organization of the chemosensory system in Drosophila melanogaster. Cell Tissue Res. 275:3-26.
9. Weiss, M.J. 1974. Neuronal connections and the function of the corpora pedunculata in the brain of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L). J. Morphol. 142, 21-69.

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