Abstract
An anteroposterior arrangement of brain compartments from the telencephalon to the rhombencephalon is observed in all extant vertebrates. Moreover, the stereotyped framework of longitudinal and commissural tracts is also conserved among vertebrates. In contrast, the size and morphology of brain regions have diversified into a variety of forms. Thus, vertebrate brains are thought to have inherited their basic organization during evolution, while the size and functions of brain subregions may have been modified in vertebrate lineages. In particular, the vertebrate cerebellum, which serves as the integrative center for motor coordination, shows remarkable morphological diversity. In vertebrates, the human cerebellum not only functions as a center for motor coordination and balance but is also involved in various cognitive functions. Conversely, the cerebella of amphibians and reptiles are small and rudimentary. Thus, the cerebellum seems to have evolved independently between species in relation to the evolution of sensory perception and motor regulation.
In general, the primordium of the vertebrate cerebellum appears in the caudal part of the midbrain/hindbrain boundary, called the isthmic organizer (IsO), which is marked by the specific expression of several transcription factors and signaling molecules. Recent studies have shown that the IsO is present in several vertebrate lineages, including cyclostomes, that bifurcated from other vertebrates in the early evolutionary period. Furthermore, the molecular mechanisms underlying the differentiation of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the cerebellum or cerebellum-like regions are also conserved between lineages. These results indicate that the basic mechanism underlying the specification of the cerebellum may have been established in the last common ancestor of vertebrates.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Makiko Fukui for technical support and valuable discussions. We thank all past and present members and collaborators of the YM and FS laboratories for support and constructive discussions. This project has been supported by RIKEN, Kobe, Japan, Ehime University (Research unit) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS; grant number 20K06892 to YM, and grant number 19K06794 to FS).
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Murakami, Y., Sugahara, F. (2021). Evolutionary and Developmental Perspectives on the Origin and Diversification of the Vertebrate Cerebellum. In: Mizusawa, H., Kakei, S. (eds) Cerebellum as a CNS Hub. Contemporary Clinical Neuroscience. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75817-2_1
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