Although neuroscientists focus on only very few animal species today, there are many important reasons to take advantage of model system diversity and embrace (anew) a comparative approach in modern brain research. Recent technological advances make this increasingly possible.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Comparative MRI analysis of the forebrain of three sauropsida models
Brain Structure and Function Open Access 28 March 2024
-
Single-cell transcriptomics reveals the brain evolution of web-building spiders
Nature Ecology & Evolution Open Access 02 November 2023
-
Hippocampal representation during collective spatial behaviour in bats
Nature Open Access 30 August 2023
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$189.00 per year
only $15.75 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Albright, T. & Squire, L. R. (eds) The History of Neuroscience in Autobiography Vols 1–10 (Society for Neuroscience, 2018).
Dobzhansky, T. Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. Am. Biol. Teach. 35, 125–129 (1973).
Moran, Y. et al. Evolution of voltage-gated ion channels at the emergence of Metazoa. J. Exp. Biol. 218, 515–25 (2015).
Burkhardt, P. The origin and evolution of synaptic proteins — choanoflagellates lead the way. J. Exp. Biol. 218, 506–514 (2015).
Wilson, D. W. et al. A fusion protein required for vesicle-mediated transport in both mammalian cells and yeast. Nature 339, 355–359 (1989).
Holland, N. D. Early central nervous system evolution: an era of skin brains? Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 4, 617–627 (2003).
Wang, Z., Gerstein, M. & Snyder, M. RNA-Seq: a revolutionary tool for transcriptomics. Nat. Rev. Genet. 10, 57–63 (2009).
Lander, E. S. The heroes of CRISPR. Cell 164, 18–28 (2016).
Camhi, J. Neuroethology — Nerve cells and the natural behavior of animals (Sinauer Associates, 1984).
Marder, E., Bucher, D. & Prinz, A. A. Similar network activity from disparate circuit parameters. Nat. Neurosci. 7, 1345–1352 (2004).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Additional information
Related links
A Look at NIH Support for Model Organisms, Part Two: https://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/2016/08/03/model-organisms-part-two/
A Look at Trends in NIH’s Model Organism Research Support: https://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/2016/07/14/a-look-at-trends-in-nihs-model-organism-research-support/
IUCN Red List of Ecosystems: https://www.iucn.org/resources/conservation-tools/iucn-red-list-ecosystems
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Laurent, G. On the value of model diversity in neuroscience. Nat Rev Neurosci 21, 395–396 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-020-0323-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-020-0323-1
This article is cited by
-
Comparative MRI analysis of the forebrain of three sauropsida models
Brain Structure and Function (2024)
-
Single-cell transcriptomics reveals the brain evolution of web-building spiders
Nature Ecology & Evolution (2023)
-
Hippocampal representation during collective spatial behaviour in bats
Nature (2023)
-
Genome scanning of behavioral selection in a canine olfactory detection breeding cohort
Scientific Reports (2022)
-
Evolution of central neural circuits: state of the art and perspectives
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2022)
