Invited speaker: Fernando García-Moreno from the Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience in Bizkaia

Fernando’s lab studies how vertebrate brains evolved, using a combination of experimental embryology, single-cell, and spatial transcriptomics in birds 🐥, reptiles 🦎, and mammals 🐁.

Title of the seminar: Neurogenesis and transcriptomics provide a new understanding of brain evolution.

Brief summary of the seminar: The evolutionary origins of the amniote pallium and its relationship to the mammalian cerebral cortex remain unresolved questions in neuroscience. This talk addresses how recent advances in neurogenesis and transcriptomics are reshaping our understanding of these structures across birds, reptiles, and mammals. While sensory circuits are functionally conserved, their developmental timelines and transcriptomic profiles diverge significantly, suggesting convergent evolution in high-order sensory processing across species. Additionally, cellular innovations in the avian pallium challenge traditional views, with the divergence of excitatory neuron types leading to unique structures like the hyperpallium. Comparative transcriptomic analyses reveal that while inhibitory neuron types are largely conserved, the evolution of excitatory neurons highlights both shared ancestry and independent specializations in the avian and mammalian pallium. These findings provide critical insights into the molecular and cellular underpinnings of pallial and cortical evolution, offering new perspectives on the development of complex cognition in amniotes.

If you want to know more about his 👩‍🔬 group 🧑‍🔬 you can check their website!! (Phylobrain) (Achucarro Center)