Broadening the definition of a nervous system to better understand the evolution of plants and animals

Most textbook definitions recognize only animals as having nervous systems. However, for the past couple decades, botanists have been meticulously studying long-distance signaling systems in plants, and some researchers have stated that plants have a simple nervous system. Thus, an academic conflict...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plant signaling & behavior 2021-10, Vol.16 (10), p.1927562-1927562
Main Authors: Miguel-Tomé, Sergio, Llinás, Rodolfo R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological Evolution
Electrophysiological Phenomena
evolutionary convergence
nervous system
Nervous System Physiological Phenomena
Plant Physiological Phenomena
Plants
Signal Transduction
Terminology as Topic
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Summary:Most textbook definitions recognize only animals as having nervous systems. However, for the past couple decades, botanists have been meticulously studying long-distance signaling systems in plants, and some researchers have stated that plants have a simple nervous system. Thus, an academic conflict has emerged between those who defend and those who deny the existence of a nervous system in plants. This article analyses that debate, and we propose an alternative to answering yes or no: broadening the definition of a nervous system to include plants. We claim that a definition broader than the current one, which is based only on a phylogenetic viewpoint, would be helpful in obtaining a deeper understanding of how evolution has driven the features of signal generation, transmission and processing in multicellular beings. Also, we propose two possible definitions and exemplify how broader a definition allows for new viewpoints on the evolution of plants, animals and the nervous system.
ISSN:1559-2316
1559-2324
1559-2324
DOI:10.1080/15592324.2021.1927562