Genes for Learning and Memory Are ~650 Million Years Old, Study Indicates

A team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Leicester has discovered that the genes required for learning, memory, aggression, and other complex behaviors originated approximately 650 million years ago. The findings reported by Dr. Roberto Feuda (photo), from the Neurogenetic group in the Department of Genetics and Genome Biology and other colleagues from the University of Leicester and the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), were published on June 6, 2023 in Nature Communications. The open-access article is titled “The Monoaminergic System Is a Bilaterian Innovation.”