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content:life_sciences:zoology:connectome_formation

Wikenigma - an Encyclopedia of Unknowns Wikenigma - an Encyclopedia of the Unknown

Connectome formation

The Connectome is the name given to the map of neural connections within an organism's nervous system. Analogous to the 'wiring diagram' of a machine. See: Wikipedia

When organisms are growing - in the sense of 'wiring up' their nervous system - it's assumed that genetic mechanisms must somehow be directing the process. Guiding which neurones connect to which others.

The details of this guiding process are unknown.

So far, only one organism - the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans - has had its connectome fully mapped. However :

[…] the genetic mechanisms that determine which neurons can synapse with each other remain largely unknown even in this simple and well-studied organism "

Source :Uncovering the genetic blueprint of the C. elegans nervous system in PNAS, December 29, 2020 117 (52) 33570-33577
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