Biology Advanced level students participated in a live-streamed insight lecture entitled: ‘Uncovering the origin of learning and memory – A journey into the evolution of nervous systems’. This was organised by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg Germany. This activity took place via ZOOM on Tuesday 14 November 2023. The lecture was presented by Dr Detlev Arendt, who is a group leader at EMBL Heidelberg.

In this lecture Dr Arendt introduced himself and his love for research and then discussed the evolution of the nervous system. He spoke about the first neurons and their role in coordinating body movement and physiology in ancient animals. He explained how he and his team drew conclusions about early brains present in the first ancestors of bilaterally symmetrical animals by studying sea annelids and other marine worms that have relatively remained unchanged for over 540 million years. Students had the opportunity to ask questions and also listen to questions submitted by other students that followed the live lecture. Over 800 participants from all over the world attended this live lecture.