“Neural development in simpler embryos: A retrospective of Dr. Kunitaro Takahashi's work”

Here we look back over studies of Dr. Kunitaro Takahashi who passed away in 9th May 2011. He started his career studying the neurophysiology of mammalian cortical neurons and later established the simplest model of neural induction using embryos of ascidians, the most primitive of the chordates. By tracing back to the species with intimate kinship to the evolutional ancestor of vertebrates, his detailed studies of ion channel development in ontogeny, can inform us of the most basic properties of how the embryonic nervous system is created.