Evolutionary Information Layering: A Framework for Understanding the Emergence of Biological Coordination Across Scales

The evolution of biological coordination is often framed as a progression toward specialized nervous systems. Here, we propose the Evolutionary Information Layering Framework, arguing that complexity emerges not by replacing ancestral mechanisms, but through their retention, specialization, and integration. We posit that pre-neural regulatory layers—including extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, mechanical forces, and endogenous bioelectric states—provided foundational organization later co-opted by neural systems. This hypothesis generates testable predictions: under neural disruption, non-neural layers (e.g., bioelectric gradients) sustain tissue coordination. By bridging evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), systems biology, and bioelectricity, this framework redefines nervous systems as specialized amplification layers embedded in an ancient, multi-scale regulatory architecture.