Comb jellies are the closest relatives of the first animals(scientificamerican.com)
scientificamerican.com
Comb jellies are the closest relatives of the first animals
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-closest-living-relative-of-the-first-animal-has-finally-been-found/
> Recent discoveries have shown that ctenophores have no synapses, the tiny connections between neurons. Instead the cells of their primitive nervous system, known as a nerve net, are fused together, forming a syncytium—“an entirely new way to build a nervous system”
It makes sense that synapses would be more general/powerful than fused neurons. Different neurons can connect over time with synapses