Animals have evolved different neural structures like the nerve net (e.g., Hydra), nerve cords and ganglia (e.g., Caenorhabditis elegans, Aplysia, planaria), and brain (e.g., Drosophila, zebrafish, rodents, and primates). Introductionĭiscovering the fundamental principles of neural activity and behaviors requires studying the nervous systems of diverse organisms. These insights help reveal how sensory information is processed in an animal with a diffuse, radially symmetric neural architecture unlike the dense, bilaterally symmetric nervous systems found in most model organisms.
![○ clinical neuroanatomy made ridiculously simple ○ clinical neuroanatomy made ridiculously simple](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51CuEqqKBhL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
Together, these findings improve our understanding of how Hydra’s diffuse nervous system coordinates sensorimotor behaviors. Different activity patterns arise in these networks depending on whether the animal is contracting spontaneously or contracting in response to mechanical stimulation. Mechanical stimuli cause animals to contract, and we find this response relies on at least two distinct networks of neurons in the oral and aboral regions of the animal.
![○ clinical neuroanatomy made ridiculously simple ○ clinical neuroanatomy made ridiculously simple](https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/3-YAAOSwtGlZMOA3/s-l200.jpg)
![○ clinical neuroanatomy made ridiculously simple ○ clinical neuroanatomy made ridiculously simple](https://www.medicosrepublic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Snells-Clinical-Neuroanatomy-7th-Edition-PDF-Free-Download.jpg)
Here, we use microfluidic devices combined with fluorescent calcium imaging and surgical resectioning to study how the diffuse nervous system coordinates Hydra's mechanosensory response. Hydra vulgaris is an emerging model organism for neuroscience due to its small size, transparency, genetic tractability, and regenerative nervous system however, fundamental properties of its sensorimotor behaviors remain unknown.