Topic: Clytia hemisphaerica

The nervous system likely evolved to control behavior. However, the earliest nerve nets were highly decentralized, raising questions about how such control was achieved. To explore this question, we study neural dynamics in Clytia hemisphaerica, a genetically accessible hydrozoan jellyfish. Despite lacking a centralized nervous system, Clytia has a complex behavioral repertoire that is modulated by internal states.1 Using historical electrophysiology results and newly acquired behavioral data, we created multiscale models of Clytia’s nervous system during the control of rhythmic swim contracti