#brain #science #jellyfish
Who says you need a brain to learn? Jellyfish are proving us wrong, big time. Researchers published a study in "Current Biology" on September 22, 2023, that turns our understanding of learning on its head.
Caribbean box jellyfish, no bigger than your nail, can learn just like us. The catch? They don't have a centralized brain.
So, how does this work? These jellies have 24 eyes and are darn good at maneuvering through their mangrove swamp homes.
The researchers set up a tank to mimic this environment. At first, the jellies kept bumping into the tank's striped walls. But by the end, they had cut their wall-bumping in half and were dodging obstacles like pros.
Does this blow your mind a little? It should. Basically, the jellyfish were trained using stimuli they could understand.
Ever heard of Rhopalia? These are the jelly's sensory centers, and they're essential for this learning magic. Scientists even trained isolated rhopalia with electric stimulations to respond to obstacles.
So why care about a jelly's IQ? Anders Garm of the University of Copenhagen puts it well: "If you want to understand complex structures, start as simple as you can."
Could this be a peek into the origins of learning itself?
What do you think? Is it time to rethink how we define intelligence and learning? This study sure adds a new twist to the tale.
Follow us on Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
