Does my brain have a brain?

[DLANDINO]

My wife and I were discussing this on the way to work this morning. Do Corals have brains? The are animals so I assume they at least have a central nervous system and if they have a nervous system, does it stand to reason they have brains?

 

[laxing22]

The central nervous system is all they have but in a way reacts like the whole thing is one brain - Discover had a thing about this a while back and how in some ways they think Jelly's and the like are actually more advanced in that they don't need a brain and can just react to the situation.

 

[DLANDINO]

thanks Ben! Now what ever will my wife and I talk about on the way home. Oh, I know, how it is imperative that I upgrade to Metal Halide lighting to protect our reef investment. Wanna help with that one too?

Dave

 

[greenbean36191]

No, there's no central nervous system of any kind. These guys have a very simple nervous system called a nerve net, which is just what it sounds like. Sensory receptors connect to other neurons which can spread the signal around, but ultimately the signal goes straight to the muscles without ever passing through a processing center or anything analogous to a brain.

Cnidarians can do some interesting stuff without brains though. Box jellies have image forming eyes and seem to be able to distinguish between different images and some anemones have shown evidence of "learning."