Rafael Yuste, Columbia University

Abstract

The small freshwater cnidarian Hydra vulgaris has one of the simplest nervous systems in the animal kingdom[1], yet exhibits surprisingly complex behaviors, like somersaulting[2]. Due to its transparency, its complete neural[3] and muscle activity[4] can be effectively imaged. Our goal to take advantage of this experimental angle to "break the neural code" of Hydra: to understand the complete set of transformations from neural activity to muscle activation to behavior.                                                                                                   

1. Bosch, T.C., et al., Back to the Basics: Cnidarians Start to Fire. Trends Neurosci, 2017. 40(2): p. 92-105.
2. Han, S., et al., Comprehensive machine learning analysis of Hydra behavior reveals a stable basal behavioral repertoire. Elife, 2018. 7.
3. Dupre, C. and R. Yuste, Non-overlapping Neural Networks in Hydra vulgaris. Curr Biol, 2017.
4. Szymanski, J.R. and R. Yuste, Mapping the Whole-Body Muscle Activity of Hydra vulgaris. Curr Biol, 2019. 29(11): p. 1807-1817 e3.