Jellyfish – Sunday 8th October 2023

Posted on by Fiona MacLeod

Jellyfish – Sunday 8th October 2023

Generally, my written work is either focussed on Rett Syndrome and Genetics or Astronomy and related physics. Recently, I have written about those whales that sadly mass strand on beaches and also some writing about my thoughts on Orcas.

 

This article is about Jellyfish and their related functioning.

 

Long ago when I determined how much additional work my CNS was doing, it gave me an insight on the subject.

I realised that some loss of brain function can be compensated for by the CNS provided those losses occur gradually. (If they occur together and instantly then it would probably be just too overwhelming sadly). As well, I suspect being a young child and still developing may well be a crucial aspect for the adapting CNS and it isn’t an experience I would wish on anyone, but I think it’s an important aspect for those disabilities that have life support functions impacted (as with Rett Syndrome) to recognise that the CNS is capable of building up and compensating for some of these losses.

 

Later, I wondered then could a lifeform gradually lose all brain function and be solely reliant on the CNS to sustain if it was a slow course and generational. And I gave thought to the jellyfish. I knew very little about them and wondered if hundreds of millions of years ago might they have had a teeny brain that had slowly become redundant.

From the little I have recently learnt about them, it would seem they have always been without a brain however?

They don’t have blood so they don’t need a heart to pump it, but importantly they are very much alive and they are an example of life that is very different to ourselves.

I read that they don’t feel pain but I would argue that point, I think they indeed would feel pain and though they are without a brain, their CNS would I believe sense and process that pain. They, or some* jellyfish have eyes, they eat well and float down to the sea floor when they want to have a sleep. They reproduce, they do just about everything other living creatures do, yet they are without those organs that many would consider essential for life.

They are quite amazing and I note a recent study found them to be more intelligent than was previously thought. And I was rather glad to read that because I was already thinking along those lines. Having read that people thought jellyfish are unaware they are alive and didn’t experience pain etc. concerned me. I don’t think we can conclude that purely because an animal is dependent solely upon its CNS for functioning.

 

The fact that I rely so heavily upon my CNS leads me to believe that other people likely are also, quite possibly without them or their families actually being aware of it.

Breathing can perhaps provide an insight for some, if there was breathing difficulties due to their disability as a child and afterwards, breathing often or regularly developed into an irregular breathing pattern whilst awake, that can be an indication that the person is possibly relying on their CNS. Of course you would ask your doctor about this, but it’s something you may have noticed and wondered about. And it’s always better to have an understanding of these things, I think. I hope you agree.

Fiona MacLeod (C)