Complex Worlds from Simpler Nervous Systems

The authors of Complex Worlds from Simpler Nervous Systems explain how animals with small, often minuscule, nervous systems—jumping spiders, bees, praying mantids, toads, and others—are not the simple "reflex machines" they were once thought to be. Because these animals live in the same world as do much larger species, they must meet the same environmental challenges. They do so by constructing complex perceptual worlds within which they can weigh options, make decisions, integrate unique experiences, apply complex algorithms, and execute plans—and they must do this with thousands rather than the billions of neurons necessary for their larger counterparts.