Nerve net

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For the album by Brian Eno, see Nerve Net (album).

A nerve net is a type of simple nervous system that is found in members of the phylum cnidaria. Nerve nets consist of interconnected neurons lacking a brain. This nervous system allows cnidaria to sense touch and pain, and to detect food and other chemicals, but in a rudimentary way. Although the nerve net keeps the animal aware of its environment, it has trouble alerting the animal from where the stimulus is coming. For this reason, simple animals with nerve nets, such as hydra, will typically respond in the same way to contact with an object, regardless of where the contact occurs.

See also: nerve chord, insect nervous system