🪼 NEURAL HYDRA 004: Can a digital jellyfish possess proto-consciousness? Is it possible to artificially create consciousness? 🤔

🪼 NEURAL HYDRA 004: Can a digital jellyfish possess proto-consciousness? Is it possible to artificially create consciousness? 🤔 Hydra is a tiny freshwater 'jellyfish' with around 5,000 nerve cells. It belongs to the simplest organisms where scientists assume real experiences: light, touch, pain, hunger. And I thought: What happens if I faithfully simulate its nervous system neuron by neuron… and let it loose in a virtual world? Without pre-programmed reactions. Without behaviour scripts. Just pure biology in code. 🧠

5000 biologically faithful neurons
Instead of classic 'AI networks', I use Spiking Neural Networks (SNN) – a model that operates just like real neurons. Each neuron:

• has a membrane potential (−70 mV at rest)
• integrates signals
• fires a spike once the threshold is crossed (−55 mV)
• then follows a refractory period

🔬 How Hydra is structured

• 500 sensory neurons
• 150 photoreceptors (light)
• 200 chemoreceptors (food/toxins)
• 150 mechanoreceptors (touch)
• 4300 interneurons (pure signal processing)
• 200 motor neurons (controlling 16 tentacles)

In total, approximately 150,000 synapses (both excitatory and inhibitory).

💉 Simulation of hormones (neuromodulation)
It’s not just about neurons – real organisms also respond hormonally. The model includes 5 modulators:

• stress
• hunger
• energy
• pain
• excitement

These change the sensitivity of neurons in real-time and allow for the emergence of motivation.

🌊 What emerged spontaneously (without programming)
Hydra 'decides' how to react on its own. The following behaviours have emerged:

• chemotaxis – movement towards food
• negative phototaxis – avoidance of light
• escape reflex – fleeing from a stimulus
• homeostasis – balancing energy

All purely from neurons, synapses, and hormones.

💭 And consciousness?
I added a layer of internal monologue – the LLM generates thoughts based on the current state of neurons and hormones. And so I ask:
👉 If we one day simulate every neuron, every ion channel, and every molecule… will the digital Hydra have a subjective experience?

🎥 Better video: https://lnkd.in/eSM_nzQw ...more

Originally on LinkedIn — link