Learning without a Brain—How Bacteria Store Memories and Remember the Past Like Artificial Neural Networks

Learning without a brain—how bacteria store memories and remember the past like artificial neural networks

Learning is often thought to require a brain. But learning is a broad concept that does not necessarily depend on neurons.

Learning without a brain – how bacteria store memories and remember the past like artificial neural networks

_E. coli_ uses memories of the past to inform its present behavior. Cavallini JamesBSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesLearning is often thought to require a brain. But learning is a broad concept that does not necessarily depend on neurons. If an organism uses information from past experiences to shape its future decisions, it is also learning. Research from my lab, published in the journal PRX Life, shows that even a single bacterium c…

Bacteria Can Remember Without Brain, New Study Finds

If you dropped the exact same pulse of food onto two identical bacteria, you'd expect the exact same response. That's not what happened. In a study published