Acting without Central Agent—Considerations for a Self-Model at the Cellular Level

Kippenberger, Stefan; Kleemann, Johannes; Kaufmann, Roland; Meißner, Markus

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00191

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Recent studies on Physarum show that environmental stimuli leave an imprint on the morphology of the network by modulating the hierarchy of tube diameters, which may serve as memory [ 30 , 31 ]. This supports the theoretical assumption of a self-model at the cellular level [ 32 ]. However, there are also indications of other mechanisms.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Learning in the Single-Cell Organism Physarum polycephalum: Effect of Propofol

Kippenberger

Pipa

Steinhorst

et al. 2023

IJMS

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Propofol belongs to a class of molecules that are known to block learning and memory in mammals, including rodents and humans. Interestingly, learning and memory are not tied to the presence of a nervous system. There are several lines of evidence indicating that single-celled organisms also have the capacity for learning and memory which may be considered as basal intelligence. Here, we introduce a new experimental model for testing the learning ability of Physarum polycephalum, a model organism frequently used to study single-celled “intelligence”. In this study, the impact of propofol on Physarum’s “intelligence” was tested. The model consists of a labyrinth of subsequent bifurcations in which food (oat flakes soaked with coconut oil-derived medium chain triglycerides [MCT] and soybean oil-derived long chain triglycerides [LCT]) or propofol in MCT/LCT) is placed in one of each Y-branch. In this setting, it was tested whether Physarum memorized the rewarding branch. We saw that Physarum was a quick learner when capturing the first bifurcations of the maze; thereafter, the effect decreased, perhaps due to reaching a state of satiety. In contrast, when oat flakes were soaked with propofol, Physarum’s preference for oat flakes declined significantly. Several possible actions, including the blocking of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor signaling, are suggested to account for this behavior, many of which can be tested in our new model.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%