At the Roots of Plant Neurobiology

Shepherd, Virginia A.

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-29119-7_1

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 116 publications

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“…But Bose contributed very much more to plant electrophysiology. He did experience extensive criticism from Burdon‐Sanderson, among others (Shepherd, ), who claimed, wrongly, that only plants with visible movements used electrical signals. Bose demonstrated that many species did likewise and furthermore provided a wealth of information on the nature of the electrical signal.…”

Section: Introductory Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are plants sentient?

Calvo

Sahi

Trewavas

2017

Plant Cell & Environment

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Feelings in humans are mental states representing groups of physiological functions that usually have defined behavioural purposes. Feelings, being evolutionarily ancient, are thought to be coordinated in the brain stem of animals. One function of the brain is to prioritise between competing mental states and, thus, groups of physiological functions and in turn behaviour. Plants use groups of coordinated physiological activities to deal with defined environmental situations but currently have no known mental state to prioritise any order of response. Plants do have a nervous system based on action potentials transmitted along phloem conduits but which in addition, through anastomoses and other cross-links, forms a complex network. The emergent potential for this excitable network to form a mental state is unknown, but it might be used to distinguish between different and even contradictory signals to the individual plant and thus determine a priority of response. This plant nervous system stretches throughout the whole plant providing the potential for assessment in all parts and commensurate with its self-organising, phenotypically plastic behaviour. Plasticity may, in turn, depend heavily on the instructive capabilities of local bioelectric fields enabling both a degree of behavioural independence but influenced by the condition of the whole plant.

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Section: Introductory Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although we do not like the terminology, Bose was the Father of plant electrophysiology, and he is considered one of the Fathers of radio science too. His contribution needs better recognition, and we attempt to repair this situation here (see also Shepherd, ).…”

Section: Introductory Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are plants sentient?

Calvo

Sahi

Trewavas

2017

Plant Cell & Environment

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“…1 In the usual media history, Bose's work is often referenced in a footnote stating that he, not Guglielmo Marconi, was the first inventor of the radio wave receiver/detector. Bose never patented his radio-wave-emitting instruments and, unlike Marconi, never pursued ways of promoting radio as commercial broadcasting equipment (Shepherd 2012;Roy 2018). At a Calcutta town hall in 1895, Bose used a spark-gap transmitter to send a 60 GHz signal through three walls and the body of the region's lieutenant governor to a funnel-shaped horn antenna and detector twenty-three meters away (Rappaport, Roh, and Cheun 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, while Bose did make millimeter wave apparatuses, he also worked on microwave instruments. Bose invented and used "dielectric lenses, a horn antenna ('funnel'), wave guides, and polarisers" (Shepherd 2012) to measure very small movements of plants (see figure 1ab). His work creating millimeter wave and microwave technologies from 1894 to 1899 was highly regarded by many physicists Sensitivity to Electromagnetic Stimuli: Entwined Histories of Wireless Signals and Plant Ecologies including Bose's former teacher Lord Rayleigh at Cambridge.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bose thought that wireless signals were interfering with this mahashakti. His claim that electromagnetic energy ran through both living and non-living entities and his notions of "vitalistic monism" suggest a media system, akin to organicist (process) philosophy where plants and metals become communicating entities (mediating through electromagnetic pulses) alongside humans and animals (Shepherd 2012). Discussing Bose's writings, Ashis Nandy (1972, 40) notes that Bose's characterization of mahashakti for "ultimate power" is "represented by the dominant mother-deities of Bengal.…”

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Sensitivity to Electromagnetic Stimuli: Entwined Histories of Wireless Signals and Plant Ecologies

Mukherjee¹

2020

Media+Environment

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Experience teaches plants to learn faster and forget slower in environments where it matters

et al. 2014

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The nervous system of animals serves the acquisition, memorization and recollection of information. Like animals, plants also acquire a huge amount of information from their environment, yet their capacity to memorize and organize learned behavioral responses has not been demonstrated. In Mimosa pudica-the sensitive plant-the defensive leaf-folding behaviour in response to repeated physical disturbance exhibits clear habituation, suggesting some elementary form of learning. Applying the theory and the analytical methods usually employed in animal learning research, we show that leaf-folding habituation is more pronounced and persistent for plants growing in energetically costly environments. Astonishingly, Mimosa can display the learned response even when left undisturbed in a more favourable environment for a month. This relatively long-lasting learned behavioural change as a result of previous experience matches the persistence of habituation effects observed in many animals.

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At the Roots of Plant Neurobiology

Cited by 11 publications

References 116 publications

Are plants sentient?

Are plants sentient?

Sensitivity to Electromagnetic Stimuli: Entwined Histories of Wireless Signals and Plant Ecologies

Experience teaches plants to learn faster and forget slower in environments where it matters

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