Uncovering cognitive similarities and differences, conservation and innovation

Levin, Michael; Keijzer, Fred; Lyon, Pamela; Arendt, Detlev

doi:10.1098/rstb.2020.0458

Cited by 39 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…It is notable that the outlines of the physiological processes involved in cell adhesion, cell-cell signaling, and cellular differentiation can be seen in the physiology of unicellular organisms, suggesting that the evolution of development did not involve the wholesale generation of new mechanisms (Grosberg and Strathmann, 2007;Sebé-Pedrós et al, 2017). Recent lines of research have extended this line of thinking to consider how the capacities of single cells can shed light on the building blocks of cognition (Levin et al, 2021;Lyon et al, 2021). We raise these points to emphasize that reaching a deeper understanding of embodiment and development involves a wide-angle outlook that extends across the breadth of living systems, even down to the level of single-celled organisms.…”

Section: The How and Why Of Bodiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Shared Origins of Embodiment and Development

Marshall

Houser

Weiss

2021

Front. Syst. Neurosci.

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As a domain of study centering on the nature of the body in the functioning of the individual organism, embodiment encompasses a diverse array of topics and questions. One useful organizing framework places embodiment as a bridge construct connecting three standpoints on the body: the form of the body, the body as actively engaged in and with the world, and the body as lived experience. Through connecting these standpoints, the construct of embodiment shows that they are not mutually exclusive: inherent in form is the capacity for engagement, and inherent in engagement is a lived perspective that confers agency and meaning. Here, we employ this framework to underscore the deep connections between embodiment and development. We begin with a discussion of the origins of multicellularity, highlighting how the evolution of bodies was the evolution of development itself. The evolution of the metazoan (animal) body is of particular interest, because most animals possess complex bodies with sensorimotor capacities for perceiving and acting that bring forth a particular sort of embodiment. However, we also emphasize that the thread of embodiment runs through all living things, which share an organizational property of self-determination that endows them with a specific kind of autonomy. This realization moves us away from a Cartesian machine metaphor and instead puts an emphasis on the lived perspective that arises from being embodied. This broad view of embodiment presents opportunities to transcend the boundaries of individual disciplines to create a novel integrative vision for the scientific study of development.

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Section: The How and Why Of Bodiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Shared Origins of Embodiment and Development

Marshall

Houser

Weiss

2021

Front. Syst. Neurosci.

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“…(3) Prospectives of multi-transmitter brain organization and transmitter-dependent behaviors essential to understanding the grammar of neural systems. The elusive chemical syntax of neural ensembles can explain brain operations' emerging properties, eventually leading to basal cognition (Levin et al, 2021 ; Lyon et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Why Are Neurons Different? Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple Origins of Neurons From Secretory Cells

Moroz

2021

Front. Cell Dev. Biol.

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“…Solé et al [14] proposed that brains/ cognitive networks need not just be static sets of linked neurons with a well-defined, physically persistent architecture (termed a 'solid brain'), but can include networks that exchange, process, and store information but do not have persistent, stable connections or static elements (termed 'liquid brains'). Moreover, cognitive processes (including memory, information processing, decision making, learning, and anticipation) occur in aneural organisms and even unicellular organisms have much of the molecular machinery associated with traditional brain-based cognition [15,16].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Cognition in organisms with 'non-traditional brains' was considered in a recent journal special issue, arguing the need to start by understanding cognition in the smallest and simplest organisms before scaling up to examining and trying to understand cognition in more complex organisms [16]. While prokaryotes, single-celled eukaryotes, plants, and slime moulds were considered in detail, fungi were only briefly mentioned [15], highlighting the need for more fungal ecologists to engage with the discussion around how fungi fit into the fields of cognitive science and behavioural ecology.…”

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confidence: 99%

Fungal behaviour: a new frontier in behavioural ecology

Aleklett

Boddy

2021

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

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As human beings, behaviours make up our everyday lives. What we do from the moment we wake up to the moment we go back to sleep at night can all be classified and studied through the concepts of behavioural ecology. The same applies to all vertebrates and, to some extent, invertebrates. Fungi are, in most people's eyes perhaps, the eukaryotic multicellular organisms with which we humans share the least commonalities. However, they still express behaviours, and we argue that we could obtain a better understanding of their livesalthough they are very different from oursthrough the lens of behavioural ecology. Moreover, insights from fungal behaviour may drive a better understanding of behavioural ecology in general. Can fungi be studied through the lens of behavioural ecology?All organisms, be they prokaryotic or eukaryotic, macroorganisms or microorganisms, have to solve a similar set of basic problems to survive: how to obtain energy and nutrients, avoid being eaten or killed, and spread their offspring and how to partition resources between these activities [1]. To address these problems, they have all evolved different sets of solutions and behaviours (Figure 1 and Table 1).Fungi constitute a vast kingdom of 2-6 million or more species [2,3] (Box 1 and Table 1), but despite our rapidly increasing understanding of fungal genetics, biochemistry, cell biology and physiology, there are a surprisingly large number of gaps in our basic understanding of their lives and behaviours. We believe that fungal ecology would greatly benefit from being studied under the framework of behavioural ecology and that behavioural ecology, in turn, will benefit from the challenges of including fungi.Behaviour is not well defined in the literature, but broadly covers an organism's movements, interactions, cognition (see Glossary), and learning. Tinbergen introduced four classic ways of asking why an animal performs a certain behavioural act. How does the behaviour improve survival or reproduction? How has the behaviour changed over time? What factors lead to the behaviour seen in a specific instance? How does the behaviour in an individual change as it matures and which internal and external factors affect this? [4]. These questions are equally appropriate for fungi and through them we could gain a better understanding of the context in which fungi explore and forage for nutrients, interact with other organisms, and respond to their abiotic environment.

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Uncovering cognitive similarities and differences, conservation and innovation

Abstract: This article is part of the theme issue ‘Basal cognition: multicellularity, neurons and the cognitive lens'.

Cited by 39 publications

References 49 publications

The Shared Origins of Embodiment and Development

The Shared Origins of Embodiment and Development

Multiple Origins of Neurons From Secretory Cells

Fungal behaviour: a new frontier in behavioural ecology

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