![\"Scientists](\"https:\/\/wp-assets.futurism.com\/2019\/12\/single-celled-creature-weirdly-smart-300x158.jpg\")
<\/div>They’re Learning<\/h2>
Scientists say they’ve observed what they’re calling signs of complex decisionmaking in a single-celled organism, breathing new life into a theory that was laughed off over a century ago.<\/p>
The aquatic creature, Stentor roeseli<\/em>, responds differently over time to the same stimulus, which ScienceAlert<\/em> reports<\/a> is evidence that the critter can make decisions — or at least do whatever the single-celled equivalent of changing one’s mind might be. It’s not quite accurate to say a creature without any sort of nervous system is actively thinking, but the discovery challenges many of scientists’ assumptions about animal intelligence<\/a>.<\/p> Similar single-celled organisms will gradually respond less and less to repeated stimuli. Stentor roeseli,<\/em> however, will first bend away from the source of the stimulus — but later change tactics and flap its cilia in defense, contract, or float away, according to research<\/a> published Thursday in Current Biology<\/em>.<\/p> A zoologist named Herbert Spencer Jennings first made the same discovery in 1906, ScienceAlert<\/em> reports, but no one has been able to recreate it since.<\/p> The likelihood that the organism would select one strategy over another was nearly a 50-50 split, suggesting that some biological mechanism is choosing one over the other almost as though it were flipping a coin.<\/p> Saying that Stentor roeseli<\/em> can make decisions is more of an illustration than a precise explanation, but until scientists continue to probe the complex behavior, it may be the best way to describe what’s going on in the little critter.<\/p> READ MORE: <\/strong>This Single-Celled Animal Makes Complex ‘Decisions’ Even Without a Nervous System<\/a> [ScienceAlert<\/em>]<\/p> More on intelligence:<\/strong> Fringe Idea: Should we Gene-Hack Animals to Make Them Smarter?<\/a><\/em><\/p> The post This Single-Celled Creature Is Weirdly Smart<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p> Read the original here: They\u2019re Learning Scientists say they\u2019ve observed what they\u2019re calling signs of complex decisionmaking in a single-celled organism, breathing new life into a theory that was laughed off over a century ago. The aquatic creature, Stentor roeseli , responds differently over time to the same stimulus, which ScienceAlert reports is evidence that the critter can make decisions \u2014 or at least do whatever the single-celled equivalent of changing one\u2019s mind might be Continue reading Poke Test<\/h2>
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This Single-Celled Creature Is Weirdly Smart<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"