Ive seen yhe same behavior in mimosas i have growing inside under a light. without faik they close up about an hour before i turn off the light.
There's no question in my mind that plants are concious and have memories. Jeremy Narby's book "Intellegence in Nature" has a chapter called Plants as Brains that has a lot of interesting information about intellegence in plants. I'd recommend reading the book if you haven't already its not too long and its very fascinating.
Here are some interesting quotes that seem relevant from that book with Narby interviewing Anthony Trewavas.
"Trewava's intuition about calcium's role in learning in both animals and plants was confirmed by subsequent research. Scientists recently discovered that when an animal learns to avoid a threat, charged atoms of calcium and specific molecules including enzymes are unleashed inside its neurons. They set about modifying the molecular structure of the channels that span the neurons' outer membranes and control the import and export of charged atoms and molecules. If the threat to the animal persists, its neurons go on to produce proteins that build new connections, or synapses, between neurons. Along with changes in the strength of existing connections, these synapses give rise to memory, and allow the animal to remember the threat and avoid it.
An analogous process occurs in plants. When a plant is threatened, by lack of water, for example, exactly the same atoms and molecules are unleashed inside its cells. And they set off the same reactions, first modifying the same import-export channels, then stimulating the production of proteins if the threat persists. Eventually, the plant modifies its cells and their behavior so that its leaves get smaller, it's shoots cease to grow, and its roots extend. These responses minimize further stress and injury to the plant. They also take into accoun external factors such as nutrients and temperature, as well as the plants age and previous history"
And
"Brain signals tend to be small molecules, whereas plant signals tend to be large and complicated, such as proteins and RNA transcripts. This had only become clear in the last five years, he said. Prior to then "no one would really believe that proteins would be swimming around a plant providing information." And large molecules can handle large amounts of information, which means there is room for enormous complexity in plant communication. "But you are quite right when you ask about computation: Where does it actually exist? I don't know. And the answer is almost certainly: It's in the whole organism."
Plants do not have brains, so much as act like them."
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Topic: Plant Sentience (Read 10915 times)
