Today, French scientists took a poke at humans’ intellectual hegemony by demonstrating, for the first time ever, that a single-celled organism without a brain or nervous system is capable of learning. The study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, could force us to reconsider the primordial origins of learning that occurred long before the evolution of lifeforms with brains.
A team of biologists from the Centre de Recherchessur la Cognition Animale observed a type of slime mold (Physarumpolycephalum) adapting and changing to a series of repetitive challenges—exhibiting a form of learning called “habituation.”

Read More at www.motherboard.vice.com