Plants have memory: they learn and remember all information

    Plants have memory: they learn and remember all information

    Plants have memory. I am able to learn from different stimuli and remember. They record information, their leaves close and open according to the dynamics that revolve around them.

    He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him





    Plants have memory. I am able to learn from different stimuli and remember. They record information, their leaves close and open according to the dynamics that revolve around them.

    This is demonstrated by a research conducted at the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology - Linv of the University of Florence, in collaboration with theUniversity of Western Australia.

    The object of observation was among all the Mimosa pudica, which the experts have subjected to stimuli of various kinds. Its characteristic is formidable: the Mimosa pudica, in fact, is able to close its leaves or collapse its twigs if touched (hence the name "pudica").

    "His immediate and visible reaction has allowed us to study the responses to various types of stresses, both dangerous, such as contact with an insect, and harmless", explained Stefano Mancuso, associate of general arboriculture and tree cultivation of the Department of Sciences of agri-food production and the environment of the University of Florence.

    The experiment. “We trained the plants to ignore a non-dangerous stimulus, the fall of the pot in which they are grown from a height of 15 centimeters, repeating the experience. After a few repetitions - explained Mancuso - the mimosa plants no longer closed their leaves, saving energy among other things “.

    The plants were then raised in two separate groups, with different light availability, and the researchers found that those grown at lower light levels, and therefore with less energy, learn faster than those that have more. As if they don't want to waste resources. The surprising thing is that the plants kept the memory of the experiences for over 40 days.



    “We still have to understand how and where plants store this information and how they can retrieve it when needed. To do this we will apply to other types of plants, in particular carnivorous ones, the techniques used to study the behavior of animals “, concludes Stefano Mancuso.

    That plants possess empathy and sensitivity is now well established. They are affected by the surrounding environment and by the treatments addressed to them, they are even affected by climate change and they are particularly reactive to the touch. In short, they know how to survive, but what to draw from this further research? Such in-depth knowledge of the plant world and all its "humors", for example, could be used for improve crop yield without resorting to chemicals, “teaching” the plants themselves to recognize dangerous and friendly insects or to react on their own to the attack of fungal or viral diseases.



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