Sentience in Plants

“From general electrical response of different parts of the plant, he proceeded to record responses from individual cells using microelectrode recording system devised by him. In those early years, prior to the 1920s, such microelectrode studies had not yet been initiated on single neurons in animals. On the basis of a large number of studies, Bose concluded that plants – small or big – have a nervous system akin to one in the lower animals. He reported, “Plants also have receptors for stimuli, conductors (nerves) which electrically code and propagate the stimulus and efferent or terminal motor organs””

Read more: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6702694/

“Plant cognition is a new and exciting field of research directed at experimentally testing the cognitive abilities of plants, including perception, learning processes, memory and consciousness.The emerging framework holds considerable implications for the way we perceive plants as it redefines the traditionally held boundary between animals and plants.”

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Trees secretly talk to each other underground. They’re passing information and resources to and from each other through a network of mycorrhizal fungi—mykós means fungus and riza means root in Greek—a mat of long, thin filaments that connect an estimated 90% of land plants. Scientists call the fungi the Wood Wide Web because ‘adult’ trees can share sugars to younger trees, sick trees can send their remaining resources back into the network for others, and they can communicate with each other about dangers like insect infestations.

Source:

https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/the-wood-wide-web-how-trees-secretly-talk-to-and-share-with-each-other

One of the most controversial aspects of Mancuso’s work is the idea of plant consciousness. As we learn more about animal and plant intelligence, not to mention human intelligence, the always-contentious term consciousness has become the subject of ever more heated scientific and philosophical debate. “Let’s use another term,” Mancuso suggests. “Consciousness is a little bit tricky in both our languages. Let’s talk about awareness. Plants are perfectly aware of themselves.” A simple example is when one plant overshadows another – the shaded plant will grow faster to reach the light. But when you look into the crown of a tree, all the shoots are heavily shaded. They do not grow fast because they know that they are shaded by part of themselves. “So they have a perfect image of themselves and of the outside,” says Mancuso.

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