This Slime Mold Can Store Memory Without a Brain. So How Does it Make Decisions?

Memories are what make us humans. Mostly, the function of memory is recognised as an attribute of organisms with a functional nervous system, but the latest research shows it can be found in a single-celled organism as well. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this single-celled animal is the “largest cell on earth.” Its whole body, including the intricate networks formed with tubes and such, is basically one large cell. They dubbed the decision-making process of Physarum as ‘intelligent'.It can evidently restructure its tubes to form new networks based on every encounter with food. “Given P. polycephalum's highly dynamic network reorganization, the persistence of this imprint sparked the idea that the network architecture itself could serve as memory of the past,” says Karen Alim.