PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Sensing, communication, navigation, decision-making, memory and learning are key components in a standard cognitive tool-kit that enhance an animal\'s ability to successfully survive and reproduce. However, these tools are not only useful for, or accessible to, animals-they evolved long ago in simpler organisms using mechanisms which may be either unique or widely conserved across diverse taxa. In this article, I review the recent research that demonstrates these key cognitive abilities in the plasmodial slime mould Physarum polycephalum, which has emerged as a model for non-animal cognition. I discuss the benefits and limitations of comparisons drawn between neural and non-neural systems, and the implications of common mechanisms across wide taxonomic divisions. I conclude by discussing future avenues of research that will draw the most benefit from a closer integration of Physarum and animal cognition research.
摘要：
Sensing,通信,导航,决策,记忆和学习是标准认知工具包中的关键组成部分，可以增强动物成功生存和繁殖的能力。然而,这些工具不仅对，或者可以访问，动物-它们很久以前就在更简单的生物体中进化，这些机制可能是独特的或在不同分类单元中广泛保守的。在这篇文章中,我回顾了最近的研究，这些研究证明了疟原虫粘液霉菌中的这些关键认知能力，它已经成为非动物认知的模型。我讨论了在神经系统和非神经系统之间进行比较的好处和局限性，以及跨广泛分类部门的共同机制的含义。最后，我讨论了未来的研究途径，这些途径将从Physarum和动物认知研究的更紧密整合中获得最大的好处。
