116 research outputs found
Motor Intentions in Plants: A Kinematic Perspective with a Touch on Chemistry
No full textIn order to survive, all biological systems continuously retrieve information from their environment and use this information in order to effectively adapt to it (Kovac, 2007). The Darwinian wars will most likely favour those who can best mastery the environment. Nevertheless, if we are asked to name an intelligent organism, no one would mention a pea plant. Humans tend to assign intelligence to organisms that move. In fact, we are used to assigning intelligence to organisms that move about on their own (Castiello, 2023); in other words, we tend to assume that organisms that move in certain spatio-temporal conditions have intentions and thus possess some form of intelligence (Llinas, 2002).
Advances in empirical research, have finally demonstrated not only how plants continuously monitor numerous parameters from the environment, but also how the sensory information obtained is integrated into adaptive responses and complex plant behaviour (Trewavas, 2003; Dicke et al., 2003; Bais et al., 2004; Braam, 2005; Baldwin et al., 2006; Brenner et al., 2006; Barlow, 2008; Baluška & Mancuso, 2009) and how these complex behaviours imply adaptive, flexible and goal-directed movements (Guerra et al., 2019, 2021, 2022; Ceccarini et al., 2020a,b). These considerations are at the core of the present thesis, which aims to systematize the intentionality underlying the motor processes observed. In particular, the focus of the present thesis is re-locating the cognitive characteristics and intentional actions of plants in their social framework, to claim that also plants are eusocial organisms
Dagli Abeti ai Piselli: Storie di Ordinaria Resilienza
No full textPlants are sessile, fragile organisms anchored to the ground. At first sight they appear the most vulnerable beings in nature, but, as witnessed by numerous examples, they are extremely resilient. Indeed, evolution has endowed plants with an extraordinary ability of adaptation to the environment despite their seeming fragility. Aside from their structural strengths, which have been taken as a specimen by humans to implement robots and mechanical devices, they provide striking examples of social cognition such as intraspecific and interspecific cooperative behaviours. They take care of their little ones and keep alive tree remnants. Further, they establish mutualistic relations with fungine networks through the wood-wide-web. Over hundreds of thousands of years plants have been able to transform their vulnerability into an extraordinary strength and adaptability. From Douglas firs in North America to pea plants (pisum sativum L.) in the Mediterranean areas they offer us stories of ordinary resilience
"United we stand, divided we fall": intertwining as evidence of joint actions in pea plants
No full text
Handedness in Animals and Plants
No full textStructural and functional asymmetries are traceable in every form of life, and some lateralities are homologous. Functionally speaking, the division of labour between the two halves of the brain is a basic characteristic of the nervous system that arose even before the appearance of vertebrates. The most well-known expression of this specialisation in humans is hand dominance, also known as handedness. Even if hand/limb/paw dominance is far more commonly associated with the presence of a nervous system, it is also observed in its own form in aneural organisms, such as plants. To date, little is known regarding the possible functional significance of this dominance in plants, and many questions remain open (among them, whether it reflects a generalised behavioural asymmetry). Here, we propose a comparative approach to the study of handedness, including plants, by taking advantage of the experimental models and paradigms already used to study laterality in humans and various animal species. By taking this approach, we aim to enrich our knowledge of the concept of handedness across natural kingdoms
When two become one: perceptual completion in pea plants
No full textPea plants depend on external structures to reach the strongest light source. To do this, they need to perceive a potential support and to flexibly adapt the movement of their motile organs (e.g. tendrils). In natural environments, there are several above- and belowground elements that could impede the complete perception of potential supports. In such instances, plants may be required to perform a sort of perceptual “completion” to establish a unified percept. We tested whether pea plants are capable of performing perceptual completion by investigating their ascent and attachment behavior using three-dimensional (3D) kinematic analysis. Pea plants were tested in the presence of a support divided into two parts positioned at opposite locations. One part was grounded and perceived only by the root system. The remaining portion was elevated from the ground so that it was only accessible by the aerial part. Control conditions were also included. We hypothesized that if pea plants are able..
Motor cognition in plants: from thought to real experiments
No full textMotor cognition involves the process of planning and executing goal–directed movements and recognizing, anticipating, and interpreting others’ actions. Motor cognitive functions are generally associated with the presence of a brain and are ascribed only to humans and other animal species. A growing body of evidence suggests that aneural organisms, like climbing plants, exhibit behaviors driven by the intention to achieve goals, challenging our understanding of cognition. Here, we propose an inclusive perspective under motor cognition to explain climbing plants’ behavior. We will first review our empirical research based on kinematical analysis to understand movement in pea plants. Then, we situate this empirical research within the current theoretical debate aimed at extending the principles of cognition to aneural organisms. A novel comparative perspective that considers the perception–action cycle, involving transforming perceived environmental elements into intended movement patterns, is provided
Asymmetrical distribution of supports affect pea plants movement and shape: Evidence of quantity discrimination?
No full textThe ability to discriminate more items from fewer items is an adaptive and innate cognitive feature of animals. Here, we found that this same capability is present in the plant kingdom. Pisum Sativum L. plants grew in the presence of supports that were distributed either equally (2 vs. 2; i.e., ED) or unequally (1 vs. 3; i.e., UD) on each side of a pot. Results showed that pea plants were able to sense the distribution of items in the environment, and to modulate the morphology and the kinematics of their tendrils on the basis of the support distribution. These findings indicate that processes such as quantity discrimination are present in plants, and are not restricted to the animal kingdom
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