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Fungal Minds

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Fungal Machines

Part of the book series: Emergence, Complexity and Computation ((ECC,volume 47))

Abstract

Fungal organisms can perceive the outer world in a way similar to what animals sense. Does that mean that they have full awareness of their environment and themselves? Is a fungus a conscious entity? In laboratory experiments we found that fungi produce patterns of electrical activity, similar to neurons. There are low and high frequency oscillations and convoys of spike trains. The neural-like electrical activity is yet another manifestation of the fungal intelligence. We discuss fungal cognitive capabilities and intelligence in evolutionary perspective, and question whether fungi are conscious and what does fungal consciousness mean, considering their exhibiting of complex behaviours, a wide spectrum of sensory abilities, learning, memory and decision making. We overview experimental evidences of consciousness found in fungi. Our conclusions allow us to give a positive answer to the important research questions of fungal cognition, intelligence and forms of consciousness.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unconventional Computing Lab, UWE, Bristol, UK

    Andrew Adamatzky

  2. Autonomous University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Jordi Vallverdu & Oscar Castro

  3. Institute for Plant Molecular and Cell Biology, CSIC-UPV, Valencia, Spain

    Antoni Gandia

  4. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Center for Converging Technologies, Soft Bioinspired Robotics, Via Morego 30, 16165, Genova, Italy

    Alessandro Chiolerio

  5. Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic

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  1. Andrew Adamatzky
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  2. Jordi Vallverdu
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  3. Antoni Gandia
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  4. Alessandro Chiolerio
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  5. Oscar Castro
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  6. Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic
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Correspondence to Andrew Adamatzky .

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  1. Unconventional Computing Laboratory, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

    Andrew Adamatzky

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Adamatzky, A., Vallverdu, J., Gandia, A., Chiolerio, A., Castro, O., Dodig-Crnkovic, G. (2023). Fungal Minds. In: Adamatzky, A. (eds) Fungal Machines. Emergence, Complexity and Computation, vol 47. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38336-6_26

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