For the better part of a century, we’ve assumed that memory is an intercellular phenomenon: that it’s the consequence of collections of neurons in our brains wiring together. But new research on individual human cells and tiny unicellular creatures is revealing that memory transcends these connections — and that even the smallest solitary cell remembers its past experiences.
Claire L. Evans →
Claire writes about a small but group of neuroscientists exploring whether cells record past experiences — fundamentally challenging what memory is.
Cover image source Quanta Magazine: Stentor roeselii has traits “remarkably like” those of a neuron, the neuroscientist Sam Gershman said. “Ciliates have excitable membranes like neurons, and even more similar to neurons, they have action potentials.”
