WILLIAMSBURG, Va., March 13 -- William and Mary issued the following news release:
It's long been assumed that for an organism to learn, remember or draw conclusions, it needs a brain. But mounting evidence, including a recentCognitive Sciencestudy, challenges that assumption, suggesting that neurons might not be necessary for complex information processing.
The new study, authored by William & Mary Professor of Psychology Peter Vishton and his former student Paige Bartosh '25, indicates that plants may be able to count. Well . not in the way that humans can. But it appears thatMimosa pudicaplants can somehow "keep track of the number of events in their environment," said Vishton.
To the researchers' knowledge, this is the first evidence...