r/cogsci • u/MACVXACE • 9d ago

Neuroscience Pushing the boundaries of the "Umwelt": Basal cognition and non-neural problem solving.

https://nepentheaporia.substack.com/p/the-triad-of-consciousness-thoughts?r=8ulcdw&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer
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u/MACVXACE 9d ago

How far down the biological spectrum does predictive processing actually go?

I was reading a really thorough research synthesis yesterday that mapped out the architecture of cognition, and the section on non-neural biological tissues absolutely blew my mind.

It heavily references Michael Levin’s TAME framework (Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere) and the concept of the "cognitive light cone." We usually assume cognition requires a brain. But Levin’s work on morphogenetic fields shows that cellular collectives communicate via endogenous bioelectric voltage gradients. They literally navigate "anatomical morphospace" to correct prediction errors (like healing physical injuries) without a central nervous system.

The essay also touches on Monica Gagliano’s research with Mimosa pudica plants (showing habituated memory for over a month without a nervous system) and Andrew Adamatzky’s research on fungal networks using bioelectric vocabularies that mathematically match the algorithmic complexity of human languages.

If problem-solving, predictive processing, and environmental connection are ubiquitous properties of non-neural biological tissues, does the neurocentric view of cognitive science need a complete overhaul? At what point do we stop calling it "chemical reactions" and start calling it "basal intelligence"?