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Updated: Nov 16, 2025

Single-cell Microfluidic Analysis of Bacillus subtilis

Single-cell Microfluidic Analysis of Bacillus subtilis

Published on: January 26, 2018

Learning in single cell organisms.

Audrey Dussutour¹

¹Research Centre on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI), Toulouse University, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, 31062, AD, France.

Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications

|February 26, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Single-cell organisms, like slime molds and ciliates, exhibit habituation, a simple form of learning. This suggests behavioral plasticity and information acquisition may extend beyond the animal kingdom.

Keywords:

Adaptive behavior Ciliate Learning Single cell organism Slime mold

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Last Updated: Nov 16, 2025

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Area of Science:

Behavioral biology
Cell biology
Evolutionary biology

Background:

Learning is crucial for species survival, enabling adaptation to environmental changes.
While learning is recognized in animals, its presence in non-animal systems like single-cell organisms is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether single-cell organisms are capable of learning.
To review evidence for learning in single-cell organisms, focusing on habituation and associative learning.

Main Methods:

Review of experimental studies on single-cell organisms (e.g., slime molds, ciliates).
Analysis of habituation in single-cell organisms against neuroscientific criteria.
Discussion of evidence for more complex learning forms.

Main Results:

Single-cell organisms demonstrate habituation, a basic form of learning.
These organisms meet several criteria used by neuroscientists to define habituation.
Disputed evidence suggests potential for more sophisticated associative learning.

Conclusions:

The capacity for learning and information acquisition may be present in single-cell organisms.
Behavioral plasticity is a broader phenomenon than previously assumed.
Future research should focus on understanding the extent of behavioral plasticity in single-cell life.