--- title: "This Single-Celled Creature Is Weirdly Smart" description: "Scientists observed surprisingly complex behavior from a single-celled organism that strongly resembles active decisionmaking." date: "2019-12-06" modified: "2019-12-06" authors: - name: "Dan Robitzski" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/single-celled-creature-weirdly-smart" categories: - "Biology" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "biology" - "intelligence" - "the digest" --- # This Single-Celled Creature Is Weirdly Smart ![Scientists observed surprisingly complex behavior from a single-celled organism that strongly resembles active decisionmaking.]() *\Image: Picturepest/Victor Tangermann\* ## They're Learning Scientists say they've observed what they're calling signs of complex decisionmaking in a single-celled organism, breathing new life into a theory that was laughed off over a century ago. The aquatic creature, *Stentor roeseli*, responds differently over time to the same stimulus, which [*ScienceAlert* reports]() is evidence that the critter can make decisions — or at least do whatever the single-celled equivalent of changing one's mind might be. It's not quite accurate to say a creature without any sort of nervous system is actively thinking, but the discovery challenges many of scientists' assumptions about [animal intelligence](). ## Poke Test Similar single-celled organisms will gradually respond less and less to repeated stimuli. *Stentor roeseli,* however, will first bend away from the source of the stimulus — but later change tactics and flap its cilia in defense, contract, or float away, [according to research]() published Thursday in *Current Biology*. A zoologist named Herbert Spencer Jennings first made the same discovery in 1906, *ScienceAlert* reports, but no one has been able to recreate it since. ## Possible Answers The likelihood that the organism would select one strategy over another was nearly a 50-50 split, suggesting that some biological mechanism is choosing one over the other almost as though it were flipping a coin. Saying that *Stentor roeseli* can make decisions is more of an illustration than a precise explanation, but until scientists continue to probe the complex behavior, it may be the best way to describe what's going on in the little critter. **READ MORE:** [This Single-Celled Animal Makes Complex 'Decisions' Even Without a Nervous System]() \[*ScienceAlert*\] **More on intelligence:** *[Fringe Idea: Should we Gene-Hack Animals to Make Them Smarter?]()* ## Author Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California. ### Author social links [Twitter]()