Reframing cognition: getting down to biological basics

Abstract

The premise of this two-part theme issue is simple: the cognitive sciences should join the rest of the life sciences in how they approach the quarry within their research domain. Specifically, understanding how organisms on the lower branches of the phylogenetic tree become familiar with, value and exploit elements of an ecological niche while avoiding harm can be expected to aid understanding of how organisms that evolved later (including Homo sapiens ) do the same or similar things. We call this approach basal cognition. In this introductory essay, we explain what the approach involves. Because no definition of cognition exists that reflects its biological basis, we advance a working definition that can be operationalized; introduce a behaviour-generating toolkit of capacities that comprise the function (e.g. sensing/perception, memory, valence, learning, decision making, communication), each element of which can be studied relatively independently; and identify a (necessarily incomplete) suite of common biophysical mechanisms found throughout the domains of life involved in implementing the toolkit. The articles in this collection illuminate different aspects of basal cognition across different forms of biological organization, from prokaryotes and single-celled eukaryotes—the focus of Part 1—to plants and finally to animals, without and with nervous systems, the focus of Part 2. By showcasing work in diverse, currently disconnected fields, we hope to sketch the outline of a new multidisciplinary approach for comprehending cognition, arguably the most fascinating and hard-to-fathom evolved function on this planet. Doing so has the potential to shed light on problems in a wide variety of research domains, including microbiology, immunology, zoology, biophysics, botany, developmental biology, neurobiology/science, regenerative medicine, computational biology, artificial life and synthetic bioengineering. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Basal cognition: conceptual tools and the view from the single cell’.

Fungal behaviour: a new frontier in behavioural ecology

“…Solé et al [14] proposed that brains/ cognitive networks need not just be static sets of linked neurons with a well-defined, physically persistent architecture (termed a 'solid brain'), but can include networks that exchange, process, and store information but do not have persistent, stable connections or static elements (termed 'liquid brains'). Moreover, cognitive processes (including memory, information processing, decision making, learning, and anticipation) occur in aneural organisms and even unicellular organisms have much of the molecular machinery associated with traditional brain-based cognition [15,16].…”

“…While fungi were not considered in previous expanded concepts of brains [13,14], cognitive aspects of fungal activity have recently been raised [17,18]. Cognition in organisms with 'non-traditional brains' was considered in a recent journal special issue, arguing the need to start by understanding cognition in the smallest and simplest organisms before scaling up to examining and trying to understand cognition in more complex organisms [16]. While prokaryotes, single-celled eukaryotes, plants, and slime moulds were considered in detail, fungi were only briefly mentioned [15], highlighting the need for more fungal ecologists to engage with the discussion around how fungi fit into the fields of cognitive science and behavioural ecology.…”

Non-Random Genome Editing and Natural Cellular Engineering in Cognition-Based Evolution

“…It is this coordinating cell–cell communication that propels the linked tissue ecologies that enable living forms. Although there is no universally agreed-upon definition of basal cognition, in the introduction to their thematic issue, ‘Basal cognition: conceptual tools and the view from the single cell ‘, Lyon et al [ 24 ] quote the well-recognized definition of Shettleworth: “Cognition refers to the mechanisms by which animals acquire, process, store, and act on information from the environment. These include perception, learning, memory, and decision-making” [ 25 ] (p. 5).…”

“…These include perception, learning, memory, and decision-making” [ 25 ] (p. 5). Importantly, Lyon et al [ 24 ] categorically assert that this definition encompasses all living organisms, including microbes and further contend that the information-processing dynamics of all forms of life are part of a ‘continuum’ with human cognition. With that background, it specifically argued that basal cognition is embodied in the cellular form.…”

Cell, Time and Knowledge: Some Conjectures

“…Due to the cell cycle we can conclude that there is persistence, resilience and transformation of life [10]. The continuous cellular interaction has generated fascinating evolutionary processes that in the last two decades have been unveiled (e.g., perception, memory, learning, emotions), information that is inscribed in our genetic code [11][12][13].…”