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There are some studies that show that Bacteria also have memories. This shows that the memory can also be stored in other places than neurons. Some examples:

There are some studies that show that Bacteria also have memories. This shows that the memory can also be stored in other places than neurons. Some examples: Bacteria can pass on memory to descendants, researchers discover https://phys.org/news/2018-04-bacteria-memory-descendants.html https://phys.org/news/2018-04-bacteria-memory-descendants.ht... Collective memory discovered in bacteria https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160307153047.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160307153047.h... Bacteria become “genomic tape recorders” https://news.mit.edu/2014/bacteria-storage-device-memory-1113 https://news.mit.edu/2014/bacteria-storage-device-memory-111... And slime mold (TED talk) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UxGrde1NDA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UxGrde1NDA

Enginerrrd 7y ago
Two things are interesting about this to me: First, the fact that bacteria can have memory!! Second, the fact that this surprises me. Trivially, even for a single cell animal, it is not shocking that it might gain some survival advantage from having a memory of sorts, and that is really not a high bar to jump over in terms of required infrastructure. Almost any sort of very simple memory could be used advantageously.