A new study reveals that fungi have amazing intelligence and can even make decisions like humans. Scientists' research shows that the growth pattern of fungi is not just a simple response to the environment, but also shows complex strategic and resource management capabilities.

The research team observed the growth of fungi in different arrangements, paying special attention to how they are distributed in a square pattern. The results showed that fungi can communicate and coordinate effectively in the hyphae network, showing their high intelligence. This discovery not only broadens our understanding of fungi, but also provides a new perspective for us to understand the diversity of intelligence.

In-depth exploration of the nature of intelligence

Humans have been thinking about "Who are we?" "What are we doing?" and "What is our thinking process?" These questions are closely related to the complex functions of the brain. The human brain is a fascinating organ, and although scientists have made some progress, there are still many unsolved mysteries waiting for us to explore.

With the in-depth study of animal intelligence, scientists have gradually realized that intelligence is not a single existence. For example, octopuses are considered to be very smart creatures, but their brain structure is very different from that of humans, showing a feature called "distributed intelligence", which allows each tentacle to think and judge independently.

In the fungal world, things are just as surprising. According to research to be published in the journal Fungal Ecology in December 2024, fungi may have a unique standard of intelligence that allows them to perform shape recognition and decision-making in the networks they build.

Research Methods and Findings

"Fungi are capable of much more than we thought. They have the ability to remember and learn, and they can make decisions. Frankly, the difference between how they solve problems and how we do is astounding," said Yu Fukasawa, the study's lead author, in a press release.

In this study, the scientists focused on a wood-eating fungus called Phanerochaete velutina. They experimented with two different arrangements of wood blocks, one in a ring and the other in a cross, to see how the fungi grew in these arrangements.

In theory, if fungi grew like plants, they would expand outward around each block, regardless of the position of the other blocks. However, the study found that fungi chose a more efficient growth strategy.

In the cross arrangement, the degree of connectivity between the outer blocks was significantly increased, showing that the fungi made effective network connections in their pursuit of resources. In the circular arrangement, all the blocks were connected at the same level, and there was almost no connection in the center. This suggests that the fungi did not see the benefit of continuing to expand in an already dense area, but instead allocated resources in a more intelligent way.

Research significance and future prospects

Through these findings, the research team concluded that the fungal hyphae network can communicate with itself like the neural network in the human brain, passing information about the environment it experiences to other parts and making decisions accordingly. Their growth strategy reflects the wisdom of avoiding waste of resources and demonstrates their unique intelligence.

The authors of this study hope that their findings can provide a new starting point for human understanding of these mysterious creatures, especially in today's era of rapid development of artificial intelligence, it is particularly important to explore in depth how real intelligence works. With further research on fungal intelligence, perhaps we will uncover more mysteries about the nature of life and intelligence.