The question of how intelligent plants and fungi are has been increasingly explored by scientists, as they have delved into the capability of these lifeforms to perceive and communicate with each other and the outside world.

A new study has found that fungi can not only perceive, but learn, have memories, solve problems and make decisions.

“You’d be surprised at just how much fungi are capable of,” said Yu Fukasawa, as assistant professor in the graduate school of agricultural science at Tohoku University, in a press release from Tohoku University. “They have memories, they learn, and they can make decisions. Quite frankly, the differences in how they solve problems compared to humans is mind-blowing.”

When you see mushrooms growing on the surface of soil, the small umbrella-like caps are really the fruiting bodies of an expansive underground mycelium below. The mycelium is an intricate and complex fungal network germinated and formed by spores. This subterranean web of long, spidery threads spreads underground like roots and is similar to the brain’s neural connections.

In the study, the researchers looked at how a mycelial network growing on decaying wood responded to […]