Book Reviewed: The Revolutionary Genius of Plants: A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior, by Stefano Mancuso

Do plants have memory and consciousness?

Plants do not have a central nervous system or neurons, but they have intelligence, because they perceive their surroundings; actively compete for the limited resources in the soil and atmosphere; they perform cost-benefit analysis; and take appropriate adaptive actions in response to environmental stimuli. plants have integrated signaling and communicative systems with complex adaptive behavior. Most animals choose their environment to find food, mate, and migrate with changing seasons, but plants adapt to their environment and hence have evolved different sensory and regulatory systems.

Author Mancuso argues strenuously that plants have consciousness and memory even though these terms are traditionally linked to brain. The term plant neurobiology is an intimidating word. He could have discussed numerous experimental evidences from literature that illustrate plants and animals behave similarly under some experimental conditions. For example, plants can be rendered unconscious by the same anesthetics that put animals out: drugs can make plants unresponsive like they are in a state of sleep; methyl jasmonate can induce a plant to produce defense substances such as phytoalexins (antimicrobial), nicotine or protease inhibitors. The protease inhibitors interfere with the insect digestive process and discourage the insect from eating the plant.

Instead of taking this traditional route of discussion to support his views, the book over-emphasizes the idea that plant neurobiology is real. But this idea is not new. Plant biologist Daniel Chamovitz wrote a book entitled, “What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses” in 2012. The journal, Plant Signaling & Behavior was launched as a platform for fostering research in plant neurobiology. This is certainly an emerging field, but the author does not sound convincing in his presentation.