The University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia
News
  • The Campaign for UWA
  • Quick Links
  • News Home
  1. UWA Home
  2. News
  3. Groups
  4. UWA Forward
  5. Clever plants learn behaviour
  • News channels
    • Alumni
    • Appointments
    • Arts and Culture
    • Awards and Prizes
    • Business and Industry
    • Events
    • International
    • Regional
    • Research
    • Science
    • Sport
    • Teaching and Learning
  • Media statements
  • Find an expert
  • Contact us
 
 
 

University News

Clever plants learn behaviour

Related areas

Issues

  • December 2018 (3)
  • October 2018 (18)
  • September 2018 (23)
  • August 2018 (23)
  • July 2018 (18)
  • June 2018 (25)
  • May 2018 (26)
  • April 2018 (20)
  • March 2018 (21)
  • February 2018 (19)
  • January 2018 (17)
  • December 2017 (28)
  • November 2017 (24)
  • October 2017 (30)
  • September 2017 (21)
  • August 2017 (23)
  • July 2017 (24)
  • June 2017 (33)
  • May 2017 (33)
  • April 2017 (19)
  • March 2017 (32)
  • February 2017 (20)
  • January 2017 (10)
  • December 2016 (12)
  • November 2016 (43)
  • October 2016 (26)
  • September 2016 (34)
  • August 2016 (34)
  • July 2016 (32)
  • June 2016 (35)
  • May 2016 (17)
  • April 2016 (53)
  • March 2016 (17)
  • February 2016 (25)
  • January 2016 (6)
  • December 2015 (33)
  • November 2015 (29)
  • October 2015 (26)
  • September 2015 (36)
Digg Facebook Google Bookmarks LinkedIn Tumblr Twitter

Follow @uwanews

Stories

Smart plants learn new habits
Study reveals plants 'listen' to find sources of water
Tiny mutation makes plants less resistant to stressful conditions
Teaching plants to be better spenders
Pathogen uses light to facilitate invasion of wheat plant
Mimosa pudica
Monday, 28 April 2014

Scientists have demonstrated that some plants actually learn from experience - and remember what they have learnt over extended periods of time.

Mimosa pudica, native to South and Central America, is known as the ‘sensitive plant' due to its defensive leaf-folding reflex in response to physical stimuli.

 Lead researcher Dr Monica Gagliano from UWA's Centre for Evolutionary Biology was curious to explore Mimosa's capacity to develop learned behavioural responses through habituation.

"Habituation is where you actively learn to adapt to and filter out stimuli which have proven over time to be harmless, enabling you to remain responsive to your surrounding environment," she said.

The ground-breaking study used the same experimental methods usually reserved for testing learned behavioural responses in animals.

The researchers devised an apparatus which dropped each potted Mimosa 15cm down a vertical rail onto a foam base, generating a physical shock that elicited the leaf-folding behaviour.

The plants were divided into a low-light (LL) and high-light (HL) environment, hypothesising the LL plants would be faster learners and retain their memory longer given their greater need for open leaves (for photosynthesis).

A single drop was administered to 16 control plants (eight per light condition) and again eight hours later They swiftly closed their leaves both times.

The researchers then ‘trained' 56 plants (28 per light condition) by administering 60 consecutive drops, five to 10 seconds apart, seven times within a day.

After the first four to six drops the plants habituated swiftly, keeping their leaves open after learning the drops presented no real threat.

As predicted, plants in LL re-opened their leaves more widely.

"They learn the same way we do ... they acquire a new understanding of their environment and change their behaviour accordingly," Dr Gagliano said.

"They also change their behaviour depending on what the environment is demanding, so when the light was not at an optimum level, it became very important to work this out and adapt quickly."

The plants also displayed long-term behaviour changes.

Mimosa's long-term memory when exposed to new environments was tested, where plants from LL were switched to HL and vice versa, and re-tested 28 days later using the full-day training regime.

They continued to exhibit the learned behaviour in the new light condition, indicating long-term habituation in the face of changed environments.

"The plants' learnt behaviour is important in the present but also important in the future, so they don't waste energy repeating the same process of acquiring knowledge," Dr Gagliano said.

"The little plants remembered one event of one day, one month later which was just amazing!"

She is interested in seeing what happens when more complex conditions and scenarios of learning are introduced to the plants.

 This article, written by Rebecca Graham, was first published by Science Network WA.

The University of Western Australia

  • University Homepage
  • Future Students
  • Current Students
  • Staff
  • Business and Industry
  • Alumni and Friends
  • Media

University News

    • Staff login

University information

CRICOS Code: 00126G

  • Accessibility
  • Campus map
  • Contact the University
  • Indigenous Commitment
  • Terms of use

This Page

http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201404286629/april-2014/clever-plants-learn-behaviour