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Brief Communications
Nature 407, 470 (28 September 2000) | doi:10.1038/35035159
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Intelligence: Maze-solving by an amoeboid organism
Toshiyuki Nakagaki1,2, Hiroyasu Yamada1,2,3 & Ágota Tóth4
Abstract
The plasmodium of the slime mould Physarum polycephalum is a large amoeba-like cell consisting of a dendritic network of tube-like structures (pseudopodia). It changes its shape as it crawls over a plain agar gel and, if food is placed at two different points, it will put out pseudopodia that connect the two food sources. Here we show that this simple organism has the ability to find the minimum-length solution between two points in a labyrinth.
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