PLANT SENSORY SYSTEMS AND ADAPTIVE GROWTH: A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR DECISION-MAKING IN PLANTS
Abstract
Plants have traditionally been considered passive organisms, responding to environmental stimuli through simple reflexes. However, recent discoveries in plant neurobiology suggest the existence of more complex, information-processing capabilities. This study presents a novel theoretical and experimental framework proposing that plants possess decentralized sensory networks enabling environmental perception and decision-based adaptive growth. Experimental evidence from broomgrass plants demonstrates anticipatory growth adjustments in response to obstacles, implying a level of spatial awareness. These findings support the presence of signal integration and internal information processing in plants, akin to primitive neural systems. This new framework opens possibilities for understanding plant intelligence, inter-plant communication, and the design of bioinspired systems.
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