Even a worm can make decisions, study says, Science News

The decision is difficult. (Remember, Hamlet?). From what you’re going to eat for dinner to what you’re going to wear, there are plenty of options. And all this can often lead to unnecessary headaches. But it turns out that making a decision is not as difficult as it seems. Worms with only 302 neurons can do this successfully. In comparison, humans have billions of neurons.

The study was conducted in this regard by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California. They studied a predatory worm called Pacificus. Changes in the behavior of worms were studied. This is seen when a worm bites to preserve its food or when it kills a competitor.

To verify the worm’s ability to make decisions, scientists rely more on its behavior than on very detailed studies of how pulses travel through neutrons.

The behavior of Pacificus in relation to C elegans was studied. C elegans is a competitor of Pacificus as well as its prey.

It has been observed that when confronted with easily infested C larvae, Pacificus bites. But when a full class C class tries to steal his food, Pacificus does little to stop him.

“Our study shows that you can use a simple system like a worm to study something complex, such as goal-directed decision making,” neurobiologist Srikanth Chalasani was quoted as saying on the Salk Institute website.

“We’ve also shown that behavior can tell us a lot about how the brain works.”

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