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Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli

A single cell with no neurons. It steers toward food and has a chemical memory that lasts a few seconds.

Neurons

0 measured · no neurons (single-celled bacterium)

Evidence

• Chemotaxis uses a short-term molecular memory. The cell compares current attractant concentration with the level a few seconds earlier, through methylation of its receptors. That's a temporal comparison, not a nervous system.
  Segall JE, Block SM, Berg HC (1986) Temporal comparisons in bacterial chemotaxis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 83(23):8987-8991. doi:10.1073/pnas.83.23.8987.

Assess it against the published criteria