We’re very clear by now that some of the things our species choose to eat are highly intelligent.

Pigs, for example, are as smart as your dog – and just as playful, loving, and loyal too.

Then there’s chickens, who are skilled at problem solving, and cows who have incredible emotional intelligence and mourn their calves when they are taken away from them.

But we’re safe with fruits and vegetables right? The nuts and grains we eat aren’t sentient beings?

Well, yes and no. Fruits and vegetables aren’t sentient, and the corn that forms your cornflakes never had emotional intelligence nor complex family structures.

But a recent study from Tohoku University and Nagaoka College in Japan has raised eyebrows – and even more questions – about the intelligence of fungi.

That’s because a team of researchers explored decision making processes in the mushroom-style organisms. And what they discovered was that the fungi was capable of this kind of cognition.

In their paper, which was recently published in the journal Fungal Ecology, the research team explored how fungi grew in response to the shape of wooden blocks.

As the researchers explained in a statement, fungal growth is complex, following processes that would not be out of place in our own biology:

“Fungi grow by releasing spores, which can germinate and form long, spidery threads underground (a mycelium). We typically only see the tiny mushrooms on the surface without realizing that there’s a vast network of interconnected mycelium beneath our feet. It is through this network that information can be shared, somewhat like neural connections in the brain.”

By exploring how the fungi grew in response to different objects in its environment, the researchers were able to test how the mycelium network functioned.

By placing the wooden blocks (which the fungi would decay as part of its growth processes) in different formations, the team were able to observe the fungi’s decision making processes in action.

And the results were impressive. Had the fungi not been capable of making decisions, the team explained that they would spread out from a central point regardless of where the blocks were positioned.

But instead, the fungi responded to the positioning of the blocks, as the team continued:

“For the cross arrangement, the degree of connection was greater in the outermost four blocks. It was hypothesized that this was because the outermost blocks can serve as “outposts” for the mycelial network to embark in foraging expeditions, therefore more dense connections were required.

In the circle arrangement, the degree of connection was the same at any given block. However, the dead centre of the circle remained clear. It was proposed that the mycelial network did not see a benefit in overextending itself in an already well-populated area.”

What does this tell us? Well, it gives real evidence as to the problem-solving and communication ability of the mycelial network, which allowed the fungi to grow differently depending on the location of the wooden blocks.

And though it sounds small, this is vital information about a kind of organism that we really don’t know that much about, as Tohoku University’s Yu Fukasawa explained in the statement:

“You’d be surprised at just how much fungi are capable of. They have memories, they learn, and they can make decisions. Quite frankly, the differences in how they solve problems compared to humans is mind-blowing.”

Though they might be very different to ourselves, or even the animals that we love, the abilities of fungi are unmistakable.

It just goes to show, you should never underestimate a mushroom.

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