The slime mold(officially classified as a protist and not a fungus) is an unusual organism in that it acts as one giant cell which can fuse with others to become larger cells. Slime molds can grow up to 10 m². Using molecular motion within, slime molds are able to move around. One species of slime mold physarum polycephalum is able to learn and solve mazes and use problem-solving to make informed decisions. The methods in which slime molds do this are not known as they do not have any neurons(they are a single large cell). They learned to keep track of the time between negative stimuli to predict the next negative stimuli and stop their motion to avoid being exposed to it. They also got the slime mold to ignore chemicals it had been exposed to for a long enough time showing that they could get used to chemicals and it was not fatigue that made it seem like they could learn more than they could.
Cognition is the ability to perceive, process, and use information. Usually scientists restrict this to organisms with nervous systems, however slime molds display evidence of cognition. The calcium oscillation(constant pattern of levels changing) could be an explanation for the appeared cognition, as there are clear patterns of the calcium ion oscillations changing when a stimuli is added and calcium causes the slime mold to become relaxed while the lack of calcium causes them to get tense. Other compounds such as the H⁺ ion and ATP oscillating seem to be a possible explanation for the cognition. The oscillation of chemicals within the slime molds and the electrical signals in our nervous system produce similar cognitive effects despite evolving independently. Synchronization is the interaction of multiple oscillation systems which happens in slime molds, our nervous system, and even artificial intelligence. Having consistent resting-state oscilation patterns enables the processing function to continue to work when outside stimuli is unpredictable. They have made computers that simulate the learning of a slime mold to better understand it.
Understanding how slime molds and neurons both work has implications for understanding ecology, animal behavior, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, behaviors of animals on a large scale, and sociology.
