Tadpoles with eyes on their tails perform visual learning tasks

Ectopic eyes in Xenopus tadpoles connect to the spinal cord and enable visual learning despite incorrect anatomical location.

Source paper

extracted_from

Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere: An Experimentally-Grounded Framework for Understanding Diverse Bodies and Minds

(2022) · Michael Levin

Neighborhood — ranked by edge-count

Claims (2)

claim

Selves are not fixed permanent agents; the substrate of memory, preferences, and rewards is plastic and can remodel during the agent's lifetime.
supports
Central claim that cognitive Selves change in real-time, supported by examples of metamorphosis and regeneration.
The Self is subject to significant change in real-time, both slow maturation and radical material remodeling.
supports
Plasticity of the Self is a fundamental property of life.

Communities (3)

community

Bioelectric morphogenesis & anatomical intelligence
members_of
Levin-led research showing bioelectric signals encode and control anatomical goal states in living systems.
Bioelectric code and anatomical goal-setting
members_of
Xenopus studies showing ion channel patterns direct cell collectives toward specific anatomical outcomes independent of genetic or positional cues, led by Michael Levin.
Bioelectric control of anatomical pattern formation
members_of
Studies how non-neural bioelectric signals direct morphogenesis and sensory organ placement, using tadpole model systems (2010s-2020s).

Related by similarity (8)

cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edge

Entities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.

Tadpoles with eyes transplanted to tail location perform visual learning tasks normally despite altered sensory anatomy.finding0.897
Evidence of neural plasticity; demonstrates mind's independence from specific body layout.
Tadpoles with ectopic eyes on tails can see and learn effectively in visual assays.finding0.896
Blackiston & Levin 2013 finding showing plasticity of sensorimotor integration.
Tadpoles with ectopic eyes on tail can see and integrate sensory input from aberrant locationfinding0.860
Demonstrates neural plasticity: brain adapts behavioral programs to sensory input from abnormal anatomical locations within single organism lifetime.
Ectopic eyes on tadpole tails support visual learning despite connecting to the spinal cord.finding0.860
From Blackiston & Levin (2013), shows plasticity of brain and body.
Tadpoles with ectopic eyes on their tails can see out of them, demonstrating radical functional plasticity without evolutionary adaptation.claim0.858
Example of innate problem-solving capacity.
Xenopus tadpoles with ectopic eyes on tail can see and navigate using novel visual system without evolutionary adaptation or genetic modification.finding0.839
Empirical evidence of functional plasticity and radical phenotypic change at individual level; demonstrates cellular hardware adaptation to novel configurations.
Ectopic eyes on tadpole tail provide functional vision despite connecting only to spinal cord or peripheral tissue.finding0.811
Result from Blackiston & Levin 2013: sensory data from displaced eyes can be used for learned behavior without evolutionary adaptation.
Ectopic Eye on Tadpole Tailfinding0.796
Tadpoles bearing eyes placed on tails can see and learn effectively despite novel neural connections (to spinal cord or gut), demonstrating plastic sensorimotor reinterpretation.