Learning without a brain – how bacteria store memories and remember the past like artificial neural networks

Bacteria use strategies similar to artificial neural networks to use the past to adapt to the future.

By: Shiladitya Banerjee, Georgia Institute of Technology, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: September 10, 2026

Words: 1,070

Last Updated: 1 month, 1 week ago

By Shiladitya Banerjee, Georgia Institute of Technology

Learning is often thought to require a brain. But learning is a broad concept that does not necessarily depend on neurons.

If an organism uses information from past experiences to shape its future decisions, it is also learning.

Research from my lab, published in the journal PRX Life, shows that even a single bacterium can learn from experience, store memories of the …

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