Microbial study reveals sophisticated sensory response

Monday, August 1, 2011 - 15:00 in Biology & Nature

All known biological sensory systems, including the familiar examples of the five human senses – vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch – have one thing in common: when exposed to a sustained change in sensory input, the sense eventually acclimates and notices subsequent changes without continuing to compare each new change with the initial condition. This autonomous tuning of perceptions, known as sensory adaptation, has been recognized by scientists for more than a century, but a new study has demonstrated that even a simple microbe can achieve this feat with surprising sophistication.

Read the whole article on Physorg

More from Physorg

Latest Science Newsletter

Get the latest and most popular science news articles of the week in your Inbox! It's free!

Check out our next project, Biology.Net