What if neurons aren’t the foundation of mind?
In this Mind-Body Solution Colloquia, Michael Levin and Robert Chis-Ciure challenge one of neuroscience’s deepest assumptions: that cognition and intelligence are exclusive to brains and neurons.
Drawing on cutting-edge work in bioelectricity, developmental biology, and philosophy of mind, this conversation explores how cells, tissues, and living systems exhibit goal-directed behavior, memory, and problem-solving — long before neurons ever appear.
We explore:
• Cognition without neurons.
• Bioelectric networks as control systems.
• Memory and learning beyond synapses.
• Morphogenesis as collective intelligence.
• Implications for AI, consciousness, and ethics.
This episode pushes neuroscience beyond the neuron, toward a deeper understanding of mind, life, and intelligence as continuous across scales.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Introduction: Why Neuroscience Must Go Beyond Neurons.
3:12 – The Central Claim: Cognition Is Not Exclusive to Brains.
7:05 – Defining Cognition, Intelligence, and Agency Without Neurons.
11:02 – Bioelectricity as a Control Layer for Morphogenesis.
15:08 – Cells as Problem-Solvers: Goals, Memory, and Error Correction.
19:41 – The Body as a Cognitive System: Scaling Intelligence Across Levels.
24:10 – Developmental Plasticity and Non-Neural Decision-Making.
28:36 – Morphological Computation and Collective Cellular Intelligence.
33:02 – Challenging Neuron-Centric Neuroscience Assumptions.
37:18 – Bioelectric Networks vs Neural Networks: Key Differences.
41:55 – Memory Without Synapses: Storing Information in Living Tissue.
46:07 – Rewriting Anatomy: Regeneration, Repatterning, and Control.
50:29 – Cancer, Developmental Errors, and Cognitive Breakdown.
54:48 – Pluribus: Philosophical Implications.
59:14 – From Cells to Selves: Where Does Agency Begin?
1:03:22 – Implications for AI: Intelligence Without Brains or Neurons.
1:08:11 – Rethinking Consciousness: Gradualism vs Binary Models.
1:12:47 – Ethics of Expanding the Moral Circle Beyond Humans.
1:17:31 – Future Science: New Tools for a Post-Neuron Neuroscience.
1:22:54 – Closing Reflections: Life, Mind, and Intelligence All the Way Down.