Moss Cushions Show Complex Electrical Signaling, Study Finds

A single-author paper by computer scientist Andy Adamatzky, published in *Royal Society Open Science*, reports that cushions of the common moss *Brachythecium rutabulum* generate a rich array of electrical events. Using electrodes inserted into moss clumps collected in North Somerset, UK, the team recorded activity over several days and identified fast oscillatory spikes, slower rhythmic fluctuations, very slow depolarization waves, high-amplitude action-potential-like spikes, and neuron-like spike trains. The patterns often propagated across the entire cushion rather than remaining localized, leading the author to describe the moss as a spatially distributed excitable system capable of coordinating signals in both space and time.

ScienceAlert

Mosses are among the earliest land plants and lack vascular tissues, roots, and the multi-cellular transport structures of higher plants. Individual cushions consist of many genetically identical, minute shoots whose leaf-like structures are only one cell thick. Because they cannot move water or nutrients efficiently through specialized vessels, mosses have been assumed to rely on simple diffusion, making the discovery of coordinated electrical signaling especially noteworthy.

ScienceAlert

Electrodes were placed on a wet substrate supporting the moss cushions, and each electrode pair produced a distinct recording trace. Across multiple recordings, the study documented three primary timescales of activity: rapid spikes, intermediate rhythmic fluctuations, and ultra-slow depolarization waves that traversed the whole mat.

ScienceAlert

Adamatzky suggests that the observed multi-layered organization supports the view of moss as an energy-efficient living substrate for bio-hybrid sensing and unconventional computation. The findings raise the possibility that moss could serve as a naturally evolved platform for distributed biocomputing, although the study stops short of confirming functional sensory capabilities.

ScienceAlert

The research did not include negative-control recordings on inert substrates, leaving open the question of whether some signals originated from the instrumentation itself. Additionally, using moss harvested from natural environments introduces variables such as contamination and variable hydration that could influence electrical measurements. Adamatzky acknowledges that more detailed investigations are required to determine whether mosses can truly act as responsive sensory networks or biocomputing substrates.

ScienceAlert