What Bodies Think About: Bioelectric Computation Outside the Nervous System - NeurIPS 2018

Caption notes

In this 2018 NeurIPS talk, Michael Levin frames development and regeneration as processes worth investigating through computation and control. He reports altered anatomies in model organisms such as tadpoles and planarians, proposing that bioelectric states between cells can carry information about target morphology. “Memory” and “decision-making” belong to his research framework here, not a demonstration of human-like consciousness in cells. He also identifies gaps between molecular networks, anatomical outcomes and designed interventions; a “biological compiler” remains a distant goal. Questions cover mechanical and chemical signals, intervention timing, consciousness and ethics. This guide summarizes his reports and hypotheses without independently verifying experimental images or effects, or treating animal models, candidate interventions and AI analogies as validated human therapy.