Plants & fungi / Measurement study

Fungal electrical signals travel; communication remains untested

Source year 2026 · Note reviewed 2026-10-13

Adamatzky (2026) reports slow, ordered electrical events across eight differential channels placed along one Pleurotus ostreatus-colonised substrate, recorded for about fifteen days. The paper interprets lead–lag structure as propagation consistent with ionic waves.

What we reviewed · Full-text methods and data-provenance review; no reproduction

Full text of the 2026 primary paper and its Methods, limitations and data statement reviewed, alongside the official cited Zenodo record. The paper's eight channels come from one specimen; the 2021 record lists one 413.2 MB archive but does not map the analyzed 15-day series to a file. The dataset license is not displayed. No files were downloaded, no analysis was reproduced and no independent specialist review was received.

Not yet independently reviewed by a scientific specialist.

What this does — and doesn’t — establish

Eight channels on one specimen are spatial measurements, not eight biological replicates. The Methods report no external stimulation and do not describe a sham-electrode or uncolonised-substrate comparison; the shuffled-spike control tests temporal ordering within this recording, not a receiver response or communicative meaning. The paper cites a 2021 Zenodo record with one large archive, but the exact analyzed file is not identified and no dataset license is displayed.

What we can build on

This is a specialized electrophysiology question measured over minutes and days, not something a phone microphone can capture. Propagation is a physiological finding; communication would require a defined receiver and an independently measured response.

The next reading task

Before any reproduction, ask a qualified mycologist and electrophysiologist to review biological replication, sham/uncolonised controls, environmental logging and event-detection choices. Resolve the archive's file mapping and reuse terms first; no collection or model training is proposed.

Go to the sources

Oyster-fungus electrical propagation study ↗
Adamatzky (2026), Scientific Reports. Multi-channel recordings and temporal propagation analysis in colonised substrate.
Zenodo record cited by the 2026 oyster-fungus propagation paper ↗
Official Zenodo v1 record 10.5281/zenodo.4430968, titled Datasets of recordings of electrical activity of substrates colonised by oyster fungi P. ostreatus and P. djamor.
University of the West of England repository record for the 2026 oyster-fungus paper ↗
Official institutional repository record for Adamatzky's Scientific Reports article; its linked article files are labeled CC BY 4.0.
Fungal measurement caveats ↗
Electrical signaling in fungi: past and present challenges (2025). Research and replication-oriented discussion of measurement methods and environmental artifacts.
Fungal language critique ↗
Blatt et al. Does electrical activity in fungi function as a language? Fungal Ecology (2024). Methodological commentary challenging linguistic claims.

Original editorial note by Talk2Nature contributors. AI-assisted, source-grounded synthesis; not a peer review or an independent replication. Linked works retain their own rights.