Physarum polycephalum Repeated Maze Honors Thesis, Tulane University, SE Louisiana 2024-2025

We conducted an experimental maze study from January to March, 2025, on Physarum polycephalum at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. We collected data on changes in locomotive behavior as P. polycephalum repeatedly solved the same maze. From daily photographs of growth, we recorded path choice, contamination presence and location, number of times P. polycephalum grew directly over maze walls, how many of the four dead-ends P. polycephlaum grew down, and efficiency through surface area covered. Data collection is complete. We found a significant increase in efficiency, and a significant decrease in both dead-end paths and wall jumping, as maze repetitions increased. This points to evidence of information storage and retrieval, and therefore cognitive processes such as memory, within the single-cellular protist Physarum polycephalum.