Can plants be conscious? IIT study finds they 'switch off' under anaesthesia

Can plants have a form of consciousness? A new IIT Mandi study has found that plant cells undergo an organised shutdown and recovery under anaesthesia, with thousands of nuclei responding together despite the absence of a brain. The findings could reshape how scientists study consciousness across living organisms.

In Short

• IIT Mandi scientists found plant cells shut down in a precise order under anaesthesia
• Thousands of plant cell nuclei reorganised together despite having no brain or nerves
• Study proposes a possible cellular biomarker linked to the anaesthetised conscious state

If you've ever wondered whether plants experience the world around them in ways we don't fully understand, a new study from IIT Mandi may give you plenty to think about.

Researchers have discovered that when plants are put under anaesthesia, their cells do not simply stop functioning at random. Instead, they undergo an organised, step-by-step shutdown before recovering in the exact opposite order once the anaesthetic wears off.

Even more surprising, thousands of cell nuclei across the plant appeared to reorganise themselves at the same time despite plants having no brain or nervous system.

The findings, published in Advanced Biology (2025) and Chemical & Biomedical Imaging (2026), are adding fresh evidence to the growing scientific discussion around plant consciousness.

WHAT THE SCIENTISTS DID

The IIT Mandi team, led by Director Prof Laxmidhar Behera and Prof Chayan Kanti Nandi, studied tomato and brinjal plants using advanced live-cell microscopy.

Their goal was simple but unusual: if anaesthesia affects humans by temporarily altering consciousness, does it trigger similar cellular changes in organisms that have no brain at all?

THE PLANT DID NOT JUST 'SWITCH OFF'

Inside every plant cell are tiny structures that keep it alive. The researchers found these structures stopped functioning in a fixed sequence under anaesthesia.

First came the mitochondria, which produce energy. Other components responsible for waste disposal, transport and photosynthesis followed. The nucleus, which stores the plant's DNA and regulates cellular activity, shut down last.

When the anaesthetic was removed, everything restarted in reverse order, with the nucleus appearing to coordinate the recovery.

According to the researchers, this suggests a highly organised biological response rather than a simple chemical reaction.

THE BIGGEST SURPRISE

The team's second study produced an even more unexpected observation.

Normally, the nuclei inside plant cells are arranged randomly. Under anaesthesia, they became highly organised, and the active DNA, known as euchromatin, shifted to the edge of every nucleus almost simultaneously.

This happened across many cells despite plants lacking neurons or any known fast communication system similar to an animal nervous system.

DOES THIS PROVE PLANTS ARE CONSCIOUS?

Not yet.

The study does not claim that plants think or feel the way humans or animals do. Instead, it suggests there may be a universal cellular pattern associated with the anaesthetised state that exists even in organisms without brains.

The team says more research is needed to test whether the same cellular signature appears in other organisms. Their next experiments will examine the tiny roundworm C. elegans, which has a simple nervous system.

If similar patterns are found there too, scientists may move a step closer to understanding whether consciousness has a deeper biological basis than previously believed.

THE GROWING DEBATE OVER PLANT CONSCIOUSNESS

Over the past decade, the idea of plant consciousness has moved from the fringes into mainstream scientific debate. Bestselling books like The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben and The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger have popularised research suggesting plants communicate, remember and respond to their surroundings in surprisingly complex ways.

While scientists still disagree on whether that amounts to consciousness, studies like the new IIT Mandi research are adding fresh evidence to the conversation.

The researchers propose this coordinated nuclear reorganisation could serve as a biomarker of the anaesthetised state, not only in plants but potentially across different forms of life.

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