Cockroach Clusters Show Collective Memory Emerging From Social Ties
A study on American cockroaches finds that groups can exhibit a collective memory—staying with an original shelter after environmental changes—not because individuals remember, but due to social interactions and the group’s structure. When researchers swapped lighting between shelters, roaches already gathered in a spot tended to stay, and computer simulations showed this behavior can arise from simple, rule-based social dynamics. The work suggests collective memory may be common in animal groups that make decisions together.