Interesting report on two of my more readily available researcher sources on the subject
2019: Sentience and Consciousness in Single Cells: How the First
Minds Emerged in Unicellular Species
2021: Cognition in some surprising places
https://www.academia.edu/download/109894406/j.bbrc.2020.08.11520240102-1-zt9ovr.pdf
2024: Sentient cells as basic units of tissues, organs and organismal physiology
https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1113/JP284419
2025: Sensing, Feeling and Sentience in Unicellular Organisms and Living Cells
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm?abstractid=4959409
2026: Miller Jr, W. B., Baluška, F., Slijepcevic, P., & Reber, A. S. (2026). Cognition-based biology: cellular sentience, communication, and Symbiosis . Springer-Nature.