Scientists have figured out how to capture brain activity in octopuses that are awake and moving – a breakthrough step in understanding how the brain controls their behavior. By implanting electrodes and a data logger directly into the creatures, scientists have achieved the remarkable accomplishme
Octopuses are mollusks, a large evolutionary group to which slugs and snails also belong. Their complex brains, and those of other closely-related cephalopods, like squid and cuttlefish, have evolved separately from vertebrates, and so octopuses are often referred to as alien-like. Here, a day octopus poses with a Shisa, a creature from Okinawan folklore. Credit: Michael Kuba
“If we want to understand how the brain works, octopuses are the perfect animal to study as a comparison to mammals. They have a large brain, an amazingly unique body, and advanced cognitive abilities that have developed completely differently from those of,” said Dr. Tamar Gutnick, first author and former postdoctoral researcher in the Physics and Biology Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology .
“Octopuses have eight powerful and ultra-flexible arms, which can reach absolutely anywhere on their body,” said Dr. Gutnick. “If we tried to attach wires to them, they would immediately rip if off, so we needed a way of getting the equipment completely out of their reach, by placing it under their skin.”
The researchers identified several distinct patterns of brain activity, some of which were similar in size and shape to those seen in mammals, whilst others were very long-lasting, slow oscillations that have not been described before.
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