The Brains of Freely-Moving Octopuses Were Scanned for the First Time
Scientists were able to look at the brains of freely-moving octopuses for the first time using a new approach with an implanted device. The recordings revealed distinct patterns of brain activity, with some of them mirroring states that were observed in mammals before and others looking totally alien. Studying octopuses in motion poses challenges due to their eight highly flexible arms, which grant them access to their entire bodies.
The Brain Activity of Octopuses
The mobility of octopuses allows them to detach any kit placed on them. To overcome this challenge, researchers came up with a waterproof device they implanted inside octopuses, with electrodes going into the median superior frontal lobe and vertical lobe. These regions are rather interesting because they are thought to be responsible for memory and visual learning, which is what the researchers were hoping to investigate.
The research was led by Dr. Tamar Gutnick, who, together with her colleagues at the Physics and Biology Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, wanted to learn how the brain works. According to Gutnick, octopuses are the perfect animal to compare to mammals because they have a large brain, a unique body, and advanced cognitive abilities, developed differently from those of vertebrates.
Octopuses Are Very Intelligent
Octopuses have a high level of intelligence but are distant in evolutionary terms from other smart animals. Because they have evolved underwater, even some astrobiology researchers took an interest in them to explore how life could go about in a water world.
Gutnick and her colleagues did some procedures on anesthetized octopuses to get the implants in them, which then recorded 12 hours of data. The octopuses then recovered in five minutes and slept, ate, and moved around while having their brain waves recorded. The results showed patterns of brain activity that appeared similar to those of mammals and some that had never been observed or described before. Those were made up of long-lasting, slow oscillations.