Scientists Get One Step Closer to Knowing What Makes Octopuses Tick
- An octopus’s nervous system is organized in a completely different way than ours. However, eight-legged mollusks are known to be highly intelligent, which raises many questions about how exactly their neural networks work.
- Two groups of scientists have recently produced the latest 3D models of the octopus’s nervous system that begin to explain how this complex network works for the first time.
- In the future, experts hope that these examples will help us understand these strange and fascinating creatures.
They are octopuses appear creatures. They are strange, squirming, strange creatures that live in the sea, and they can get into anything that only one hard place on their body—their mouth—can. in it. No bones, no spine, all squish.
But, there is no doubt that the amazing thing about octopuses is that they are intelligence. In a strange way. And they are intelligent in a very different way than we are. Octopuses have what is sometimes called distributed intelligence, which comes from the fact that their nervous system is organized in a completely different way than the human nervous system—or, if they are well, the nervous system of any vertebrate.
In humans, all thought, movement and motivation begin in the brain. The brain then sends messages to the body, and the body carries out whatever task it is assigned. Not so with octopuses. They have a central brain, but their entire nervous system is organized around tiny high blobs of neurons that can (and do) independently of the central brain. This is most evident in those bumpy, curved arms—the eight arms of the octopus are able to move, feel and explore without clear instructions from the brain. See directly they have minds of their own.
Now, we know this to be true. And we know the basic structure of the neurons that make it possible. What we don’t know, at the cellular level, is How well that works. And that’s exactly what the teams behind two new papers—both published in the journal—think Current Biology and led by researchers at San Francisco State University—are trying to find out.
Both groups have set out to create 3D models of the neurons that make up the nervous system of these creatures, allowing them to see the complex structure of these fascinating organs more than ever before. Another team—led by current associate Gabrielle Winters-Bostwick—characterized different types of neurons at the molecular level, examined several sections by hand, and combined the data. collected from those parts to create a 3D model. Another team — led by graduate student Diana Neacsu — built their model using a technique called 3D electron microscopy.
“To have [these two papers] coming together at the same time means the amount we can learn from any experiment is astronomical,” Robyn Crook, who runs the lab where both studies were completed, said. press release. “I would say that these papers really help in new ways of discovery.”
And he was certainly not wrong. These two groups were able to learn a lot from their combined results. From the Winters-Bostwick study, scientists were able to learn that the type of neurons found near the base of the hand (near the midbrain) is very different from the type of neurons found near the tip. And Neacsu’s study yielded many discoveries, including that there is “symmetry in the organization of ganglia and repetition of the patterns of nerves, blood vessels and others,” according to the press release .
In addition, Neacsu’s research revealed that some of the repetitive patterns are organized around suckers that move the octopus’ arms. “To see how close it is [nervous system structures] related to suckers was really surprising, “Neacsu said in a press release. But it makes sense because suckers play a big role in the environment of octopuses, helping them to hunt, understand and more .
All of this research is original, and most of it has been limited (so far) by finding the technology used to complete this research. But the experts behind this research expect it to be a starting point for more in-depth research in the future.
“Why do you have such a complex animal that doesn’t seem to follow the same rules as our model—humans—of a very complex nervous system?” Crook asked in a news release. “There are many theories. It might work. There may be something very different in the activities that the hands of the octopus have to do. But it can also be an evolutionary risk.”
It seems we still have a lot of work to do to truly understand these rare creatures.
Jackie is a writer and editor from Pennsylvania. He is passionate about writing about space and physics, and loves to share the amazing wonders of the universe with anyone who will listen. He is looked after in his office by his two cats.
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