Do octopuses dream? Brain recordings provide the first clues

When octopuses sleep, strange patterns sometimes flicker across their skin. Now, neuroscientists have been able to peer into the brain of a sleeping octopus for the first time - and explore this strange sleep state. They find remarkable similarities to the way that humans and other vertebrates sleep, despite the millions of years of evolution separating the two groups.
Read more in the paper: www.nature.com/articles/s4158...
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[@unvergebeneid]

This is extremely fascinating! Octopuses have brains that are so alien, so different from ours. And yet they seem so familiar in so many ways.

[@Spearca]

I imagine anything with a brain and a sleep cycle will dream.

[@EyeOnTheTV]

I hope those little guys get released after their sleep study 😥

[@RAGINGXBULL2]

Yes I'm sure the Japanese researchers will trEAT them very well after the study

[@sameasold-jb4lc]

am sure they are ALREADY at the sushi menu

[@AffectiveApe]

For the sake of scientific honesty, the answer is no they do not. Getting this data requires invasive procedures.

[@lucyoriginales]

😢 me too 😢. Was thinking even 4vthe study they should be in close to real habitat 🥺

[@housetraitor4806]

The progression of scientific research requires sacrifices

[@L-Office]

Makes the fact that there are companies out there, wanting to farm and slaughter masses of octopuses even more sickening. Thank you for uploading, this is truly fascinating.

[@Sam-cv6un]

Octopi are one of the most amazing animals on the planet

[@MatVids2]

As someone just beginning to study neuroscience, seeing the convergent evolution of REM(esque) sleep in other intelligent creatures (especially ones so neurologically distinct from humans) is so fascinating and awesome! It looks like this system really is uniquely useful for helping living beings -- it wasn't a fluke.

[@heartofdawn2341]

Octopuses have developed intelligence independently of creatures like us, so it's not a surprise if they have developed dreaming as part of it. It may even be a necessity.

[@unvergebeneid]

If it weren't a necessity, why wouldn't you be surprised they developed dreaming independently? Convergent evolution only happens if there are the same evolutionary pressures and only a very limited number of solutions.

[@NoNTr1v1aL]

Absolutely amazing video!

[@disky01]

Fabulous piece. Thank you!

[@siddharthgupta4543]

Think about this the next time you eat octopus

[@4coolclips]

Wonderful and Amazing!!! The flashes that travel across the skin almost look like a processing mechanism? Maybe like the way our eyes go side to side during REM sleep?

[@alinowow]

i love this! I have a genuine question. How do we know it's an active period of sleep, instead of the octopus waking up for a minute, if it's so similar to the awake state?

[@aditipophale]

Great question! Sleep is distinguished from other behavioural states by rapid reversibility (that is, the ability to wake up, quickly), decreased response to stimulus and homeostatic regulation (an increase in sleep after deprivation). We tested these criteria and found that the octopus was asleep while doing these patterns!

[@FHBStudio]

Sleep, or dreaming specifically, may be older than the earliest common ancestor of cephalopods and mammals. Or it's convergent evolution.

[@christopherclarke4480]

Fascinating!

[@grafja]

If the intelligence of octopi interests you, then you should know about the Spanish company, Nueva Pescanova, currently setting up to be the first operation in the world to farm these highly intelligent beings for food in a high-volume indoor facility.

[@HelicopterDown]

It's incredible that this could be the first physical portrayal of a dream ever discovered

[@haemse]

Has anyone looked at the changing sequence of the patterns with a high speed cam? Does the propagation correlate with the locations of their very distributed brain network?

[@footfault1941]

Does that suggest like a REM sleeping? Anyway, detection of similar patterns of brain activity (inactivity?) is fascinating! OK, octopus passed. Next, do androids dream of electric sheep?

[@BebeBijou]

Wondering if Octopi have Wet Dreams

[@AgnaktoreX]

Vertebrates sleep, spiders sleep, octupusses sleep. Which animal does not?

[@unvergebeneid]

If there's REM sleep in spiders, that's news to me.

[@mikeomolt4485]

Microbes? Bacterial? Deep ocean creatures where light never penetrates may have evolved an alternative to sleep.

[@AgnaktoreX]

@@unvergebeneid just search for rem sleep jumping spiders

[@alwayscuriousbutsad6584]

people eat these too

[@User-xyxklyntrw]

Maybe octopus is one kind of earthling native, and we human merely alien that came from venus, that why our civilization on another level if compare to smart octopus

[@reekhavoc2932]

🦑 💭💤

[@dcmhsotaeh]

Newer two religions of the world isolated animals from daily life whereas Ancient religions like Hinduism had and still have animal love animal reverence animal welfare even animal worship as part of their daily activities Don’t make fun of animal oriented ancient religions

[@Tk1NE]

Aramaic Bible in Plain English Holy Book of Genesis Chapter 1: Verse 24 And YAH♥️WEH said, “The Earth shall produce the LIVING SOUL with its genus, beast, and creepers, and the beast of the Earth with its kind”, and it was in this way.” Therefore; ABBA’S Living Breath = Living Soul Meaning the above has and is both an individual Spirit and Soul. As all animals and plants to the tiniest bacteria. If it crawls, walks creeps; as long as it has ABBA’S Living Breath ♾️ it has both

[@sk8shred]

These octopuses should not be caged in a fucking lab. They should be in the wild, they're intelligent creatures. Human beings and their greed for knowledge.

[@unvergebeneid]

... they type angrily into a product of human knowledge!

[@FHBStudio]

Learning about animals helps us preserve entire species in the wild. If we don't know about them, it'll be harder to prevent extinctions.

[@grafja]

You should be more upset about the Spanish company, Nueva Pescanova, that is setting up to be the first farmed octopus operation in the world.