Measuring octopus cognition

An international team including the University of Göttingen has now, for the first time, succeeded in measuring brain activity in octopuses moving freely through the water. Photo: Tamar Gutnick, Michael Kuba International research team records brain activity of octopuses swimming freely for first time With eight arms, large eyes, and shape-shifting skin, octopus- bodies appear almost otherworldly. Their cognitive abilities fascinate us because they are comparable to those of vertebrates, yet our evolutionary lines diverged about 550 million years ago. The combination of their intelligence and uniqueness prompted neuroscientists to study the brains of octopods as early as 150 years ago. An international team including the University of Göttingen has now, for the first time, succeeded in measuring brain activity in octopuses moving freely through the water. While such studies are well established in mammals and birds, until now this has not been possible in octopuses. The study was published in the scientific journal Current Biology.