The Brain Of The Octopus: One Of The Most Intelligent Animals
We live on a planet full of fascinating living beings. Beyond humans, who have been able to build entire civilizations with unparalleled technological and social frameworks, other species also show incredible skills and characteristics.
There are birds capable of flying at tens of kilometers per hour, mammals whose size exceeds that of a small building, and felines that can detect prey in complete darkness. Skills worthy of any comic book superhero.
But among the extensive biodiversity that still populates the earth, unfortunately increasingly diminishing, lives an animal whose properties are especially notable: the octopus, of which some 300 different varieties (cephalopods) have been identified.
In this article we will stop to analyze what makes it so fascinating, with a special emphasis on the anatomy and the properties of the octopus brain an organ that gives it a unique cognition.
The first thing that catches your attention when observing the octopus brain is that It is, by far, the largest of all those that invertebrates have Thus, at the top of the pyramid it dominates an entire category whose representatives number in the tens of thousands (about 55,000). In addition, it has the highest ratio in the equation of the relative weight of its brain with respect to the body, within this same classification, a common indicator to infer the intelligence of any living being. This is a representation of it, which appears in The Anatomy of the Nervous System of Octopus Vulgarisby JZ Young:
The proportion between the size of the octopus’s body and its brain is similar to that which can be seen in mammals such as whales, which have been able to demonstrate great intellectual gifts and sophisticated social skills. Furthermore, the number of neurons (raw) is close to that of a dog, an animal that has accompanied man since the dawn of time and which stands out as one of his most faithful companions. This fact represents an evolutionary exception that has attracted the interest of the entire scientific community.
Its nuclear brain, embedded in a cartilage capsule inside the head (it has no bones), represents only a discrete percentage of the total extent of the nervous system. The rest of the neurons that make it up are located in its tentacles arranged as interconnected ganglia (mini-brains), and giving shape to a very complex constellation of cells (100,000,000-500,000,000) that react tremendously quickly to triggering environmental circumstances, which forms a unique system in zoology.
If we analyze the distribution of their nervous system, we observe that only 10% of it is located in the area expected for mammals: the inside of the head. 30% is located in two large lobes (15% for each case) that border its lateral surface (behind both eyes) and whose function is the processing of visual stimuli. Finally, the remaining 60% is distributed among all the tentacles, so that The highest percentage of neurons available in this animal is present in almost all of its body mass
In the brain of the octopus, aligned contiguously, there are organs that allow the animal to orient its position in space in places that light cannot reach (since some live in the abyssal depths), which is complemented by a pair with eyes extraordinarily adapted to the dark (and similar in structure to those of humans). We talk about statocysts; which they share with species such as bivalves, echinoderms and crustaceans.
In general terms, the octopus has a multiple brain, and not just with a nervous structure located inside your head. This organ is distributed throughout the body, forming ganglia that control each of its extremities, and which give it an enormous adaptive capacity.
It is a structure different from that of mammals, an evolutionary “alternative” that could provide us with information about forms of consciousness that still escape our understanding (and that have recently been used to design robotic artificial intelligences).
The intelligence of the octopus
If we go back to the evolutionary history of octopuses, we find that they represent an example of extraordinary intelligence not only in the category to which they belong, but in the animal kingdom as a whole. They are living beings older than the dinosaurs themselves who have had the opportunity to survive for millions of years to forge refined cognitive skills, and which constitute one of the greatest examples of past intellect that we can access.
Studies that have been carried out on this issue have shown that are able to use tools (like coconut shells to hide in) and learn through observing other octopuses solving a problem, maintaining what they have learned for days without having to rehearse it. Furthermore, the octopus (in its more than 300 species) has a unique ability: each of its tentacles can “think” for itself.
More specifically, when an octopus observes a situation in which it must act (a prey to feed on or a predator to flee from), it launches a reaction in which each of the parts of its body participates, with the in order to determine the most efficient pattern of behavior. In this way, and due to the positional multiplicity available to it (since it lacks joints), it is capable of selecting an enormous variety of actions to solve problems (from opening jars to exiting complex mazes).
The process that is set in motion is different from that of human beings. In our case, the demands of the situation are compared with a restricted body schema (rigid and poorly articulated bones), which translates into limited reactions to resolve situations. The octopus is so flexible that it does not need to consider its body limits, so it can only stores behavioral patterns that are activated when needed thereby offering a faster and more effective response to deal with environmental demands.
In addition to all this, the brain distributed in the tentacles can establish communication with the rest of the octopus’s limbs, so that they coordinate without getting tangled (which would be a life-threatening risk). This is because each of the ganglia not only connects with the centralized brain, but also with the others, thereby enabling extraordinary fine motor skills. Everything is enhanced by the fact that the brain located in the head hardly participates when the suction cups of the rest of its appendages act, which have their own agency.
It has been observed that the section of one of the tentacles (they can mutilate themselves when trying to escape) does not imply that it will “die” immediately, but rather that it would continue to move and act with purpose for approximately an hour, confirming that it has autonomy . For this reason, despite being separated from the body, They can make decisions such as camouflage (safeguard itself from danger) and recognize another different tentacle as a part of itself (through a kind of chemical receptors located on the suction cups).
The personality of the octopus
In addition to having great intelligence, there is evidence that cephalopods have stable personality traits that differentiate them in a very notable way, and that even They have a tendency to group according to the degree of similarity (demonstrating social preferences). Some of them are reclusive and spend most of their time locked in caves, which they cover with rocks to increase their privacy (their elasticity allows them to “sneak” into almost any hole).
There are also very aggressive octopuses, to the point of being able to attack and devour other octopuses. Besides, They can form an idea of the human beings with whom they feel comfortable or uncomfortable, what they like or dislike; forging a memory that lasts for months or even years (showing a large store of long-term memory). As they are animals that do not have a long life expectancy, it can be said that they create memories that extend throughout their cycle of existence.
Finally, it has been shown that octopuses are prone to playing with other members of their species, a behavior that has been classified as an indicator of high intelligence in the field of ethology. And it is an action that does not aim to guarantee survival nor is it explained as a reaction to immediate environmental contingencies, but rather its purpose is enjoyment and leisure without further pretensions. This recreational habit is observed exclusively in the most complex species, especially among vertebrates.
Other fantastic things about octopuses
Up to this point, it has become clear that octopuses are fascinating animals. Beyond its history (which goes back 33,000,000 years), of his surprising intelligence and his ability to have his own personality ; They also have a series of additional characteristics that make them one of the animals best adapted and prepared for survival (after all, they have been doing it for a long, long time).
Thus, for example, they are capable of camouflaging themselves perfectly in the environment, of propelling ink to evade a predator that may have detected them, of attacking their prey with a powerful beak and of poisoning any overly trusting fish with paralyzing toxins. You could say that he is one of the great kings of the ocean… in fact, they even have blue blood! And pumped by a total of three hearts, nothing more and nothing less.
In conclusion, octopuses remind us that we live in a wonderful world, and that nature is capable of molding authentic works of engineering whose presence will always fascinate the curious human being. It is our responsibility to ensure the health of our planet so that they can continue to stimulate the imagination of future generations.
