Jakarta –
Dreaming while sleeping is a common thing in humans and is not a strange thing. However, what if the octopus is dreaming while sleeping?
Recently, a study showed that octopuses may experience a dream phase while they sleep. This can be seen from several characteristics that the researchers saw in the movements of the cephalopods (heads) of the octopuses.
According to Business Insider, researchers observed some sleeping octopuses and noticed that their cephalopods twitched and flashed rings of brilliant color on their pigmented skin. To make the observations clearer, the researchers inserted a probe to study the octopus’ brain during this sleep stage as well as the other stages of sleep.
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They found that octopuses apparently have active and quiet sleep cycles similar to mammals. In addition, the researchers looked at the patterns of electrical waves they recorded while the octopuses were awake and asleep.
“The fact that two-stage sleep has evolved independently in distantly related creatures, such as octopuses, which have large but completely different brain structures from vertebrates, suggests that having an active stage such as wakefulness may be a common feature of complex cognition,” said Leenoy. Meshulam, Physicist at the University of Washington School of Medicine, quoted from Business Indiser.
The research team also looked at the patterns of electrical waves they recorded while the octopuses were awake and asleep. They found that the pattern was similar when the animals experienced REM sleep than when they were awake and active.
Octopus Active Sleep Traits
The characteristics of dreaming octopuses are seen in the changes in their skin. The change in their skin color during this stage of sleep indicates they are dreaming or it could be practicing their camouflage skills while sleeping.
Quoting Science News, another study showed that the octopus sleep demeanor is very calm with pale skin and closed pupils. Meanwhile, when dreaming, octopuses actively change the color and texture of their skin.
Cephalopod neuroscientist and diver Sylvia Medeiros of the Brain Institute of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal, Brazil recorded their behavior during the day, when octopuses are more likely to rest.
According to Medeiros, active sleep in octopuses is similar to human sleep during dreams. However, because their active sleep is so brief, it is more similar to the sleep cycles experienced by other animals such as reptiles and birds.
Octopus Intelligence Sign
Teresa Iglesias, a researcher at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan, said that recent research has proven the consistency of results showing that octopuses may be able to dream while sleeping. According to him, this shows the intelligence possessed by the octopus.
“It comes to mind that octopuses are very smart,” said Ribeiro quoted from Science News.
However, the researchers were unable to reveal what was really going on when the octopuses were having an active session with their eyes blinking and skin color brightening.
“Researchers have a lot more work to do before they can say that octopuses dream,” said Ribeiro.
Watch the video “Maintaining Beauty Through Adequate and Quality Sleep”
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2023-07-05 00:00:14
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