Study Reveals Octopus Can Dream, Just Like Humans

Octopus illustration. (Pixabay)

Hitekno.com – Sea animals, octopus is one that is unique because in addition to having three hearts, blue blood, and the largest brain among invertebrates, this sea creature with eight tentacles is thought to be able to dream while sleeping, it’s the same as humans.

Sidarta Ribeiro, a neuroscience expert from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, in Natal, Brazil found that octopuses dream when they are in an active sleep phase, as reported by New Scientist this week.

In his study, Ribeiro found that octopuses have two distinct phases of sleep: active and passive. It is known from research on four octopuses of the Octopus vulgaris species in the laboratory.

From observations made during the day, it is known that octopuses sleep more than half the time of the day.

“While sleeping they stay in the same position for a long time – very calmly, their eyes are closed – and they breathe regularly in very calm conditions,” explains Ribeiro.

The majority of sleep is in the passive phase, but every 30 to 40 minutes there is an active sleep phase lasting 1 to 2 minutes.
During this active sleep phase, the octopus’s body color and texture will change. Its eyes and tentacles also moved. The suction on the tentacles will also contract.

“This is definitely an active phase,” explained Ribeiro.

In that study the researchers tested whether the octopus actually slept in its active phase. The test was in the form of showing a video of a crab in front of an octopus.

“When stimulated by visual feeds or vibrations, they don’t react,” Ribeiro explained, explaining that when he was awake, the octopus would react when he saw a similar video.

The same sleep patterns were previously found in birds and reptiles. Researchers suspect that the active sleep phase in octopuses can be analogous to the REM sleep phase – rapid eye movement – in mammals.

In mammals, including humans, REM is the phase in sleep when dreams take place.

“If the octopus can dream, then the dream occurs very quickly, it is not narrative (like in humans),” Ribeiro continued, “It would be very interesting if we could see what happens to their brains when they go from a conscious, passive sleep state, and sleep is active. ” (Suara.com/Liberty Jemadu)

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