Octopuses would also experience nightmares.
Photo: FRED TANNEAU/AFP/Getty Images
New research has presented the first evidence to suggest that octopuses experience nightmares.
The study, published in BioRxiv, is based on observations of a male octopus that lived at Rockefeller University in New York Citymiles from its natural habitat off the coast of Brazil.
The octopus was monitored 24/7 with cameras pointed at its tank. Reviewing hours and hours of footage, investigators noted that she experienced sudden changes in pattern and body coloration when apparently asleep.
Like a dog that wags its paws in its sleep, they assumed the octopus was dreaming and physically mirroring the content of your dream through your body language.
However, not all of this behavior appears to be positive. On several occasions, he was seen waking up abruptly before flailing his limbs and spewing a stream of inkas if evading an attack.
Of course, it would be impossible to enter the mind of a cephalopod, but the researchers argue that this could be the case.
“The behavioral sequences displayed by this octopus upon emerging from disturbed sleep were similar to behavioral responses to nightmares, night terrors, and other parasomnias in humans, with a narrative structure resembling octopus defense behaviors. ”, write the authors of the study.
“We speculate that the complex behavioral sequences displayed in these episodes suggest that octopuses experience parasomnias that may include nightmares with the potential to disrupt their sleep,” they added.
The team admits that this research was only based on a single octopus, so there is a chance that this is not universal behavior across species, and in fact, this individual could be an unusual type.
Furthermore, a growing body of evidence highlights that octopuses, like other cephalopods, are incredibly intelligent creatures equipped with extraordinary brains.
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