Research Project
Full description Octopuses are masters of camouflage, solving complex tasks and their cognitive ability is said to approach that of some small mammals. Since the late Cambrian period, octopuses have spread throughout all ocean habitats from tropical to polar region and from surface to abyss. There they encounter different selection pressures, resulting various adaptations such as changes in the body form, life mode, visual system, locomotion pattern, and foraging strategy. Despite intense interest and some research progress, much of our knowledge of octopus neuroanatomy and its links to behaviour and ecology comes from a large number of studies on one nocturnal coastal species, the European common octopus, Octopus vulgaris. Using a combination of conventional histology and the modern-day MRI-based brain imaging techniques, our recent work has torn down a longstanding myth that octopuses have a highly conservative brain organisation for their short life span. Remarkably, unlike the nocturnal species, the reef diurnal octopuses which encounter strong predatory pressures indeed contain distinct changes of their brain structures, particularly the visual and learning regions, linked to behaviours and ecological niches. As mapping the brain anatomy and brain-wide neural connection is as the key to address their complex behaviours and adaptations, this project aims to investigate the octopus central nervous systems amongst species dwelling in different habitats (shoreline, reef and deep sea) at the anatomical and neural network levels. This project aims to establish a novel model of network neuroscience which unlocks new ways to analyse, record and model the elements and interactions of neurobiological systems of this apparently smart creature. This study attempts to narrow down knowledge gaps in brain mapping, the functional circuits and the associated behaviours. Uncovering how their visual-motor network drives octopuses to adapt to different tasks is an important step forwards improved in knowledge of adaptation, cognition and bio-inspired engineering.