Saturday, November 20, 2010

Thinking Like an Octopus

Thinking like an octopus "Octopuses have large nervous systems, centered around relatively large brains. But more than half of their 500 million neurons are found in the arms themselves, Godfrey-Smith said. This raises the question of whether the arms have something like minds of their own. Though the question is controversial, there is some observational evidence indicating that it could be so, he said. When an octopus is in an unfamiliar tank with food in the middle, some arms seem to crowd into the corner seeking safety while others seem to pull the animal toward the food, Godfrey-Smith explained, as if the creature is literally of two minds about the situation."

1 comment:

paul said...

It's not that far out of an idea. It's very likely that the fine motor control involved in walking is controlled in the spinal cord, not the brain.