Scientists discover never-before-seen brain wave after reading octopuses' minds

Originally published by Ben Turner, on April 27, 2023

By surgically attaching electrodes to octopuses, researchers have been able to peer inside the cephalopods’ minds for the very first time. 


A Caribbean reef octopus (Octopus briareus) hunting at night at a coral reef in Curaçao. (Image credit: Wild Horizons/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Octopuses possess a brain wave that has never been seen before in animals, along with others similar to those found in humans, first-of-their-kind brain recordings reveal.

The groundbreaking study captured the first ever brain recordings of freely moving octopuses and was performed by implanting electrodes in the animals’ brains and connecting them to data loggers under their skin. The recordings have given scientists the very first inklings into the workings of cephalopod minds. The researchers published their findings March 27 in the journal Cell.

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