Neuroscientists study octopuses and other cephalopods for intelligence

7 articles · Updated · Nature.com · Apr 29

The latest report highlights work on octopus brains, citing recent Nature, bioRxiv and Device studies from 2023 to 2026 on neural circuits, genomes and research tools.
Researchers are using cephalopods to probe how large, complex brains evolved outside vertebrates, drawing on evidence of sophisticated behaviour, learning and sensory processing.
The field spans decades of neurophysiology and genomics and could broaden understanding of intelligence, while raising practical and ethical questions about studying highly capable invertebrates.

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