How octopuses and squid developed such large brains

Cephalopods, including octopuses, squid, and their close relatives, the cuttlefish, exhibit some very endearing habits. They may quickly analyze information to change their shape, color and texture to suit their environment.

They can also use tools to solve problems, communicate and show signs of spatial learning. They are so smart that they can get bored. However, how did squid and octopus get such large brains?

(Photo: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

clever creature

this is not knowledge cephalopod Has the most complex brain of all invertebrates on Earth. However, the method of development remains a mystery. Researchers have long wondered how cephalopods got their big brains. Two-thirds of the central processing tissue of these soft-bodied creatures is devoted to studying their visual systems, and researchers in the Harvard lab think they have it figured out. They claim that the program seems very familiar.

In a paper published in Current Biology, researchers at the FAS Center for Systems Biology describe how they used a new real-time imaging technique to virtually observe developing neurons in embryos. Then, as the retinal nervous system evolved, they were able to track these cells.they are shocked by what they witnessed.

Also read: Female octopuses avoid harassment by throwing shells at stubborn males

observe anatomy

(Photo: Ibrahim Chalhoub via Getty Images)

They observed that neural stem cells behave uncannily like vertebrate neural stem cells when developing the nervous system. This means that, despite being 500 million years apart, cephalopods and vertebrates not only use similar mechanisms to create their large brains, but that this process and the way cells move, divide and shape may have developed through this process blueprint. Type of nervous system.

“Our results were unexpected,” said Kristen Koenig, a John Harvard Distinguished Fellow and lead author of the study. “For a long time, much of what we know about the evolution of the vertebrate nervous system has been thought to be unique to this lineage.”

According to the study’s authors, the two independently formed very large nervous systems, using the same method to generate them. The use of these mechanisms—those tools—in animals throughout development may be critical for creating large-scale nervous systems.

Researchers in Koenig’s lab focused on the retina of a long-finned squid called Doryteuthis pealeii. The Northwest Atlantic is home to large numbers of squid, which can grow to a foot or so. When they were embryos, they had gorgeous big heads and eyes.

The scientists took a previously used approach to study model species such as fruit flies and zebrafish. To observe the behavior of individual cells, they developed specialized instruments and advanced microscopes that can take high-quality pictures every 10 minutes for hours on end. To map and monitor the cells, the researchers tagged them with fluorescent dyes.

what’s next

Thanks to this live imaging method, the team was able to see how the stem cells, known as brain progenitors, are arranged. The pseudostratified epithelium is a unique structure composed of cells. Cells are elongated so they can pack tightly together, which is its essential feature. The researchers also saw the nuclei of these formations migrate up and down before and after the split. They claim that this mobility is critical to maintaining organizational organization and supporting continued growth.

The researchers will then study how various cell types develop in the cephalopod brain. Koenig wanted to know if they were expressed at different times, how they chose which neuron to become, and whether the process was the same in different animals.

Koenig is enthusiastic about the next discovery that might be made.

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