Meeting an alien, behavioral experiments on the octopus

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Meeting an alien, behavioral experiments on the octopus Michael Kuba1*, Tamar Gutnick1 and Binyamin Hochner1, 2 1 Hebrew University, Neurobiology, Israel 2 Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation, Israel Cephalopods developed the most complex nervous system found in all mollusks. Living in a sensory world very different from our own, octopuses provide a challenge and inspiration for generations of researchers. Their bodies are boneless and flexible and they posses a unique advanced visual system, analogous to the vertebrate model. For years research on octopuses has focused on simple learning tests, relying on an innate attack response animals were trained to either attack or not attack a seemingly endless variety of shapes and patterns, combined with surgical lesion experiments researchers were able to identify some of the most important neural pathways in the octopus nervous system. However one major question remains unanswered – to what extent and how does this soft bodied animal control its’ body and specifically its arms. So how can we try to understand and decipher the behaviors and abilities of the octopus? Using a modification of Y shaped mazes we investigated if octopuses posses more control of their bodies then previously thought. A first set of experiments investigated the ability of octopuses to learn to turn their arm in a specific direction in an opaque Y shaped maze. The animals received neither chemical nor tactile information on the direction of the turn. Therefore the correct decision to turn left or right inside the maze could only be made based on proprioceptive information on the position of the arm. 5 out of 6 subjects were able to successfully complete this task in less then 90 trials. A second set of experiments was carried out using a similar maze apparatus this time testing tactile discrimination learning – for the first time in intact animals. Eight out of nine animals learned this task in 60 to 90 trials. All animals showed a characteristic multi-peaked learning curve. Our present work sheds new light on tasks the octopus can conduct using a single arm. This raises questions to what extend octopuses might be aware of the position of their highly flexible bodies. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the EU EP7 grant OCTOPUS no: 231608 and the ISF. Keywords: invertebrate, motorcontrol, octopus, operant, Proprioception, tactile Conference: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park. Maryland USA, United States, 5 Aug - 10 Aug, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster (but consider for Participant Symposium) Topic: Sensorimotor Integration Citation: Kuba M, Gutnick T and Hochner B (2012). Meeting an alien, behavioral experiments on the octopus. Conference Abstract: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnbeh.2012.27.00436 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 10 May 2012; Published Online: 07 Jul 2012. * Correspondence: Dr. Michael Kuba, Hebrew University, Neurobiology, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel, Michi.kuba@me.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Michael Kuba Tamar Gutnick Binyamin Hochner Google Michael Kuba Tamar Gutnick Binyamin Hochner Google Scholar Michael Kuba Tamar Gutnick Binyamin Hochner PubMed Michael Kuba Tamar Gutnick Binyamin Hochner Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.