Do Octopuses Dream?

Octopuses are extremely intelligent creatures. Octopuses have a brain-to-body ratio similar to mammals, allowing them to engage in higher-order cognitive tasks such as problem-solving and tool use. They are capable of lifting lids, opening jars, and breaking into child-resistant containers. These intelligent creatures have even been known to escape aquariums, return to the water, and even sabotage the plumbing of their own tanks.

Octopuses, like humans, alternate between sleeping quietly and sleeping actively. During active sleep, an octopus’ skin changes color, their bodies twitch, and their suckers retract, similar to how a human’s respiration and heart rate increase during dreams in REM sleep. In contrast to humans, octopuses’ active sleep is brief.

“If they are dreaming, they are dreaming for up to a minute,” said Sidarta Ribeiro, a neuroscientist at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil.

Given how short their periods of active sleep are, octopuses’ dreams are likely to be simple. These dreams are compared to small video clips or gifs, lasting only a few seconds to a minute, according to the researchers.

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“[Octopuses] radically change their color and skin texture for about 40 seconds. Their eyes are moving as well “Sylvia Medeiros of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte’s Brain Institute. “Everything happens right in front of your eyes.”

The scientists used a variety of visual and tactile stimulation tests to make sure the animals were asleep. The researchers wanted to determine if the octopuses would react to vibrations created by tapping on the glass or to a favorite food item like a swimming crab. The octopuses needed a stronger stimulus to react in each case than while they were awake, indicating that the observed behavior was indeed sleeping.

In future studies, researchers want to explore the link between octopuses’ dreams and their extreme intelligence, thinking, and learning.