https://www.npr.org/2021/03/25/980944495/sleeping-octopuses-may-have-dreams-but-theyre-probably-brief

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Octopuses, Like People, Seem To Have Active Stages Of Sleep, May
Dream Octopuses have an "active" phase of sleep, the kind that might
involve dreaming, but they probably don't have long, complicated
dreams like people do.
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Sleeping Octopuses May Have Dreams, But They're Probably Brief

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Sleeping Octopuses May Have Dreams, But They're Probably Brief 1:55

Animals

Sleeping Octopuses May Have Dreams, But They're Probably Brief

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March 25, 202111:00 AM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
Nell Greenfieldboyce 2010

Nell Greenfieldboyce

Sleeping Octopuses May Have Dreams, But They're Probably Brief

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[this-image]
Enlarge this image

An octopus in active sleep -- possibly dreaming. Sylvia Medeiros hide
caption

toggle caption
Sylvia Medeiros

An octopus in active sleep -- possibly dreaming.

Sylvia Medeiros

Octopuses have alternating periods of "quiet" and "active" sleep that
make their rest similar to that of mammals, despite being separated
by more than 500 million years of evolution.

During their active periods of sleep, octopuses' skin color changes
and their bodies twitch, according to a report in the journal
iScience, and they might even have short dreams.

"If they are dreaming, they are dreaming for up to a minute," says
Sidarta Ribeiro, a neuroscientist at the Brain Institute at the
Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil.

It's been clear for awhile that octopuses can change color as they
sleep; videos of this have even gone viral. And previously, other
groups had suggested that cuttlefish have an active sleep state
similar to the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep seen in birds, mammals
and some reptiles.

But those researchers did not check to see if the creatures in that
state would respond to something like prey, says Ribeiro, which left
open the possibility that the animals were actually in a state of
quiet alertness.

Ribeiro and some colleagues decided to video-record four adult
octopuses in the lab to monitor their sleep. And to make sure the
animals were genuinely sleeping, the researchers checked to see if
they would respond to a video of a swimming crab, a favorite food
item, or to a vibration made by a hammer tapping on the tank.

The octopuses remained indifferent and difficult to arouse while
sleeping, instead of reacting as they normally would when awake. The
scientists found that the octopuses had periods of quiet sleep, when
they were pale and still, followed by short bursts of active sleep.
This cycle repeated every 30 to 40 minutes.

The active sleep periods were brief but obvious; the octopuses' skin
darkened and their bodies and suckers contracted.

"For around 40 seconds, they dramatically change their color and
their skin texture. Their eyes are also moving," says Sylvia Medeiros
, a graduate student at the Brain Institute of the Federal University
of Rio Grande do Norte. "All of this happens very conspicuously."

Their dreams, if they have them, can't be terribly complex or
symbolic, given how short these active phases are, says Medeiros.
Octopuses are known to be problem solvers, however, so maybe dreams
help their impressive, unusual brains consolidate memories and
improve on tasks.

Carrie Albertin, who studies octopuses at the Marine Biological
Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., says these creatures spend a lot of
time in their dens and it certainly can look like they're sleeping
and even dreaming.

"I think as you watch these animals, it's really hard to deny that
something is going on, but it's really important to actually quantify
it and do the study and set up the study so that you can characterize
it in a rigorous way," says Albertin. "And that's exactly what this
group has done."

She thinks this work is a good first step in characterizing the
different stages of octopus sleep.

"I think it's really important to study these sorts of questions in
animals like octopuses and cuttlefish," says Albertin, "because they
are a separate example of the evolution of large brains. And so they
are telling us something fundamental about what it is to have a large
brain and what you need as part of that."

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