MBL cephalopod scientist Carrie Albertin appears in the National Public Radio story.

By Nell Greenfieldboyce

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. Listen to segment and read more …

 

Photo: An octopus in active sleep — possibly dreaming. Credit: Sylvia Medeiros

Source: Octopuses, Like People, Seem To Have Active Stages Of Sleep, May Dream : NPR