Every study on octopuses illuminates the mystery of these creatures’ almost natural abilities. One of these abilities is that they can change color instantly according to the ground they are in and camouflage them almost perfectly. Also, octopuses do not forget easily.
Observations and findings show that the brains of these creatures are among the most interesting structures in nature. Now, research has been done on genes called “jump gene” or “transposon” in both human and octopus genomes.
There are the same genes responsible for cognitive abilities in octopus and human brains!
According to scientists, transposon genes, which play an important role in the evolutionary process, are found in almost every living thing. However, the function and function of this gene or its reflection on the phenotype changes according to the structure of the creature. For example, brown spots on corn kernels are the result of this gene.
According to the findings, the part of the octopus brain responsible for cognitive abilities has a physically similar position to the human brain. However, the only common point in the cognitive abilities of these two creatures is not limited to this. Transposon genes called LINE sequences, which were previously detected in the human genome, were also found in the octopus brain.
So what does this mean?
“The brain structure involved in learning and cognitive abilities in the octopus is just like the hippocampus in humans,” says Biologist Giovanna Ponte, who led the research. The hippocampus in humans is directly related to learning, cognitive skills, and memory. This part of the brain, which looks like a pair of kidneys in the middle of the brain, is famous for physically resembling a sea horse.
On the other hand, the results of this research provide evidence that transposon genes play an important role in cognitive abilities, besides just “copying and pasting DNA in a certain order”. “The brains of octopuses are similar to mammals in many functions,” reminds Biologist Graziano Fiorito of the research team. However, the fact that octopuses are invertebrates rather than mammals makes the results even more interesting.
The brains that make octopuses one of the smartest animals in nature seem to continue to surprise us. You can access the research in question via the BMC Biology journal.
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