Traumatic Injuries Might Cause Octopuses to Experience Nightmares, Studies Suggest
- Octopuses may defend themselves through inking and extending their mantles when sleeping.
- Researchers observed an octopus exhibiting strange behaviors while sleeping, indicating it may have been dreaming.
- The octopus had recently been attacked by a predator and lost two arms, with a third arm damaged.
- The observations could help scientists better understand how octopus brains and evolution work.
- While hard to confirm, if true, this could mean that narrative dreaming developed separately in octopuses and other animals.
Smithsonian Magazine 