MRI Scans Delve Into Dog-Like Complexity of Squid Brains (newatlas.com) 28
An anonymous reader quotes a report from New Atlas: New research led by Wen-Sung Chung and Justin Marshall of the University of Queensland is shedding new light on the complexity of squid brains. Using MRI scanning to examine the brain of the of the reef squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana, the researchers have produced a new map of neural connections that improves our understanding of their behavior. The cephalopods are widely recognized as the most intelligent of mollusks, but how do they rate when they are competing against something other than clams? Cephalopods show all sorts of complex behavior, like being able to recognize patterns, solve problems, communicate through signals, and camouflage themselves in different textures and colors, despite being colorblind.
But just how complex are these neural circuits? The answer may lie in the maps made by the new MRI scans. "This the first time modern technology has been used to explore the brain of this amazing animal, and we proposed 145 new connections and pathways, more than 60 percent of which are linked to the vision and motor systems," says Chung. "The modern cephalopods, a group including octopus, cuttlefish, and squid, have famously complex brains, approaching that of a dog and surpassing mice and rats, at least in neuronal number. For example, some cephalopods have more than 500 million neurons, compared to 200 million for a rat and 20,000 for a normal mollusk." "Chung says that this complexity may be an example of convergent evolution, where very distantly related animals, like dogs and squids, evolve similar solutions," the report adds. "It's why the eye of the squid is remarkably similar to that of the human eye, even though the two parted ways in evolutionary terms about 560 million years ago."
The research was published in the journal iScience.
But just how complex are these neural circuits? The answer may lie in the maps made by the new MRI scans. "This the first time modern technology has been used to explore the brain of this amazing animal, and we proposed 145 new connections and pathways, more than 60 percent of which are linked to the vision and motor systems," says Chung. "The modern cephalopods, a group including octopus, cuttlefish, and squid, have famously complex brains, approaching that of a dog and surpassing mice and rats, at least in neuronal number. For example, some cephalopods have more than 500 million neurons, compared to 200 million for a rat and 20,000 for a normal mollusk." "Chung says that this complexity may be an example of convergent evolution, where very distantly related animals, like dogs and squids, evolve similar solutions," the report adds. "It's why the eye of the squid is remarkably similar to that of the human eye, even though the two parted ways in evolutionary terms about 560 million years ago."
The research was published in the journal iScience.
Wait till you tell them they're related to squid (Score:2)
Bet the various racial supremacy groups will love that.
It may be a distant relation, but you gotta have fun triggering these people sometimes.
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"In evolutionary terms, you're just a badly botched squid. 560 million years, and you still can't get it right!"
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Does anyone seriously doubt that, though?
I don't think I've met a Christian who thought Jesus was Northern European.
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As my squid grandpa used to say, every family has a shady side if you traverse up and down the tree. In this case humans are the shady side.
Dogs are smarter (Score:1)
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Considering that my cats have more bathrooms (throne rooms?) than I do, they don't have to go to work, I don't make them hunt mice in a barn for their food, and they get free cat drugs (mm catnip), it wouldn't be terribly hard to argue that cats are smarter than humans, at least this one.
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> cats are smarter than humans, at least this one.
This is a worthy, self-aware comment. As the saying goes, "dogs have masters, cats have staff."
As the other saying goes, "what this house needs is a box of shit."
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I still maintain that the only reason that there's such high cat ownership in modern society is the brain parasites they carry.
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“Do you believe other people exist?” insisted Zarniwoop.
“I have no opinion. How can I say?”
“I’d better see what’s up with Trillian,” said Zaphod and slipped out.
Outside, he said to her:
“I think the Universe is in pretty good hands, yeah?” “Very good,” said Trillian. They walked off into the rain.
Inside, Zarniwoop continued.
“But don’t you understand that people live or die on your word?”
The ruler of the Universe waited for as long as he could. When he heard the faint sound of the ship’s engines starting he spoke to cover it.
“It’s nothing to do with me,” he said, “I am not involved with people. The Lord knows I am not a cruel man.”
“Ah!” barked Zarniwoop, “you say `The Lord’. You believe in something!”
“My cat,” said the man benignly, picking it up and stroking it, “I call him The Lord. I am kind to him.”
“Alright,” said Zarniwoop, pressing home his point, “How do you know he exists? How do you know he knows you to be kind, or enjoys what he thinks of as your kindness?”
“I don’t,” said the man with a smile, “I have no idea. It merely pleases me to behave in a certain way to what appears to be a cat. Do you behave any differently? Please, I think I am tired.”
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My cat drools when he's happy. I was gone for a week and my friend who was feeding my cat said he was looking for me the whole time.
When I came back from vacation my cat immediately recognized me and nuzzled me and slept on my chest purring and drooling.
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I don't base feeding my dog based on him wagging his tail.
I feed him daily, because he needs to be fed. I also feed my cats because they need to be fed.
The utility of dogs and cats is much lower today. So it makes it difficult to judge their actual intelligence.
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Nah, the utility of dogs is still pretty high. Particularly if you live in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood and have a big dog of a 'scary' breed.
New SI unit? (Score:2)
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Interesting (Score:2)
This study however goes much further. Very interesting.
All in all, it looks like pig is not the only intelligent animal which we are eating.
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Animal intelligence isn't a factor if we eat them or not.
We tend not to eat animals that...
A) have a utility for us. Horses, Dogs, Cats in general offer services of transportation, protection and removing vermin.
B) carry too many illnesses or are poisonous.
C) are animals that are difficult or too dangerous to hunt.
D) Lack little nutrient for us.
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You forgot:
E) Are judged to be cute.
Squid smarts (Score:2)
I once saw a video where they trained some octopuses to twist a lid off of a jar to get at food/rewards.
Then they put one in the jar.
It was smart enough to twist the lid off from the inside and get out.
One advantage they have over dogs is the ability to grasp.
Re: Squid smarts (Score:2)
And an octopus will never shit on the sidewalk or tear up your couch while youâ(TM)re at work
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They will leave their tank, go down the hall to the crab tank, pig out and return to their tank and look innocent.
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other octopusses who watched the first one do it
were able to open one without any practise.
After that, the first one took to hiding when it opened a jar,
so that the knowledge wouldn't spread to others.
I don't know if a dog could do something that sophisticated.
Also, the octopusses in the test were tiny and would fit in a human hand.
I believe this was on NOVA in the 90's.
Different kind of intelligence (Score:2)
Octopi have a distributed computing brain(s)
Whereas a dog is more like us with one cpu.
There are different styles of intelligence, birds can be pretty damn smart, as can apes, but these are all mammals. I would think and octopus intelligence is the closest we can get on earth to an alien intelligence
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Holy crap, canâ(TM)t believe I called birds mammals! Ugh... time for bed