JM News UK

Octopuses employ unique strategies to coordinate their bodies and arms while crawling around, researchers have found, with the creatures able to move in any direction relative to their body orientation. Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have reported the first detailed kinematic analysis of octopus arm coordination, showing that they have a unique motor control strategy which the central brain activates, rather than autonomous motor programmes in the peripheral nervous system of the arms. The study, published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology, used videos of octopuses moving with researchers analysing them frame by frame. Findings showed some surprise results – despite having a symmetrical body, they can crawl in any direction they want relative to its body orientation.