Computation in the Learning System of Cephalopods
Open accessAbstract
The memory mechanisms of cephalopods consist of a series of matrices of intersecting axes, which find associations between the signals of input events and their consequences. The tactile memory is distributed among eight such matrices, and there is also some suboesophageal learning capacity. The visual memory lies in the optic lobe and four matrices, with some re-exciting pathways. In both systems, damage to any part reduces proportionally the effectiveness of the whole memory. These matrices are somewhat like those in mammals, for instance those in the hippocampus. The first matrix in both visual and tactile systems receives signals of vision and taste, and its output serves to increase the tendency to attack or to take with the arms. The second matrix provides for the correlation of groups of signals on its neurons, which pass signals to the third matrix. Here large cells find clusters in the sets of signals. Their output re-excites those of the first lobe, unless pain occurs. In that case, this set of cells provides a record that ensures retreat. There is experimental evidence that these distributed memory systems allow for the identification of categories of visual and tactile inputs, for generalization, and for decision on appropriate behavior in the light of experience. The evidence suggests that learning in cephalopods is not localized to certain layers or "grandmother cells" but is distributed with high redundance in serial networks, with recurrent circuits.
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The vertical lobe in cuttlefish presents similarities to vertebrate hippocampus formation in its connectivity and functionality.
“Instead, the structure representing the epicentre for learning and memory in cuttlefish is known as the vertical lobe, which presents similarities to vertebrate hippocampus formation in its connectivity and functionality [135–137].”
From Is episodic-like memory <i>like</i> episodic memory? (2024) · cites this paper as [137]
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Self-citationLEARNING AND OTHER FUNCTIONS OF THE HIGHER NERVOUS CENTRES OF SEPIA
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Self-citationLEARNING AND DISCRIMINATION IN THE OCTOPUS
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Self-citationThe Croonian Lecture, 1965 - The organization of a memory system
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Self-citationLearning with delayed rewards in Octopus
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Memory engrams: Recalling the past and imagining the future
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Episodic-like memory is preserved with age in cuttlefish
Schnell, A. K., Clayton, N. S., Hanlon, R. T., & Jozet-Alves, C. (2021) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2021.1052 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Is episodic-like memory <i>like</i> episodic memory?
Davies, J. R., & Clayton, N. S. (2024) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2023.0397 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
- Authors
- Young, J. Z.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Young, J. Z.
- Venue
- The Biological Bulletin
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Published
- 1991-04
- Volume
- 180
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 200-208
- ISSN
- 0006-3185 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-8697
- OpenAlex
- W2112819547
- Cited by
- 119
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 3.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-sa
- Locations
- Biological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Biodiversity Heritage Library (Smithsonian Institution) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Cephalopods and Marine Biology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Keywords
- distributed memory, tactile memory, visual memory, optic lobe, suboesophageal ganglion, recurrent circuits, generalization, pain avoidance, octopus
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