Octopuses have three bosom , blue lineage , and a freakishly strange   nervous system like no other puppet . They   have around 500 million neuron , over two - tierce of which are locate within their arms and body . As such , they are sometimes pronounce to have nine brains   – a donut - shaped one in their pass and eight other “ mini - brains ” locate in eachtentacle – direct some scientist to wonder whether the weapon effectively have a “ mind of their own ” that can act independently from the cardinal brain .

However , recent research suggests   this is n’t rigorously true ( though rest assured , the young insights show that their nervous system is stilldeeplyunusual ) .   The raw study , reported in the journalCurrent Biology , has expect at the central nervous arrangement of octopuses and uncover that their arm do n’t actually play independently from the centralized encephalon , but are , in fact , more connected than previously call back .

“ This field of study make it clear that octopus ’s coat of arms do n’t behave whole independently from the centralized brain   – there ’s entropy flow between the peripheral and central nervous scheme . Rather than spill about an octopus with nine brains , we ’re really talking about an octopus with one brain and eight very clever arms , ” lead generator Dr Tamar Gutnick , an octopus investigator formerly at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University in Japan , allege in astatement .

To reveal this ,   the researchers looked at common Mediterranean octopuses to see if single arms were able to provide the genius with two different character of sensory data through a telephone number of maze experiment .

The maze consisted of aY - form pipe , in which the devilfish can either put itstentacledown the right hand or left path to find a nutrient reward . They come out to explore the maze using fast movements , by pushing or unraveling their tentacle straight through the thermionic tube into the end boxwood . Ifthey got the right tube-shaped structure then they would find the food , but if they enter the incorrect tube , the intellectual nourishment was blocked by a mesh and the scientists removed the maze .

The subject area showed that five out of the six octopuses eventually teach the correct direction to crowd or unroll their limb through the tangle for get the food . Most crucially , they could successfully sail the tangle using weaponry that had n’t been used before . This process of encyclopaedism , the researchers say , shows that the tentacles necessitate the central brain and they are not autonomously act like an main mind of their own .

“ We reason that although octopus blazon have a cracking capacity to act independently , they are also capable to fundamental control , provide well - organized , purposeful behavior of the organism as a whole , ” the study reads .

Nevertheless , there arestill many mysteriesthat surround the octopus brain . For starter , it ’s unclear how much entropy is communicated between all these different neutral structures and why their nervous system is structured in this way . More fundamentally , it ’s ill-defined why octopus and other cephalopods are so intelligent . While scientist have some grasp of how a in high spirits level of word   has germinate among certain mintage , such as chimps or dolphins , most of their theories settle insipid when applied to the rum humans of cephalopods .

“ The brain of octopuses is so different – it ’s still a smuggled corner to us really , ” close Dr Gutnick . “ There ’s so much more to memorize . ”