An Octopus Has Nine Brains, Including One Central Brain and Eight Mini-Brains in Its Arms

Octopus is a fascinating creature whose brain system is quite different from human beings. While human beings possess one central brain, an octopus has nine brains distributed in its body.

In humans, the brain rests inside a person's head and is protected by the skull. Nevertheless, one brain governs every action or function of the body and contains an estimated 86 billion neurons. It enables information processing, and guided action, and produces thinking and emotional powers.

On the other hand, an octopus' central brain resides between its eyes with approximately 180 million neurons. It is a central brain that coordinates the overall actions of the octopus related to hunting and investigating an environment. Not to mention, it has eight arms with their mini-brains. The mini-brains will allow the arms to work somewhat independently. The total number of neurons runs to about 500 million, spread throughout the body; of these, two-thirds are in the arms. An arm cut off an octopus also continues to move and react to touch, demonstrating the degree these mini-brains can function independently of one another.