Groundbreaking Study Decodes Memory Formation Mechanism in Octopuses

A groundbreaking scientific study has revealed the unique molecular mechanism that allows octopuses to encode and preserve long-term memories, despite evolving along a completely separate evolutionary path from mammals.

While mammals and other vertebrates require the synthesis of new proteins to consolidate long-term memories, the octopus brain relies on a surprising molecular switch: a tiny gas molecule that generates a positive feedback loop. This loop continuously sustains itself, stabilizing memories without the need for new protein synthesis.

At the neural level, memory preservation involves stable, long-term changes in communication strength between neurons. In mammals, processing new information requires cells to produce new proteins to strengthen synaptic connections and prevent memory fading. However, researchers focused on the octopus vertical lobe—a brain region functionally analogous to the vertebrate hippocampus, responsible for memory acquisition and associative learning. Although long-term synaptic potentiation occurs in this lobe, the biological mechanism anchoring the memory differs fundamentally from vertebrates.

At the core of this mechanism is the gas molecule nitric oxide, which plays a dual role: it mediates synaptic strengthening by accelerating neurotransmitter release while simultaneously and continuously activating the enzyme responsible for producing the gas itself. This combined action creates an autonomous self-sustaining circuit that reliably fixes the memory.

Different Evolutionary Path, Similar Outcome

Prof. Binyamin Hochner, one of the lead researchers, explained that octopuses developed an entirely independent molecular solution to the biological challenge of translating fleeting experiences into stable neural changes. According to the researchers, these findings illustrate how neural learning and memory systems, developed through separate evolutionary pathways, arrive at similar operational principles using entirely different biological mechanisms.

The groundbreaking study was conducted by a senior research team including Dr. Ana Luiza Turcatti-Maya, Dr. Tal Shomrat, and Prof. Binyamin Hochner from the Department of Neurobiology at the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, alongside researchers Flavy Bidel, Itamar Koren, and Naama Stern-Mentsch. The study was carried out in close collaboration with the Faculty of Marine Sciences at the Ruppin Academic Center in Mikhmoret, with Dr. Tal Shomrat, researcher Nir Nesher, and Naama Stern-Mentsch. The dramatic findings were published in the prominent scientific journal Journal of Neuroscience.