<p>You could start with Hochner's papers, like this one:</p>

<p>Hochner, B., Shomrat, T., &amp; Fiorito, G. (2006). The octopus: a model for a comparative analysis of the evolution of learning and memory mechanisms. <em>The Biological Bulletin</em>, 210(3), 308-317. <a href="http://www.biolbull.org/content/210/3/308.full" rel="nofollow">http://www.biolbull.org/content/210/3/308.full</a></p>

<p>As far as I know, he is a world expert.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-20T14:51:26.750Z
2015-05-21T02:22:35.153Z
2015-05-21T02:22:35.153Z
Stefano
<p>Cephalopod brains are toroidal (high surface area to volume ratios!), with the esophagus passing through the, uh, donut hole; octopodes are very intelligent, particularly spatially.</p>

<p><strong>Where can I find more information on the functional and anatomical comparisons between human and cephalopod brains, and its consequences for the cognitive abilities of both?</strong>  Specifically questions like</p>

<ul>
<li>How does the functional neuroanatomy of the cephalopod compare to
human functional neuroanatomy?   </li>
<li>How does cortical organization (both    perpendicular to the surface
and across the surface) between    cephalopods and humans compare?</li>
<li>How do human spatial cognitive abilities differ from those of the octopus?  (Somewhat akin to how the pigeon's object recognition capabilities are less dependent on canonical views of familiar objects than the human system.)</li>
</ul>

<p>Bonus points for answer materials that are aimed at those with a knowledge of other neural systems, particularly human.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-11T21:09:08.313Z
+1 honestly didn't think i'd read 'donut-hole' on here. Wish I could answer but don't know enough about this, interesting question!
queenslug
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-21T07:49:57.587Z
And article: http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(12)01064-0?
Christian Hummeluhr
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-28T14:03:43.037Z
@ChristianHummeluhr make that an answer so I can upvote it please!
Krysta
<neuroscience><animal-cognition><neuroanatomy><spatial-cognition><comparative-cognition>
Comparative functional neuroanatomy: humans & octopodes
Krysta
# Comparative functional neuroanatomy: humans & octopodes

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-12-16)

Cephalopod brains are toroidal (high surface area to volume ratios!), with the esophagus passing through the, uh, donut hole; octopodes are very intelligent, particularly spatially.

**Where can I find more information on the functional and anatomical comparisons between human and cephalopod brains, and its consequences for the cognitive abilities of both?** Specifically questions like

* How does the functional neuroanatomy of the cephalopod compare to
  human functional neuroanatomy?
* How does cortical organization (both perpendicular to the surface
  and across the surface) between cephalopods and humans compare?
* How do human spatial cognitive abilities differ from those of the octopus? (Somewhat akin to how the pigeon's object recognition capabilities are less dependent on canonical views of familiar objects than the human system.)

Bonus points for answer materials that are aimed at those with a knowledge of other neural systems, particularly human.

**Tags:** neuroscience, animal-cognition, neuroanatomy, spatial-cognition, comparative-cognition

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: +1 honestly didn't think i'd read 'donut-hole' on here. Wish I could answer but don't know enough about this, interesting question!  
> **username_2**: And article: http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(12)01064-0?  
> **username_0**: @ChristianHummeluhr make that an answer so I can upvote it please!  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-05-20. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

You could start with Hochner's papers, like this one:

Hochner, B., Shomrat, T., & Fiorito, G. (2006). The octopus: a model for a comparative analysis of the evolution of learning and memory mechanisms. *The Biological Bulletin*, 210(3), 308-317. <http://www.biolbull.org/content/210/3/308.full>

As far as I know, he is a world expert.


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