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Investigating Neural Plasticity in Octopus Arm Tissue

Undergraduate Research Project
Advisor: Dr. Galit Peled
Institution: Michigan State University

Summary

This research investigates how repeated electrical stimulation affects neural activity in isolated octopus arm tissue. Octopus arms contain a highly decentralized nervous system, making them a unique model for studying local neural plasticity independent of a central brain. Using high-density electrophysiology recordings, we examined whether repeated stimulation leads to increased spike activity and expanded spatial activation within the axial nerve cord.

Approach

• Ex vivo octopus arm tissue preparation and perfusion
• Electrical stimulation of the axial nerve cord
• High-density multi-electrode array recordings (26,000 electrodes)
• Spike count and spatial activation analysis across repeated trials

Key Findings

• Repeated stimulation produced substantial increases in spike activity compared to control conditions
• Neural responses became stronger and more spatially distributed over time
• Results suggest early evidence of local neural plasticity within the octopus arm

Impact

This work contributes to understanding decentralized neural systems and has implications for neuroscience, adaptive robotics, and biologically inspired control architectures.

Poster