An octopus may get some mileage out of the excuse “I can’t help it, my arm has a mind of its own,” as it goes for an extra sea morsel—at least more than can a human who reaches too often into the cookie jar. Neither, however, can lay full blame for their greed on their appendages.

For humans, the brain inside the human skull, the same brain that sees the cookie and wants to eat it, controls the reach into the cookie jar. Octopus arms, on the other hand, really do have a mind of their own, according to research reported in the September 7 issue of Science.

Tags: Behavior, Brain, Intelligence
Posted in Blog