When people and animals get tired, we sleep. Sleep helps turn things we’ve learned into long-term memories. As we sleep, our brains play out experiences in the form of dreams. Scientists can learn more about people’s dreams by asking them questions. But how do they study other animals’ dreams?
Researchers in Japan wanted to learn more about how octopuses sleep—and potentially dream. When octopuses are awake, they can change the pattern and color of their skin to help them hunt and hide. The researchers observed 29 octopuses at rest. They noticed the octopuses’ changing color patterns during sleep were similar to the changing patterns the creatures had while awake. This could be a sign that the octopuses were dreaming.
Scientists think octopuses might be practicing using their camouflage. Or maybe they’re learning from things that happened while awake, just like humans do when we dream!