4 ms·
That's awesome. I don't find it hard to believe that the octopus is dreaming, but I am a little skeptical of the interpretation of the evidence. Humans get erec
by warent 7y ago
That's awesome. I don't find it hard to believe that the octopus is dreaming, but I am a little skeptical of the interpretation of the evidence. Humans get erections throughout the night which have nothing to do with sexual dreams, so maybe the chromatophores cycling are just like that.
- jacobolus 7y agoMy impression was that men get erections at night to prevent themselves from peeing when they have a full bladder while asleep. But Wikipedia suggests that there is some controversy around the exact causes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnal_penile_tumescence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnal_penile_tumescence It’s hard to imagine what reason a sleeping octopus would have for cycling through colors if not related to their dreams.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- psychoslave 7y agoWhat about a purely "maintain in good functional state"? I mean, when there are not used, muscles atrophy. Maybe a similar phenomenon would happen if these cells were not regularly stimulated during sleep.
- lostmsu 7y agoIt is not a muscle
- psychoslave 7y agoThat was not the point, atrophy is not a phenomenon limited to muscles. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrophy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrophy
- skc 7y agoEvolutionarily speaking, what would be wrong with peeing in your sleep?
- octotoad 7y agoThe scent may have alerted predators to your location.
- dorusr 7y agoUrine attracts ticks and wet loin cloths can cause skin damage. Though for the erection part, erections are linked to the parasympathetic nerve system, which is fully active during sleep.(Which is why it's hard for men to get erections when they're chronically stressed)
- loco5niner 7y agoYou wake up with pee all over you.