Touch-tasting octopi

Their arms are capable of making decisions independently and can even continue to react to stimuli after being severed. Each has more degrees of freedom than we can count, and any of its hundreds of suckers, able to "taste" the chemistry of the octopus's environment, is able to change shape independently.

Researchers found that nerves from multiple segments connect to different muscle regions —suggesting that the segments work together to control the muscles with a high degree of precision.

They found that the nerves for the suckers also connect via the septa, creating a sort of nervous spatial map of the suckers, and allowing for the fine, individual control of each one as the octopus uses them to sense its environment through touch-tasting.

"Thinking about this from a modeling perspective, the best way to set up a control system for this very long, flexible arm would be to divide it into segments," Olson says. "There has to be some sort of communication between the segments, which you can imagine would help smooth out the movements."