Carbocyanine dye labeling reveals a new motor nucleus in octopus brain

Abstract

This work aims at a better understanding of the organization of the brain of Octopus vulgaris, emphasizing the touch and visual learning centers. We injected the carbocyanine dye, DiI, into the cerebrobrachial connectives and, separately, into the brachial nerves of living octopuses. In both experiments, retrogradely transported granules of DiI appeared in motor neurons in the superior buccal, posterior buccal and subvertical lobes and in a hitherto unsuspected motor nucleus of several hundred neurons in the posterior dorsal basal and median basal lobes. In addition we labeled afferent fibers by injecting DiI into the caudal (sensory) division of the cerebrobrachial connective on one side; the label spread throughout the superior buccal, posterior buccal and the lateral and median inferior frontal lobes mainly on the injected side. It extended through the cerebral tract into the subvertical lobe, into the superior frontal lobe through the interfrontal tract, through the posterior buccal commissure into the opposite posterior buccal lobe and into the median inferior frontal lobe. The work suggests a new function for the posterior dorsal and median basal lobes, which are shown for the first time to project through the inferior frontal lobe system into the brachial nerves. In addition it represents the first full report of the successful use of the carbocyanine dyes DiI and DiO for labeling nerve tissue in a live invertebrate animal.