Octopuses become friendly on ecstasy



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A new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University showed that octopus reacts in the same way to humans when given MDMA, also known as Ecstasy, indicating that there are genetic links to creatures eight-legged.

Current Biology, a bioscience journal that publishes original research, published this week a study that showed that generally anti-social invertebrates become very friendly at low doses of MDMA. Gul Dolen and Eric Edsinger, the authors of the study, began giving them large doses to see if the drug would have an effect.

The study found that high doses caused octopus sitting in a corner, setting their environment. When given a lower dose, similar to that of a person, it becomes unusually friendly.

Octopuses are usually so antisocial, researchers must keep them in separate tanks to prevent them from killing themselves or even eating each other, according to the study. Once they were given the "love drug", they could hardly stop each other from hugging each other.

The researchers placed the eight-legged hand-sized critters in test tubes filled with seawater and liquefied MDMA to absorb the drug through their gills. they would interact, according to the study.

The study shows that octopuses cling to the glass and separate them from other invertebrates. This indicates that there are strong genetic similarities between humans and octopuses that cause the binding of the serotonin molecule, which is influenced by MDMA, to brain cells.

According to study estimates, although octopuses and humans are separated by 500 million years by evolution, these results indicate that there is a common lineage between the two.

© 2018 KREM

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