Scientists gave MDMA to octopus – and what happened was deep

When humans take the drug MDMA, which versions are known as molly or ecstasy, they usually feel very happy, extroverted and particularly interested in physical touch. A group of scientists recently asked if this drug could have a similar effect on other species, especially octopuses, which are apparently as different from humans as animals. The results of their experiment, in which seven octopuses took MDMA, were "incredible".

Just think of an octopus – apart from their awesome intelligence, they have little in common with humans. We have traveled different branches of the evolutionary tree for 500 million years. Instead of a brain located with a cortex or a highly folded outer layer as our brain does, the decentralized nervous system of an octopus includes, in addition to the brain, control centers for each arm.

Given our differences, Dölen and colleague Eric Edsinger questioned whether the chemistry behind human social behavior – the system controlling the serotonin molecule – also exists in solitary and asocial octopus. They began by analyzing the genome of the octopus and found that octopuses also have genes that appear to encode serotonin transporters, the proteins responsible for the movement of serotonin molecules in brain cells. Serotonin is the molecule generally considered responsible for the feeling of well-being. When humans take MDMA, it binds to the serotonin transporter proteins and alters the way serotonin moves between brain cells, possibly producing the high level and potential for extraversion of the drug.

The fun started when the researchers gave MDMA to seven Octopus bimaculoids octopus inside laboratory vats. They hoped to test whether the animals behaved more socially after receiving a dose of MDMA – a sign that the drug was binding to their serotonin transporters.

After dragging in a bath containing ecstasy, the animals moved into a room with three pieces to pick: a center piece, one containing a male octopus and another containing a toy. This is a configuration frequently used in mouse studies. Before MDMA, octopus avoided the male octopus. According to the study published in Current Biology, after the MDMA bath, they spent more time with the other octopus. They also touched the other octopus in what appeared to be an exploratory rather than an aggressive way.

Scientists have realized that despite our very different brains, social behavior is embedded in the molecules encoded by our DNA, Dölen explained.

"An octopus does not have a cortex and does not have a reward circuit," Gizmodo Gul Dölen, an assistant professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, told Gizmodo. "And yet, he is able to react to MDMA and produce the same effects in an animal with a totally different brain organization. For me, this means that we really need to understand that the activity of these companies is at the level of the molecule.

You are probably curious: did the octopuses panic? Scientists have not discussed such behavior in the newspaper because it is difficult to quantify octopus without anthropomorphizing – Dölen warned me that the following is anecdotal evidence and not scientific observation. But yes, the octopuses acted as if they had taken Ecstasy. At first, when they received a little too much MDMA, they breathed erratically and turned white. But at low doses, an animal "looked like an aquatic ballet," swimming with arms outstretched. Another spent part of the time doing flips and another seemed particularly interested in minor sounds and smells.

"It was such an amazing article, with a totally unexpected and almost unbelievable result," Judit Pungor, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oregon not involved in the study, told Gizmodo. . "To think that an animal whose brain has evolved completely independently of ours reacts in the same way as we do to a drug is absolutely amazing."

There are limits to the study, of course. Dölen noted that the sample size of seven octopuses is not enough to show the differences between the response of men and women to MDMA. She would like to test further behavioral changes, as well as what happens if they block the serotonin transmitter before giving MDMA. Such a test would convince Dölen that she really saw the effects of MDMA on serotonin transporters. Pungor also wanted to test if the drug would have different effects on octopuses of different ages, or if the octopus's education had changed its sociality.

It is clear that psychoactive drugs such as MDMA, LSD and magic mushrooms are undergoing a scientific renaissance – they are being studied as potential treatments for depression and PTSD – and their stigma is decreasing. funding becomes available. This could be important for our understanding of the animal and human brain.

"People are starting to recognize that these drugs are powerful tools for understanding the evolution of the brain," Dölen told Gizmodo. "They are powerful activators of these behaviors. This is not subtle.