Octopuses dream and change color while they sleep - new study

Octopuses have been shown to be like humans in many ways, and now it’s thought that they sleep like us too. A new study published in the journal Nature shows that octopuses have periods of ‘active sleep’, similar to REM sleep in humans, where their brain activity very closely resembles their brain activity while awake. A team of researchers filmed the snoozing octopuses, and found their skin changed color during these active sleep periods. Given that changing color for camouflage is one method octopuses use to evade predators, it’s thought they could be dreaming of something similar while asleep. (At least they aren’t dreaming of turning up to work naked.) If it’s a World Cup year, however, then we need to pay attention to whether they change to Brazil or Argentina colors.