What the Octopus Can Teach Us About Neuroplasticity, Adaptation, and Recovery
The human brain is not a fixed machine. It is a living system that continually responds to experience, sensory input, practice, injury, and changing demands.
Researchers study many different nervous systems to understand how adaptation occurs. One particularly fascinating example is the octopus. Its nervous system developed along a very different evolutionary path from ours, yet it demonstrates several familiar principles: learning changes neural connections, control can be distributed across a nervous system, and recovery does not always require returning to an original biological design.
These findings do not mean that human brains work like octopus nervous systems. They do, however, help researchers ask better questions about learning, rehabilitation, compensation, and what recovery can look like.
NPA Quick ReadResearch across humans and other species is changing how we understand the brain:
The octopus offers a compelling example of biological adaptability. The most important message, however, is about us: the human nervous system is also dynamic, responsive, and capable of learning new ways to function. |
Your Brain Is Not Hardwired
The term “hardwired” suggests that each part of the brain is permanently assigned one job. Human neuroscience has shown that the reality is much more flexible.
Brain regions are influenced by the information they receive, the tasks they perform, and the networks with which they communicate. In people who are blind, for example, brain regions commonly associated with vision may become involved in processing touch, sound, language, or spatial information. Studies of sensory-substitution training also suggest that the adult brain can learn to interpret information delivered through a different sensory pathway.
This does not mean every brain region can perform every function. Anatomy, injury location, age, health, and the timing and type of intervention all influence what is possible. It does mean that the brain’s organization is more responsive to experience than older, rigid models suggested.
As David Eagleman writes in Livewired, “Our machinery isn’t fully preprogrammed, but instead shapes itself by interacting with the world.”
That principle is especially important in rehabilitation: what the brain repeatedly attempts, practices, senses, and receives feedback about can help shape its future activity.
Learning Changes Neural Connections
One reason researchers study the octopus is that complex learning evolved independently in cephalopods and vertebrates.
Research on the octopus vertical lobe—a structure involved in learning and memory—has identified long-term potentiation, or LTP. LTP is a lasting increase in the strength of communication between neurons following repeated activity. It is also studied extensively in vertebrates as one of the cellular processes associated with learning and memory.
The octopus is not demonstrating a human rehabilitation protocol. Instead, it illustrates a broader biological principle: nervous systems learn by changing the strength and organization of their connections.
What this means for the human brain
Human learning also depends on activity and experience. In rehabilitation, repeated, purposeful practice can help the nervous system become more efficient at performing a task. The greatest value generally comes from practice that is relevant to the individual’s goals—not repetition for its own sake.
Evidence from stroke rehabilitation supports task-oriented training, particularly when the activities reflect meaningful, real-world functions. However, researchers are still working to determine the best intensity, number of repetitions, timing, and combination of interventions for different people.
The practical takeaway is not simply “repeat more.” It is:
Practice a specific and meaningful function.
Use appropriate support and feedback.
Adjust the challenge as ability changes.
Allow time for rest and consolidation.
Work with qualified professionals to determine a safe dosage.
The Brain Works Through Networks, Not Isolated Parts
The octopus nervous system is unusually distributed. A substantial portion of its neurons is located outside its central brain, throughout its peripheral nervous system and arms.
Studies have shown that basic arm-extension programs can be produced by neural circuitry in the arm. At the same time, octopuses can use information from their arms to perform centrally directed learning tasks. The arms are therefore not completely independent “mini-brains.” Movement emerges through cooperation between local sensory-motor circuits and central control.
What this helps us understand about humans
Human movement, sensation, attention, language, and memory also depend on networks. A function rarely belongs to one isolated spot working alone.
After a neurological injury, treatment may therefore address more than the visibly affected body part. Recovery can involve:
Sensory feedback
Motor planning
Attention
Balance and posture
Vision and spatial processing
Communication between different brain regions
Communication between the brain, spinal cord, nerves, and muscles
Environmental supports that make a task possible
This is why an interdisciplinary care team can be so important. A person may need support from physical, occupational, speech-language, vision, vestibular, psychological, or other specialists depending on the functions affected.
Recovery Can Take More Than One Path
One of the most important lessons in neurorehabilitation is that improvement does not always occur through a single mechanism.
Depending on the person and condition, progress may involve:
Restoration: Regaining some or all of a previously used ability.
Strengthening: Improving the efficiency of a surviving pathway or function through practice.
Compensation: Using another strategy or ability to accomplish the same goal.
Adaptation: Changing the environment, task, or tools to support participation and independence.
A communication device, mobility aid, written reminder, sensory cue, or environmental modification should not automatically be viewed as giving up on neuroplasticity. These tools can create opportunities for participation and repeated practice. In some situations, compensation and restoration can occur alongside one another.
Human recovery is rarely an either-or choice between “getting the old function back” and “learning to live without it.” A well-designed plan may pursue several pathways at once.
Function Can Return Without Recreating the Original Structure
Researchers have also studied what happens when the octopus’s pallial nerve is injured. This nerve contributes to essential functions including breathing movements and changes in skin patterning.
In a 2019 study, injured nerve fibers regenerated and reconnected with their targets. The final organization of the repaired nerve did not exactly reproduce the original structure, but observable function returned to a level comparable with that of an intact animal. PubMed
This is an important and scientifically specific finding—but it requires careful interpretation.
Humans do not possess the same peripheral nerve-regeneration abilities as octopuses, and this research does not demonstrate that a human brain or spinal cord can regenerate in the same way. It should not be used to promise nerve regrowth or complete recovery.
The relevant recovery principle
The study demonstrates that a nervous system may regain function without rebuilding itself in precisely the same form.
That distinction matters. In human rehabilitation, a meaningful outcome may be produced through:
Reorganization of surviving brain networks
Increased use of remaining abilities
Recruitment of supporting pathways
Changes in movement strategies
Assistive technology
Changes to the task or environment
Recovery should be measured not only by whether the nervous system looks or works exactly as it did before, but also by whether the person gains greater function, participation, confidence, or independence.
Adaptation Can Occur at More Than One Level
Octopuses can also alter how genetic information is used through a process called RNA editing.
In a 2023 study, researchers found that temperature changes affected RNA editing at thousands of sites in the nervous system of Octopus bimaculoides. More than 13,000 temperature-sensitive editing sites changed codons, and experiments showed that some of these changes affected proteins involved in neurotransmitter release and axonal transport.
This is not the same as human neuroplasticity, nor does it mean people can consciously edit their RNA. It shows that adaptation can occur at several biological levels—not only through outward behavior or changes between neurons.
What this adds to the human conversation
When we speak about neuroplasticity, we often focus only on “rewiring the brain.” In reality, human adaptation can involve changes across multiple interacting systems:
Synaptic strength
Network communication
Sensory processing
Movement strategies
Attention and learning
Behavioral routines
Physiological state
Environmental demands and supports
The nervous system does not adapt in isolation. Rehabilitation is influenced by the entire person and the conditions under which learning is being attempted.
Neuroplasticity Is Not Automatically Positive
The brain learns from repetition—but it can reinforce both helpful and unhelpful patterns.
Avoiding a movement because it feels difficult may reduce opportunities to practice it.
Continually compensating with one side of the body can strengthen that strategy, even when some use of the affected side may still be possible. Persistent fear, guarding, or inactivity may also become part of a learned response.
This does not mean people cause their symptoms or can “think” themselves out of a neurological condition. It means neuroplasticity is experience-dependent, not inherently beneficial.
A rehabilitation plan should therefore consider:
What is being practiced?
What is being avoided?
Is the current strategy helping or limiting function?
Is the challenge appropriate?
What feedback is the nervous system receiving?
Does the person have the medical, emotional, and environmental support needed to continue?
What This Means for Your Recovery
The most useful lesson is not that humans should recover like octopuses. It is that biology contains more than one solution to the challenge of change.
Your nervous system may improve by restoring a function, strengthening a surviving ability, recruiting another network, learning a compensatory strategy, or changing how a task is performed.
Progress may also be uneven. Someone can improve in one area while continuing to experience limitations in another. Gains may appear as greater endurance, fewer errors, improved confidence, better participation, or reduced dependence—not only as complete symptom resolution.
Neuroplasticity offers a scientific basis for possibility, but it is not a guarantee. Diagnosis, injury severity, age, coexisting health conditions, access to care, treatment timing, practice, and support can all influence recovery.
The goal is not to promise that every function will return. The goal is to understand that the nervous system may have more than one way to move forward.
Key Takeaway
The octopus gives scientists an extraordinary example of how a nervous system can learn, distribute control, respond to environmental demands, and restore function.
But the central message of this article is about the human brain:
Recovery does not always mean rebuilding the exact system that existed before. It may mean helping the nervous system develop the most effective available pathway toward function, participation, and quality of life.
Our brains are not infinitely changeable, and neuroplasticity should never be presented as a cure or promise. Yet the brain is also not static. With appropriate treatment, meaningful practice, supportive conditions, and time, change may remain possible.
Continue Your Neuroplasticity Learning
The Neuroplasticity Alliance’s Rewire Your Brain program explains neuroplasticity and helps participants apply it to their own recovery, healthcare decisions, self-advocacy, and next steps.
All four session replays and supporting materials are available for a $15 donation.
Your donation supports The Neuroplasticity Alliance, a nonprofit organization providing accessible, free and low-cost neuroplasticity education and support.
Visit NPAllies.org/rewirethebrain to learn more.
About The Neuroplasticity Alliance
The Neuroplasticity Alliance helps people affected by neurological conditions better understand neuroplasticity, explore treatment and rehabilitation options, advocate for their needs, and make informed decisions about their care.
NPA provides educational programs, practical resources, community discussions, and tools designed to help individuals and families navigate the often-complex path of neurological recovery.
Scientific Resources
Hochner B, et al. “A Learning and Memory Area in the Octopus Brain Manifests a Vertebrate-Like Long-Term Potentiation.” Journal of Neurophysiology, 2003.
Shomrat T, et al. “The Octopus Vertical Lobe Modulates Short-Term Learning Rate and Uses LTP to Acquire Long-Term Memory.” Current Biology, 2008.
Sumbre G, et al. “Control of Octopus Arm Extension by a Peripheral Motor Program.” Science, 2001.
Zullo L, et al. “Motor Control Pathways in the Nervous System of Octopus vulgaris Arm.” Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 2019.
Gutnick T, et al. “Use of Peripheral Sensory Information for Central Nervous Control of Arm Movement by Octopus vulgaris.” Current Biology, 2020.
Imperadore P, et al. “From Injury to Full Repair: Nerve Regeneration and Functional Recovery in the Common Octopus.” Journal of Experimental Biology, 2019.
Birk MA, et al. “Temperature-Dependent RNA Editing in Octopus Extensively Recodes the Neural Proteome.” Cell, 2023.
Kleim JA, Jones TA. “Principles of Experience-Dependent Neural Plasticity: Implications for Rehabilitation After Brain Damage.” Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2008.
French B, et al. “Does Repetitive Task Training Improve Functional Activity After Stroke?” Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis, 2010.
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