PHYLUM: MolluscaCLass: Cephalopoda Order: Octopoda FaMiLY: Octopodidae 40-45 million of these neurons are found in the 40 lobes of the central brain, which surrounds the esophagus.The vertical lobe resembles the vertebrate hippocampus in shape 3 and is thought to underlie similar capabilities as well, including short-and long-term memories, problem-solving skills, discrimination between different shapes and patterns, sensitization, habituation, associative learning and spatial learning.The large optic lobes behind the octopus's eyes are organized into three cortical layers, similar to the vertebrate retina, and contain another 120-180 million neurons 3 .Meanwhile, two-thirds of the neurons (~330 million) are in the octopus's eight arms 3 .This unusual neuronal layout allows each individual arm to act and carry out instructions from the central brain on its own.These arms can use tools, twist off lids and even childproof caps, withdraw from a noxious stimulus 4 and keep from entangling one another 5 .Many of these feats have been observed in amputated octopus arms, demonstrating how little input from the central brain is needed.Inspired by the octopus, roboticists are working to incorporate decentralized control systems into soft robotic arms 6 .