Hochner Binyamin
Department of Neurobiology, Silberman Institute of Life Sciences and Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
Brain Behav Evol. 2013;82(1):19-30. doi: 10.1159/000353419. Epub 2013 Aug 21.
Cephalopods such as the octopus show the most advanced behavior among invertebrates, which they accomplish with an exceptionally flexible body plan. In this review I propose that the embodied organization approach, developed by roboticists to design efficient autonomous robots, is useful for understanding the evolution and development of the efficient adaptive interaction of animals with their environment, using the octopus as the leading example. The embodied organization approach explains adaptive behavior as emerging from the continuous dynamical and reciprocal physical and informational interactions between four elements: the controller, the mechanical and the sensory systems and the environment. In contrast to hierarchical organization, in embodied organization, self-organization processes can take part in the emergence of the adaptive properties. I first discuss how the embodiment concept explains covariation of body form, nervous system organization, and level of behavioral complexity using the Mollusca as an example. This is an ideal phylum to test such a qualitative correlation between body/brain/behavior, because they show the greatest variations of body plan within a single phylum. In some cases the covariation of nervous system and body structure seems to arise independently of close phylogenetic relationships. Next, I dwell on the octopus as an ideal model to test the embodiment concept within a single biological system. Here, the unusual body morphology of the octopus exposes the uniqueness of the four components comprising the octopus' embodiment. Considering together the results from behavioral, physiological, anatomical, and motor control research suggests that these four elements mutually influence each other. It is this mutual interactions and self-organization which have led to their unique evolution and development to create the unique and highly efficient octopus embodiment.
章鱼等头足类动物在无脊椎动物中表现出最先进的行为，它们通过极其灵活的身体结构来实现这一点。在这篇综述中，我提出，机器人专家为设计高效自主机器人而开发的具身组织方法，对于理解动物与其环境的高效适应性相互作用的进化和发展很有用，以章鱼作为主要例子。具身组织方法将适应性行为解释为源于四个要素之间持续的动态和相互的物理及信息交互：控制器、机械系统、感觉系统和环境。与层级组织不同，在具身组织中，自组织过程可以参与适应性特性的出现。我首先以软体动物为例，讨论具身概念如何解释身体形态、神经系统组织和行为复杂程度的共变关系。软体动物是检验身体/大脑/行为之间这种定性相关性的理想门类，因为它们在单一门类中展现出最大的身体结构变化。在某些情况下，神经系统和身体结构的共变似乎独立于密切的系统发育关系而出现。接下来，我详细探讨章鱼作为在单一生物系统内检验具身概念的理想模型。在这里，章鱼不同寻常的身体形态揭示了构成章鱼具身的四个组成部分的独特性。综合行为、生理、解剖和运动控制研究的结果表明，这四个要素相互影响。正是这种相互作用和自组织导致了它们独特的进化和发展，从而创造出独特且高效的章鱼具身。
