Distribution of GABA-like Immunoreactivity in the Octopus Brain

This paper presents the first evidence that some neurons in the octopus CNS contain delta-amino butyric acid (GABA). Using conventional immunohistochemical methods with appropriate controls, we obtained positive staining with an antibody to GABA in fibres in the neuropil of many lobes of the brain of the northern octopus Eledone cirrhosa. In several lobes cell bodies were also stained. Staining was not uniformly distributed in the brain nor within a particular lobe: some regions stained strongly, others not at all. These findings suggest that GABA should be added to the already long list of putative neurotransmitters in the cephalopod CNS.