Retinal Movement Suggests REM Sleep-Like State In Jumping Spiders

Do spiders dream? A study that tracked the movement of jumping spiders' retinal tubes while snoozing revealed activity similar to that seen in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep - the stage of sleep associated with dreaming.

Sleeping spiders were observed twitching like a cat or dog does in sleep. Dreaming in spiders has yet to be proven definitively, but study author Dr Daniela Rößler of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior told IFLScience: “Personally, after watching hundreds of spiders, there is no doubt in my mind that they experience dreams, just like no one would doubt that when watching a cat or a dog dream. Whether we will be able to scientifically prove that this is the case… we will have to see.”

Read more: https://www.iflscience.com/do-spiders...

Video credit: D Rößler et al PNAS 2022 CC BY 4.0