The octopus is rich in evolutionary novelties, from an immense nervous system to prehensile arms to a tremendously sophisticated adaptive coloration system. It is the octopus's brain and behavior that has attracted the greatest study, but much of this research was done in the 20th century and limited by the techniques of the time. The major focus of the Ragsdale laboratory is to bring the modern advances in neuroscience, molecular cell biology and genetic manipulation to the study of cephalopod biology. Our first major step was into genomics and transcriptomics. In 2015, the Ragsdale laboratory, in collaboration with the Rokhsar group at UC-Berkeley, reported the genome of the Ragsdale lab's chosen model organism, Octopus bimaculoides. Current research includes comparative cephalopod genomics, octopus arm regeneration, the organization of the cephalopod nervous system, and the neuroendocrinology of octopus sex and death.
The other focus of the Ragsdale laboratory is the evolutionary developmental neurobiology of the neocortex.
Molecular and Morphological Circuitry of the Octopus Sucker Ganglion.
Molecular and Morphological Circuitry of the Octopus Sucker Ganglion. J Comp Neurol. 2025 May; 533(5):e70055.
PMID: 40293445
Molecular and morphological circuitry of the octopus sucker ganglion.
Molecular and morphological circuitry of the octopus sucker ganglion. bioRxiv. 2025 Feb 11.
PMID: 39990388
Neuronal segmentation in cephalopod arms.
Neuronal segmentation in cephalopod arms. Nat Commun. 2025 Jan 15; 16(1):443.
PMID: 39814765
Neuronal segmentation in cephalopod arms.
Neuronal segmentation in cephalopod arms. Res Sq. 2024 Jul 04.
PMID: 39011093
Neuronal segmentation in cephalopod arms.
Neuronal segmentation in cephalopod arms. bioRxiv. 2024 Jun 01.
PMID: 38853825
Signaling Ligand Heterogeneities in the Peduncle Complex of the Cephalopod Mollusc Octopus bimaculoides.
Signaling Ligand Heterogeneities in the Peduncle Complex of the Cephalopod Mollusc Octopus bimaculoides. Brain Behav Evol. 2024; 99(3):158-170.
PMID: 38688255
Toward an Understanding of Octopus Arm Motor Control.
Toward an Understanding of Octopus Arm Motor Control. Integr Comp Biol. 2023 Dec 29; 63(6):1277-1284.
PMID: 37327080
Steroid hormones of the octopus self-destruct system.
Steroid hormones of the octopus self-destruct system. Curr Biol. 2022 06 06; 32(11):2572-2579.e4.
PMID: 35561680
Genome and transcriptome mechanisms driving cephalopod evolution.
Genome and transcriptome mechanisms driving cephalopod evolution. Nat Commun. 2022 05 04; 13(1):2427.
PMID: 35508532
Evolution of the Chordate Telencephalon.
Evolution of the Chordate Telencephalon. Curr Biol. 2019 07 08; 29(13):R647-R662.
PMID: 31287987