The gyri of the octopus vertical lobe have distinct neurochemical identities

The cephalopod vertical lobe is the largest learning and memory structure known in invertebrate nervous systems. It is part of the visual learning circuit of the central brain, which also includes the superior frontal and subvertical lobes. Despite the well‐established functional importance of this system, little is known about neuropil organization of these structures and there is to date no evidence that the five longitudinal gyri of the vertical lobe, perhaps the most distinctive morphological feature of the octopus brain, differ in their connections or molecular identities. We studied the histochemical organization of these structures in hatchling and adult Octopus bimaculoides brains with immunostaining for serotonin, octopus gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (oGNRH), and octopressin‐neurophysin (OP‐NP). Our major finding is that the five lobules forming the vertical lobe gyri have distinct neurochemical signatures. This is most prominent in the hatchling brain, where the median and mediolateral lobules are enriched in OP‐NP fibers, the lateral lobule is marked by oGNRH innervation, and serotonin immunostaining heavily labels the median and lateral lobules. A major source of input to the vertical lobe is the superior frontal lobe, which is dominated by a neuropil of interweaving fiber bundles. We have found that this neuropil also has an intrinsic neurochemical organization: it is partitioned into territories alternately enriched or impoverished in oGNRH‐containing fascicles. Our findings establish that the constituent lobes of the octopus superior frontal–vertical system have an intricate internal anatomy, one likely to reflect the presence of functional subsystems within cephalopod learning circuitry. J. Comp. Neurol. 523:1297–1317, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.