Abstract
Cephalopods represent a unique opportunity in comparative neuroscience. They are the only branch of
the animal kingdom besides vertebrates to have evolved large brains, and they have remarkable
sensory, motor, and cognitive capabilities. They can independently control eight flexible arms, they can
rapidly change their skin patterning to camouflage based on the visual environment, and they exhibit
learning and flexible behavior unlike any other invertebrates. Despite the many intriguing questions
surrounding the cephalopod nervous system, we have relatively little understanding of how their brains
function at the mechanistic level. However, the past few years have witnessed a rapid growth in
cephalopod neuroscience, due to the emergence of new tools and the availability of several
cephalopod species through efforts of the Marine Biological Laboratory. These rapid developments in
the field, along with the influx of new researchers, led us to propose the first-ever Cephalopod
Neuroscience Conference. This meeting will bring together the growing community of researchers
across cephalopod neuroscience, including genomics, neural development, systems neuroscience, as
well as computation and tool development. The primary goals of the conference are 1) to communicate
research progress, 2) to build an active and diverse community, and 3) to share techniques and
resources. To this end, we are planning to combine scientific talks with community-building and career
development activities, as well as hands-on workshops. We will also encourage and support
attendance for trainees from diverse backgrounds and disadvantaged groups. We expect that this
meeting will accelerate research in the field of cephalopod neuroscience through the combination of
scientific advances and community building.