It’s easy to see a little being with eight legs and the ability to build webs and think that we have absolutely nothing in common.
Get ready to re-think that, because researchers say that we might be able to bond with spiders over more than one piece of common ground.
For example, spiders and humans both need to enter a deep rest state to keep both their brains and bodies healthy.
That said, the structures of our brains compared to arachnids means that the states of sleep, etc, aren’t exactly the same – but the similarities are pretty remarkable.
“Sleep” is defined as a reversible state of reduced responsiveness to external stimuli and decreased physical activity that are accompanied by neurological and physiological changes.”
When spiders enter a sleep state they nestle their bodies into a position scientists call “stupor.”
Dr. Richard Zack, an entomology professor, explains how they have observed spiders “sleeping.”
“We can go out at night – or during the day, depending on the type of critter that we’re looking at – and we can find them when they’re in some type of stupor condition. So maybe there are a bunch of them sitting on a plant, and they’re not moving.”
Not only that, but a 2021 study found that European jumping spiders rest suspended from a single silk thread.
Aside from the strange positioning, though, jumping spiders actually had several things in common with birds and mammals.
Birds and mammals go through two main phases of sleep, called non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM). The body undergoes physical repair, cellular recovery, and energy restoration during the deepest NREM stage.
Faster brain activity, including dreams, occur during REM cycles.
A 2022 study found that jumping spiders share a “REM sleep-like state,” and can be seen twitching, sort of like a dreaming dog.
So…are they dreaming?
Researchers like Daniela Rößler think it’s more than possible.
“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.”
Dreaming spiders.
Now this is the kind of world I want to live in.
If you found that story interesting, learn more about why people often wake up around 3 AM and keep doing it for life.