In fact, much of our understanding on neurons and neurology is all thanks to cephalopods. The key is that human axons (the long part of a neuron) are too small to see without a powerful microscope, much less dissect out and experiment with. But the squid (specifically of the genus Loligo) has an axon that is visible to the naked eye, and can survive for hours after dissection. We owe so much to cephalopods that Williams quotes one scientist saying that the squid deserves a Nobel Prize.