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/sci/ - Science & Math

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3828062 No.3828062 [Reply] [Original]

Quick biology question for a clueless guy. Do insects (and other creatures of that size) feel pain? They surely don't have any sort of nervous system like ours. But they do react when touched. So what exactly do they have?

>> No.3828066

>>3828062
They've an input-output system. Not pain like how we think of it, but kind of...

>> No.3828084

they surely notice eg the loss of a leg. but they don't feel a pain from it. they move away from heat, which makes me postulate they feel a pain from it.

>> No.3828088

I've seen pictures of a praying mantis, after having his abdomen cut off, eating a cricket.

Pain is just a message from our bodies telling us that something isn't right. Clearly that praying mantis's body a) wasn't telling it that it had a critical injury that would trigger a flight response in other animals; and b) that its abdomen was gone and eating was futile.

>> No.3828094

"The painless gene is expressed in multidendritic and chordotonal sensory neurons and is required for the activation of sensory neurons by noxious heat.". Drosophila melanogaster appears to have sensory neurons that are activated by harmful stimuli and cause a rolling response in the larvae. So yes, they appear to be able to feel pain. Also,I'm no entomologist, but I'm fairly certain they have a simple nervous system.
Whether or not they're aware of the pain in a manner similar to humans probably isn't known.

Source: "painless, a Drosophila Gene Essential for Nociception"

>> No.3828100

>>3828062

In humans, pain is felt in cerebral cortex. Insects do not have it, so Id say they do not feel pain as humans do. Lower functions such as adrenaline rush or defensive reflexes associated with painful stimuli should be similar, tough.

>> No.3828104

The generally accepted belief is that most invertebrates cannot feel pain.

>> No.3828123

Pain is just a stimuli informing the brain of the damage that has happened to our body.
I am sure that insects have same kind of mechanism, because it is obivioysly very benefical to the creature. The effect of the painful stimuli might be differend however, as humans can get incapasitated from it, but I've seen insects srugh of grievious injuries.

>> No.3828134

My impression was that most of them felt pain, but unlike humans or other higher animals they don't have any kind of emotional reaction to it. Like it doesn't stress them out.