After experiencing a short burst of pain, octopuses showed a conditioned preference for locations where pain was relieved, while avoiding the location where the pain occurred.
The findings, published Feb. 22 in iScience, demonstrate that the octopus brain is sophisticated enough to experience pain on a physical and a dispositional level.
“This suggests that the animal is aware of an ongoing pain state.
This is the first time such an ability has been shown in cephalopods.”.
Invertebrates make up at least 97% of the animals on Earth, but not much is known about their experience of pain.
While many animals show an immediate reflexive response to pain, making the choice to avoid pain is a much more sophisticated cognitive skill.
She also hopes that the work will have a wider reach for all who those work with these animals. »
