No Gain, No Pain, Unless You Have a Sizeable Brain!

A lot is being written and discussed about new knowledge of the human brain, lately, but I have been reading about the brains of invertebrates and whether or not they feel pain. As a science project teacher in a previous life, I read in project guidelines that use of invertebrates (worms and such) in experiments was not a problem but vertebrates, (animals with spines), had special requirements to ensure humane treatment. Humane treatment referred to not causing pain, and the assumption was that invertebrates don’t feel pain. Since insects have such tiny brains, flies for example, and their life spans are so short, they haven’t the need to use the avoidance of pain to sustain their existence, hence it is highly unlikely that they feel pain. Pain enables longer term protection than most insects require. The invertebrates that have been shown to feel pain (and not just reflex either) are in the cephalopod family, specifically crab, lobster, octopi, and squid. I mention these because they are not your usual lab animals, but instead food. There are regulations about the vertebrate animals we use in food production but not for the invertebrates. I guess I am basically writing this for my grandson, Jonas, age 11, who has been a dedicated combat vegetarian for a couple of years now. No more reason to feel bad about squashing the occasional mosquito or swatting a pesky fly.