Can insects feel pain? A review of the neural and behavioural evidence

Gibbons, Matilda; Crump, Andrew; Barrett, Meghan; Sarlak, Sajedeh; Birch, Jonathan; Chittka, Lars

doi:10.1016/bs.aiip.2022.10.001

Cited by 51 publications

(148 citation statements)

References 326 publications

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“…When some scientists are writing about how non-humans respond to harmful stimuli, they use the word "pain" to describe the response of an animal to an unpleasant stimulus alone and do not assume that the animal also necessarily has a subjective feeling of pain. Others use the word to include the subjective feelings that humans have when experiencing an unpleasant or harmful stimulus (Gibbons et al, 2022).…”

Section: Sense Of Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the limits to our understanding of whether fish feel pain

Hart

2023

Journal of Fish Biology

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Section: Sense Of Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the limits to our understanding of whether fish feel pain

Hart

2023

Journal of Fish Biology

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“…The capacity for invertebrates (and thus theraphosids) to feel pain and suffer has been a debated topic for many years (Elwood 2011, Gibbons and others 2022). The ‘argument of analogy’ can be helpful when considering if a spider can feel pain; if a mammalian would feel pain or suffer in response to a given situation then it would be reasonable to consider that a spider could have a similar response.…”

Section: Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theraphosid medicine: what to do when something is peculiar with the tarantula

Kennedy

2023

In Practice

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Background: With over 1060 species reported and a considerable number of these kept in captivity, theraphosid spiders, also known as tarantulas, have become a significant part of private and zoological collections, hence necessitating a greater demand for veterinary expertise.Aim of the article: This comprehensive review addresses the unique challenges in tarantula care. It delves into the application of diagnostic tools like histology, radiography, haematology and microbiology in tarantulas, and discusses how to gather clinically relevant data for effective treatment planning of common conditions. It also outlines adaptations to cater treatments to tarantulas' unique anatomy, and offers guidance on drug selection and veterinary procedures, as well as covering humane euthanasia methods.

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“…insects, crustaceans, cephalopods (Schmidt‐Rhaesa, Harzsch & Purschke, 2016)]. There is now evidence that this high degree of centralisation is likely related to sentience in several invertebrate species (Birch et al ., 2021; Lambert, Elwin & D'Cruze, 2021; Gibbons et al ., 2022). In insects, the central nervous system appears to be able to support some functions analogous to those of the mammalian brain (Klein & Barron, 2016).…”

Section: The Physiology Of Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

Capturing wild animal welfare: a physiological perspective

Beaulieu

2023

Biological Reviews

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Affective states, such as emotions, are presumably widespread across the animal kingdom because of the adaptive advantages they are supposed to confer. However, the study of the affective states of animals has thus far been largely restricted to enhancing the welfare of animals managed by humans in non‐natural contexts. Given the diversity of wild animals and the variable conditions they can experience, extending studies on animal affective states to the natural conditions that most animals experience will allow us to broaden and deepen our general understanding of animal welfare. Yet, this same diversity makes examining animal welfare in the wild highly challenging. There is therefore a need for unifying theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches that can guide researchers keen to engage in this promising research area. The aim of this article is to help advance this important research area by highlighting the central relationship between physiology and animal welfare and rectify its apparent oversight, as revealed by the current scientific literature on wild animals. Moreover, this article emphasises the advantages of including physiological markers to assess animal welfare in the wild (e.g. objectivity, comparability, condition range, temporality), as well as their concomitant limitations (e.g. only access to peripheral physiological markers with complex relationships with affective states). Best‐practice recommendations (e.g. replication and multifactorial approaches) are also provided to allow physiological markers to be used most effectively and appropriately when assessing the welfare of animals in their natural habitat. This review seeks to provide the foundation for a new and distinct research area with a vast theoretical and applied potential: wild animal welfare physiology.

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Can insects feel pain? A review of the neural and behavioural evidence

Cited by 51 publications

References 326 publications

Exploring the limits to our understanding of whether fish feel pain

Exploring the limits to our understanding of whether fish feel pain

Theraphosid medicine: what to do when something is peculiar with the tarantula

Capturing wild animal welfare: a physiological perspective

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