![]() In a striking recent experiment, octopus expert Robyn Crook tried the same type of test on octopuses – and they passed too. The question is: will the rats develop a lasting aversion to the chamber where they experienced the injury, and a lasting preference for the chamber where they experienced the effects of painkillers when injured? They do, unsurprisingly. Then they are given painkillers and placed in a different chamber. But then, some are injured and are placed in one chamber. ![]() In the original test, rats choose between three chambers. That’s partly because pain is a source of great ethical concern, and partly because scientists often want to use animals to understand human pain.įor instance, there is a setup called a “conditioned place preference” test that is designed to test for enduring pain. One particular feeling has received a great deal of scientific attention: pain. Insight can come from neuroscience, cognition, behaviour – and ideally all three pointing in the same direction. There is no single litmus test: many different markers are relevant. Reflexes are not enough to establish sentience: it’s important to show that the animal has a central system that values and disvalues stimuli. ![]() ![]() An approach based on looking at what feelings do for us, and then looking carefully for markers of analogous brain processes in other animals. Should it really be completely unregulated, or would some welfare regulations make sense? The question deserves careful thought.Ĭases like these point to the need for a scientific approach to animal sentience: an approach that goes beyond our intuitive reactions, which are often anthropomorphic and mammal-centric. But think about insect farming, which currently falls outside the scope of animal welfare laws. Laws are limited by what is enforceable and reasonable. If the evidence does point towards sentience being widespread among invertebrates, what then? Would we end up with absurd laws banning us from stepping on insects? No. I think that situation will change: one goal of my Foundations of Animal Sentience project is to address this. The science at present is too uncertain to allow us to be confident one way or the other. I can see the rationale for such an approach in an area where the science is moving quickly.įor instance, on the question of insect sentience, scientists are divided, partly because there has been no serious attempt to look for sentience in insects. The bill includes vertebrates by default, but explicitly allows invertebrates to be added through statutory instruments. So the animal welfare (sentience) bill, introduced to parliament on Thursday, is a welcome development, as is the creation of an animal sentience committee. New laws to impose some consistency in this area have been needed for a while. Could insects be robot-like evolved machines with absolutely no experience or feeling? Or are we underestimating what a small brain can do? It is also much smaller (a bee has about 1m neurons, compared with our 100bn). But then we think: wait, can we really talk like this? An insect’s brain is organised completely differently from a mammal’s.
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