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ABSTRACT:
Only humans can report feeling pain. In contrast, pain in animals is typically
inferred on the basis of nonverbal behaviour. Unfortunately, these behavioural data can be
problematic when the reliability and validity of the behavioural tests are questionable.
e thesis proposed here is based on the bioengineering principle that structure determines
function. Basic functional homologies can be mapped to structural homologies across a
broad spectrum of vertebrate species. For example, olfaction depends on olfactory glomeruli
in the olfactory bulbs of the forebrain, visual orientation responses depend on the laminated
optic tectum in the midbrain, and locomotion depends on pattern generators in the spinal
cord throughout vertebrate phylogeny, from fish to humans. Here I delineate the region
of the human brain that is directly responsible for feeling painful stimuli. e principal
structural features of this region are identified and then used as biomarkers to infer whether
fish are, at least, anatomically capable of feeling pain. Using this strategy, I conclude that fish
lack the necessary neurocytoarchitecture, microcircuitry, and structural connectivity for the
neural processing required for feeling pain.
Brian Key
brian.key@uq.edu.au
You can find the whole fish-pain debate here: www.animalstudiesrepository.org/animsent/vol1/iss3/1
"I CONCLUDE THAT FISH LACK
THE NECESSARY NEUROCYTOARCHITECTURE FOR THE
NEURAL PROCESSING REQUIRED FOR FEELING PAIN."
BRIAN KEY is Head of
the Brain Growth and
Regeneration Lab at the
University of Queensland,
dedicated to understanding
the principles of stem cell
biology, differentiation,
axon guidance, plasticity,
regeneration and develop-
ment of the brain.
THE COUNTER-ARGUMENT
by BRIAN KEY
