Calibrating the scales of suffering

摘要

Biologist Victoria Braithwaite found herself in the media spotlight in 2003 after publishing research findings suggesting that fish feel pain. After injecting the faces of trout with bee venom and vinegar, anatomical and physiological studies revealed nerve endings called nociceptors, which respond to noxious stimulation. These interventions caused the fish to show increased breathing rates and decreased feeding behaviours that persisted for more than an hour. Fish subjected to noxious stimuli also became less fearful of a novel object in their tank, which Braithwaite suggests could be because their pain made them less attentive to unfamiliar objects.