Like humans, fish recoil from pain.
But the fish pain reflex mechanism operates quite differently to the way it works in humans, University of Queensland research shows.
Professor Brian Key, from our School, said scientists had known for some time that fish can learn to avoid painful experiences, “even when most of the brain is removed”.
“Fish don’t have complex brain structures,” said Professor Key, who has published new research on the mechanics of pain.
“They do not have ‘grey matter’, the thin outer layer of brain cells that enables humans and other mammals to carry out functions such as reasoning or imagining.”
