Do plants feel pain?

Weather of Arabia - The issue of whether plants feel pain is considered a thorny topic in plant science and biology. This question raises many other questions about awareness and perception in plants and whether or not they are able to experience pain as other living organisms such as animals and humans do.

Previously, it was believed that plants do not have the ability to feel pain, as pain is linked to the brain and nervous system, and plants do not have a brain or nervous system, so they do not feel pain, but plants breathe without a respiratory system similar to the system that humans and animals have, and they spread fluids in their bodies without the presence of a system. Heart and blood vessels. Recent research has proven that there is evidence of sensory responses in plants to threats, risks, and injuries. All of these things return the focus of plants’ sense of pain to the path of deep research and exploration to reach the correct answer.

Plants are able to respond to beating or physical damage

One of the reasons this controversy has arisen is the ability of plants to respond to beating or physical damage.

For example, when a plant stem is cut or injured, plants produce chemical signals that cause the affected parts to shut down and protect from further harm. This response is a defense mechanism for plants and indicates that they have a way of sensing physical damage.

Some researchers have gone beyond this point and said that plants feel pain similarly to other living organisms. They were based on recent discoveries showing complex responses to different threats and environmental conditions.

What is really controversial is whether these responses reflect real perception and pain in plants? Should we change the way we treat plants based on their potential to feel pain?

Plants have effective ways of communicating

Plants find effective ways to communicate, and although this communication cannot be heard by human ears, recent research has proven their ability to do so. In one study conducted by scientists from the Institute of Applied Physics at the University of Bonn, laser microphones were used to measure the stress levels of plants through sound. This study showed that when plants are damaged, they release ethylene gas, which can be detected by a whimper in the leaves, similar to the squeaking sound made by a cucumber. The study also revealed that increased harm to plants leads to increased gas release and the generation of sounds at different frequencies.

This shows that plants exhibit a similar pain response in response to damage to them. It is important to note that pain is a reaction that usually occurs as a result of damage , and this is exactly what happens with the plants in this test.

Although there is increasing research in this area, there is divided opinion on whether plants are capable of feeling pain. Some botanists have gone further and published their ideas in books such as “What Does a Plant Know,” but more research and study is still needed to better clarify this topic.

How do we know that plants don't feel pain?

Pain is a highly individual experience. The primary observer of the event is the person experiencing and feeling the pain. This subjectivity makes it difficult for scientists—beyond the primary observer—to accurately describe, document, and measure experience. However, just because a scientist cannot measure something on his own does not negate its existence, and self-report remains one of the standard methods for assessing pain.

Scientists conclude that animals feel pain based on knowledge of human experience, observation of animals' behaviors in response to unpleasant events, and the presence of pain receptors in animals. The way animals feel pain requires pain receptors and a brain, things that plants don't have. Since plants lack a mind and nervous system, scientists are unable to conclude that plants feel pain.

Do plants have pain receptors?

Plants do not have pain receptors, which is an important sign that plants do not experience pain in the same way that animals do.

However, the possibility of feeling pain cannot be deduced simply from the presence of nociceptors alone, specifically, sensory neurons such as nociceptors.

Pain researchers point to phantom limb pain as an example of feeling pain in the absence of pain receptors. This pain occurs when someone loses a limb due to amputation. Even though the limb is no longer there, the individual still experiences pain in the missing arm, leg, or other part of the body. The phenomenon of phantom limb pain suggests that although receptors are an important component in communicating pain from different parts of the body, the pain is ultimately constructed in the brain, according to pain researcher Rachel Zuvinis.

“Pain is processed by multiple parts of the brain,” including “the emotion center of your brain,” Zofnis wrote in a 2019 Psychology Today article. Pain is often defined in popular culture as purely physical, relying on neurons, synaptic transmissions, and other complex nervous system interactions. However, for decades, scientists have been studying pain as a dynamic, interconnected interaction between an individual's physical, emotional, and social states.

in the end; The answer to the question "Do plants feel pain?" Very thorny, but if the answer is yes, then there is no doubt that vegetarians should rethink the matter, and there is no doubt that plants will one day scream in the face of humans to complain about the environmental damage that humans cause every day.

Sources:

Do Plants Feel Pain? How Do We Know That They Don't

What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses

Plant Behavior and Intelligence

Learning by Association in Plants