An experiment published in iScience provides evidence that octopuses (章鱼) feel pain like humans do.
During the experiment, Crook, who comes from San Francisco State University, placed an octopus between two rooms with different lines and spots on the walls, and then observed where she preferred to stay. The next day, in another part of the lab, Crook put acetic acid into one of the octopus’s arms. She says doing so is like pouring lemon juice on a paper cut. When the animal awoke with an aching arm, Crook kept her in the room she had preferred before. The researcher removed the octopus 20 minutes later and used lidocaine to numb (使麻木) her arm. Crook then placed her in the room she had not liked as much at first. After another 20 minutes, Crook returned her to her home container.
Finally, about five hours later, Crook brought the octopus back to the rooms and gave her an alternative: return to the originally preferred room, where she was kept with an aching arm, or go to the one she had not liked as much but where she was numb. Crook ran the experiment with seven octopuses. They all chose to go to the non-preferred room. As a control, Crook put salt water into seven other octopuses. Unlike the experimental group, those octopuses returned to their originally preferred room.
It turned out the octopuses related the room they had once liked better to the ache they felt the last time they were there. Then they compared that experience with their typical pain-free state and decided that how they usually felt was better. Using that information, the octopuses chose to go to the non-preferred room. “There’s a lot of brain processing that has to happen,” Crook says.
Crook’s study suggests that there should be more focus on the welfare of octopuses. Due to people’s ignorance, animals like octopuses are not properly protected in both research and industry in the U.S. Luckily, Crook’s findings, giving us more insights into them, have led to increased protection for octopuses.
【小题1】What effect did lidocaine have on the studied octopus?| A．Keeping her awake. | B．Making her energetic. |
| C．Making her feel less pain. | D．Removing her memory of pain. |
| A．Treat. | B．Choice. | C．Lead. | D．Punishment. |
| A．They tend to work in groups. | B．Their preference changes with time. |
| C．They update their memories regularly. | D．Their painful memories last for hours. |
| A．The significance of the research. | B．The description of the research. |
| C．The reasons for protecting octopuses. | D．The assumption about the octopuses. |
