In the deep, pain is gain

European Squid     (Photo by Hans Hillewaert)

If you happen to be Sid the Squid, and you’re being pursued by a very hungry black sea bass, it might just help if you’ve been injured before.

Tanya Lewis of Live Science explains that the pain of a previous injury could serve as a deterrent to being injured again.  She reports on the results of a study from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston that was

recently published in the journal Current Biology.

This study “provides the first direct evidence that animals develop heightened sensitivity – which promotes pain in some animals – in response to natural selection, particularly to avoid predators…”

So if Sid had been injured before, even in a minor way, chances are that he’d now be more vigilant against attack than his so-called bolder peers. 

Who knows?  This might apply to humans, too – especially those who are currently called “chicken” (should be changed to “squid”), and those who are currently labelled with PTSD (should be changed to PTSV – “post traumatic super vigilance” – which is not necessarily a “disorder,” but rather a survival mechanism)…  

Resources

http://news.yahoo.com/squid-reveal-sweet-side-pain-112531614.html

Copyright May 9, 2014 by Linda Van Slyke  All Rights Reserved