THWACK

Research Shows Insects Can Feel Chronic Pain After Injury

“After the animal is hurt once badly, they are hypersensitive and try to protect themselves for the rest of their lives,” said a researcher.

New research shows that like humans, insects can experience chronic pain long after an injury has healed. Greg Neely, one of the researchers, is studying pain with the goal of creating solutions for it that don’t involve opioids, and he says his research with insects could help scientists detect what causes chronic pain in humans. “After the animal is hurt once badly, they are hypersensitive and try to protect themselves for the rest of their lives,” Neely said. Chronic pain is a persistent pain that continues even after the injury is fully healed. In humans, it can occur with sciatica,  spinal cord injuries, or shingles, as well as many others. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances.