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Pain and the evolutionary origins of subjective experience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2025

Mark Baron Open the ORCID record for Mark Baron [Opens in a new window] ,
Anne Minert Open the ORCID record for Anne Minert [Opens in a new window]  and
Marshall Devor Open the ORCID record for Marshall Devor [Opens in a new window]
Mark Baron*
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Blackfan Circle, Boston, USA mbaronse@bidmc.harvard.edu
Anne Minert
Affiliation:
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, and the Center for Research on Pain, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel anne.minert@mail.huji.ac.il marshlu@mail.huji.ac.il
Marshall Devor
Affiliation:
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, and the Center for Research on Pain, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel anne.minert@mail.huji.ac.il marshlu@mail.huji.ac.il
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

The cerebral neocortex is essential for the complex feature extractions underlying sensory perception. Pain is an exception. Its adaptive message, fight or flee, is already available at the first central synapse. We propose that raw consciousness emerged with pain. Eons later the cortical supercomputer began providing complex computational output to the primeval circuitry of conscious pain experience, already operating subcortically.

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Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e80
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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