Caenorhabditis elegans, a roundworm, could possibly possess primitive emotions.
A new study has revealed that the worms can exhibit primitive emotions.
Following previous research suggesting that C. elegans has roaming and sleeping behaviors, the scientists from Nagoya City University and Mills College at Northeastern University set out to determine if the roundworms might have other behavioral states that could be regulated by emotions.
The study found that, when stimulated with an electric shock, the worms start moving at an unusually high speed and continue this speed for up to two minutes.
This behavior is caused by perpetual neural activity, which behavioral neuroscientists believe is involved in emotion.
Furthermore, the experiments show that these worms ignore their food, both during and after the shock.
The authors speculate that this avoidance of food may be a response to sensing the danger of the electric shock.
They note that the same genetically mutated worms unable to produce neuropeptides run for longer periods
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