Fetal Pain

A squirmy, unpleastent question: Can a fetus feel pain?

To my surprise, the answer is, no at least not for until the third trimester.

The thalamus, now, is a relatively low-level structure, the posterior part of the forebrain. To put it simply, it's a kind of relay station that integrates information from multiple sensory modalities and forwards that on to the higher brain centers of the cortex, that stuff that we think of as more significant in generating conscious thought. It's just not where the action is at. Also, at this early stage, the thalamus has not yet sorted out its structure and doesn't have the capacity for much processing. Neither does the cortex; the next important step is for these tissues to organize themselves into layered structures, and for the thalamus to send projections to the cortex. This doesn't happen until the embryo is 23-25 weeks old. That date represents a minimal, rock bottom bare essential level for the presence of any connections that would confer even a remote possibility of sensory function.

After that the answer is less clear. Do you feel pain under anesthetic? Possibly, but you aren't conscience. Does that hold for a third trimester fetus? Possibily, possibly not.

Good question and a good analysis.