All the cells in a organism communicate. Neurons are not special in that they communicate, but in that they do it fast. Animals move, and to do that correctly,

All the cells in a organism communicate. Neurons are not special in that they communicate, but in that they do it fast. Animals move, and to do that correctly, they have a brain as fast control center. The experience of being, including suffering, is likely very similar between brained animals whose domain is movement in space. Plants live in a domain of chemical gradients in the soil and light gradients comming from the sky. They need a no-sigal (suffering) and a yes-signal (pleasure) as any other type of organism to navigate their domain properly, and the intensity of the signals needs to be appropriate, up to absolute, their live is on the stake.