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Quaranta, A.; Siniscalchi, M.; Frate, A.; Vallortigara, G. |
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Title |
Paw preference in dogs: relations between lateralised behaviour and immunity |
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Year |
2004 |
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Behavioural Brain Research |
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153 |
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2 |
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521-525 |
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Paw preference; Lateralisation; Immunity; Dog |
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Abstract |
Paw use in a task consisting of the removal of a piece of adhesive paper from the snout was investigated in 80 mongrel and pure-bred domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Population lateralisation was observed, but in opposite directions in the two sexes (animals were not desexed): males preferentially used their left paw, females their right paw. The relationship between immune function and paw preference was then investigated. Some immune parameters (total number of white blood cells including lymphocytes, granulocytes and monocytes; leukocyte formula; total proteins; γ-globulins) were investigated in a sample of left-pawed (n=6), right-pawed (n=6) and ambidextrous (n=6) dogs. The results showed that the percentage of lymphocytes was higher in left-pawed than in right-pawed and ambidextrous dogs, whereas granulocytes percentage was lower in left-pawed than in right-pawed and ambidextrous dogs. Moreover, total number of lymphocytes cells was higher in left-pawed than in right-pawed and ambidextrous dogs, whereas the number of γ-globulins was lower in left-pawed than in right-pawed and ambidextrous dogs. These findings represent the first evidence that brain asymmetry modulates immune responses in dogs. |
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0166-4328 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5783 |
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Vallortigara, G.; Rogers, L.J. |
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Title |
Survival with an asymmetrical brain: advantages and disadvantages of cerebral lateralization |
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2005 |
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The Behavioral and Brain Sciences |
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Behav Brain Sci |
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28 |
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4 |
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575-89; discussion 589-633 |
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Animals; Attention/*physiology; Behavior/*physiology; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Dominance, Cerebral/*physiology; *Evolution; Humans; Models, Biological; Visual Perception/physiology |
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Recent evidence in natural and semi-natural settings has revealed a variety of left-right perceptual asymmetries among vertebrates. These include preferential use of the left or right visual hemifield during activities such as searching for food, agonistic responses, or escape from predators in animals as different as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. There are obvious disadvantages in showing such directional asymmetries because relevant stimuli may be located to the animal's left or right at random; there is no a priori association between the meaning of a stimulus (e.g., its being a predator or a food item) and its being located to the animal's left or right. Moreover, other organisms (e.g., predators) could exploit the predictability of behavior that arises from population-level lateral biases. It might be argued that lateralization of function enhances cognitive capacity and efficiency of the brain, thus counteracting the ecological disadvantages of lateral biases in behavior. However, such an increase in brain efficiency could be obtained by each individual being lateralized without any need to align the direction of the asymmetry in the majority of the individuals of the population. Here we argue that the alignment of the direction of behavioral asymmetries at the population level arises as an “evolutionarily stable strategy” under “social” pressures occurring when individually asymmetrical organisms must coordinate their behavior with the behavior of other asymmetrical organisms of the same or different species. |
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Department of Psychology and B.R.A.I.N. Centre for Neuroscience, University of Trieste, 34123 Trieste, Italy. vallorti@univ.trieste.it |
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English |
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0140-525X |
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PMID:16209828 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4622 |
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Ghirlanda, S.; Vallortigara, G. |
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The evolution of brain lateralization: a game-theoretical analysis of population structure |
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2004 |
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Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences |
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271 |
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1541 |
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853-857 |
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In recent years, it has become apparent that behavioural and brain lateralization at the population level is the rule rather than the exception among vertebrates. The study of these phenomena has so far been the province of neurology and neuropsychology. Here, we show how such research can be integrated with evolutionary biology to understand lateralization more fully. In particular, we address the fact that, within a species, left– and right–type individuals often occur in proportions different from one–half (e.g. hand use in humans). The traditional explanations offered for lateralization of brain function (that it may avoid unnecessary duplication of neural circuitry and reduce interference between functions) cannot account for this fact, because increased individual efficiency is unrelated to the alignment of lateralization at the population level. A further puzzle is that such an alignment may even be disadvantageous, as it makes individual behaviour more predictable to other organisms. Here, we show that alignment of the direction of behavioural asymmetries in a population can arise as an evolutionarily stable strategy when individual asymmetrical organisms must coordinate their behaviour with that of other asymmetrical organisms. Brain and behavioural lateralization, as we know it in humans and other vertebrates, may have evolved under basically ‘social’ selection pressures. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5345 |
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Author |
Ghirlanda, S.; Frasnelli, E.; Vallortigara, G. |
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Title |
Intraspecific competition and coordination in the evolution of lateralization |
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2009 |
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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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Phil. Trans. Biol. Sci. |
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364 |
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1519 |
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861-866 |
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Recent studies have revealed a variety of left–right asymmetries among vertebrates and invertebrates. In many species, left- and right-lateralized individuals coexist, but in unequal numbers (‘population-level’ lateralization). It has been argued that brain lateralization increases individual efficiency (e.g. avoiding unnecessary duplication of neural circuitry and reducing interference between functions), thus counteracting the ecological disadvantages of lateral biases in behaviour (making individual behaviour more predictable to other organisms). However, individual efficiency does not require a definite proportion of left- and right-lateralized individuals. Thus, such arguments do not explain population-level lateralization. We have previously shown that, in the context of prey–predator interactions, population-level lateralization can arise as an evolutionarily stable strategy when individually asymmetrical organisms must coordinate their behaviour with that of other asymmetrical organisms. Here, we extend our model showing that populations consisting of left- and right-lateralized individuals in unequal numbers can be evolutionarily stable, based solely on strategic factors arising from the balance between antagonistic (competitive) and synergistic (cooperative) interactions. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5346 |
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Author |
Ventolini, N.; Ferrero, E.A.; Sponza, S.; Della Chiesa, A.; Zucca, P.; Vallortigara, G. |
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Title |
Laterality in the wild: preferential hemifield use during predatory and sexual behaviour in the black-winged stilt |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2005 |
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Animal Behaviour |
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Anim. Behav. |
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69 |
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5 |
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1077-1084 |
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We recorded preferential use of the left and right monocular visual field in black-winged stilts, Himantopus himantopus, during predatory pecking and during courtship and mating behaviour in a naturalistic setting. The stilts had a population-level preference for using their right monocular visual field before predatory pecking; pecks that followed right-hemifield detection were more likely to be successful than pecks that followed left-hemifield detection, as evinced by the occurrence of swallowing and shaking head movements after pecking. In contrast, shaking behaviour, a component of courtship displays, and copulatory attempts by males were more likely to occur when females were seen with the left monocular visual field. Asymmetric hemifield use observed in natural conditions raises interesting issues as to the costs and benefits of population-level behavioural lateralization in wild animals. |
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0003-3472 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5589 |
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