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Maloney, S. J. (2019). The Relationship Between Asymmetry and Athletic Performance: A Critical Review. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 33(9).
Abstract: Maloney, SJ. The relationship between asymmetry and athletic performance: A critical review. J Strength Cond Res 33(9): 2579-2593, 2019--Symmetry may be defined as the quality to demonstrate an exact correspondence of size, shape, and form when split along a given axis. Although it has been widely asserted that the bilateral asymmetries are detrimental to athletic performance, research does not wholly support such an association. Moreover, the research rarely seeks to distinguish between different types of bilateral asymmetry. Fluctuating asymmetries describe bilateral differences in anthropometric attributes, such as nostril width and ear size, and are thought to represent the developmental stability of an organism. There is evidence to suggest that fluctuating asymmetries may be related to impaired athletic performance, although contradictory findings have been reported. Sporting asymmetries is a term that may better describe bilateral differences in parameters, such as force output or jump height. These asymmetries are likely to be a function of limb dominance and magnified by long-standing participation within sport. Sporting asymmetries do not seem to carry a clear influence on athletic performance measures. Given the vast discrepancy in the methodologies used by different investigations, further research is warranted. Recent investigations have demonstrated that training interventions can reduce sporting asymmetries and improve performance. However, studies have not sought to determine whether the influence of sporting asymmetry is independent of improvements in neuromuscular parameters. It may be hypothesized that the deficient (weaker) limb has a greater potential for adaptation in comparison to the strong limb and may demonstrate greater responsiveness to training.
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Seghrouchni, M., Elkasraoui, H., Piro, M., Alyakine, H., Bouayad, H., Chakir, J., et al. (2019). Osteoarticular radiographic findings of the distal forelimbs in Tbourida Horses. Heliyon, 5(9), e02514.
Abstract: Tbourida is a traditional Moroccan equestrian sport in which 15 horses gallop 200 m in a line while riders fire into the sky with muskets. The stop is the finale and representative demands of this equestrian event. Such particular sudden stop after a fast gallop requires a hyperextension of the metacarpophalangeal joint. Indeed, it is well known that Tbourida show predisposes horses to different injuries of the hard and soft tissues of the distal forelimbs. Yet, there is a paucity of research that examined such lesions. The aim of the present study was to investigate for the first time the type and the prevalence of osteoarticular findings in the distal forelimbs of Tbourida horses using radiographic images. The study was conducted on 127 Tbourida horses aged between 2.5 and 15 years old with 6-year-old horses being the most affected. Data analysis showed that 93,7% of horses exhibit degenerative joint lesions of the fetlock, 86,6% showed ossification of the ungual cartilage, 78,7% had enthesophytes associated with the deep digital flexor tendons, 81,1% had enthesophytes associated with the suspensory ligament branches, and 19,6% showed a particular exostosis on the first phalanx. This large number of lesions reflects how this sport is difficult for horses and also argues that animals are suffering from a lack of welfare and care in their husbandry management.
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Houpt, K. A. (1991). Animal behavior and animal welfare. J Am Vet Med Assoc, 198(8), 1355–1360.
Abstract: The value of behavioral techniques in assessing animal welfare, and in particular assessing the psychological well being of animals, is reviewed. Using cats and horses as examples, 3 behavioral methods are presented: (1) comparison of behavior patterns and time budgets; (2) choice tests; and (3) operant conditioning. The behaviors of intact and declawed cats were compared in order to determine if declawing led to behavioral problems or to a change in personality. Apparently it did not. The behavior of free ranging horses was compared with that of stabled horses. Using two-choice preference tests, the preference of horses for visual contact with other horses and the preference for bedding were determined. Horses show no significant preference for locations from which they can make visual contact with other horses, but they do prefer bedding, especially when lying down. Horses will perform an operant response in order to obtain light in a darkened barn or heat in an outside shed. These same techniques can be used to answer a variety of questions about an animal's motivation for a particular attribute of its environment.
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Houpt, K. A., Zahorik, D. M., & Swartzman-Andert, J. A. (1990). Taste aversion learning in horses. J. Anim Sci., 68(8), 2340–2344.
Abstract: The ability of ponies to learn to avoid a relatively novel food associated with illness was tested in three situations: when illness occurred immediately after consuming a feed; when illness occurred 30 min after consuming a feed; and when illness was contingent upon eating one of three feeds offered simultaneously. Apomorphine was used to produce illness. The feeds associated with illness were corn, alfalfa pellets, sweet feed and a complete pelleted feed. The ponies learned to avoid all the fees except the complete feed when apomorphine injection immediately followed consumption of the feed. However, the ponies did not learn to avoid a feed if apomorphine was delayed 30 min after feed consumption. They could learn to avoid alfalfa pellets, but not corn, when these feeds were presented with the familiar “safe foods,” oats and soybean meal. Ponies apparently are able to learn a taste aversion, but there were constraints on this learning ability. Under the conditions of this study, they did not learn to avoid a food that made them sick long after consumption of the food, and they had more difficulty learning to avoid highly palatable feeds.
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Weik, H., Lingk, W., & Altmann, H. J. (1972). [Behavior of individual fatty acids during in-vitro lipolysis and resynthesis in equine depot fat]. Zentralbl Veterinarmed A, 19(8), 677–685.
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Moses, S. N., Villate, C., & Ryan, J. D. (2006). An investigation of learning strategy supporting transitive inference performance in humans compared to other species. Neuropsychologia, 44(8), 1370–1387.
Abstract: Generalizations about neural function are often drawn from non-human animal models to human cognition, however, the assumption of cross-species conservation may sometimes be invalid. Humans may use different strategies mediated by alternative structures, or similar structures may operate differently within the context of the human brain. The transitive inference problem, considered a hallmark of logical reasoning, can be solved by non-human species via associative learning rather than logic. We tested whether humans use similar strategies to other species for transitive inference. Results are crucial for evaluating the validity of widely accepted assumptions of similar neural substrates underlying performance in humans and other animals. Here we show that successful transitive inference in humans is unrelated to use of associative learning strategies and is associated with ability to report the hierarchical relationship among stimuli. Our work stipulates that cross-species generalizations must be interpreted cautiously, since performance on the same task may be mediated by different strategies and/or neural systems.
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Chase, I. D., Tovey, C., Spangler-Martin, D., & Manfredonia, M. (2002). Individual differences versus social dynamics in the formation of animal dominance hierarchies. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 99(8), 5744–5749.
Abstract: Linear hierarchies, the classical pecking-order structures, are formed readily in both nature and the laboratory in a great range of species including humans. However, the probability of getting linear structures by chance alone is quite low. In this paper we investigate the two hypotheses that are proposed most often to explain linear hierarchies: they are predetermined by differences in the attributes of animals, or they are produced by the dynamics of social interaction, i.e., they are self-organizing. We evaluate these hypotheses using cichlid fish as model animals, and although differences in attributes play a significant part, we find that social interaction is necessary for high proportions of groups with linear hierarchies. Our results suggest that dominance hierarchy formation is a much richer and more complex phenomenon than previously thought, and we explore the implications of these results for evolutionary biology, the social sciences, and the use of animal models in understanding human social organization.
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Hemelrijk, C. K., Wantia, J., & Gygax, L. (2005). The construction of dominance order: comparing performance of five methods using an individual-based model. Behaviour, 142(8), 1043–1064.
Abstract: In studies of animal behaviour investigators correlate dominance with all kinds of behavioural
variables, such as reproductive success and foraging success. Many methods are used to
produce a dominance hierarchy from a matrix reflecting the frequency of winning dominance
interactions. These different methods produce different hierarchies. However, it is difficult to
decide which ranking method is best. In this paper, we offer a new procedure for this decision:
we use an individual-based model, called DomWorld, as a test-environment. We choose this
model, because it provides access to both the internal dominance values of artificial agents
(which reflects their fighting power) and the matrix of winning and losing among them and,
in addition, because its behavioural rules are biologically inspired and its group-level patterns
resemble those of real primates. We compare statistically the dominance hierarchy based on
the internal dominance values of the artificial agents with the dominance hierarchy produced
by ranking individuals by (a) their total frequency of winning, (b) their average dominance
index, (c) a refined dominance index, the David`s score, (d) the number of subordinates each
individual has and (e) a ranking method based on maximizing the linear order of the hierarchy.
Because dominance hierarchies may differ depending on group size, type of society, and the
interval of study, we compare these ranking methods for these conditions.We study complete
samples as well as samples randomly chosen to resemble the limitations of observing real
animals. It appears that two methods of medium complexity (the average dominance index
and David`s score) lead to hierarchical orders that come closest to the hierarchy based on
internal dominance values of the agents. We advocate usage of the average dominance index,
because of its computational simplicity.
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Digweed, S. M., Fedigan, L. M., & Rendall, D. (2005). Variable specificity in the anti-predator vocalizations and behaviour of the white-faced capuchin, Cebus capucinus. Behaviour, 142(8). Retrieved April 29, 2024, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853905774405344
Abstract: (Accepted: 23 June 2005)
Summary
Much research in animal communication is aimed at understanding the functional design
features of animal vocal signals. Our detailed analyses of the vocalizations and behavioural
responses elicited in white-faced capuchins by predators and other disturbances point to two
call variants that differ modestly in their acoustic structure and that are accompanied by
functionally distinct behavioural responses. The first variant is given exclusively to avian
predators and is almost invariably accompanied by the monkeys immediate descent from
the treetops where it is most vulnerable; therefore, we label this call variant the aerial
predator alarm?. The second variant, that differs only slightly but noticeably from the first,
is given to a wide range of snakes and mammals, including a range of species that represent
no predatory threat to the monkeys. This second call is also associated with more variable
responses from calling monkeys, from delayed retreat from the source of disturbance, to
active approach, inspection, and sometimes mobbing of the animal involved. We therefore
label this variant more generally as an “alerting call”. Although some other primate species
show a more diverse system of anti-predator calls, and the capuchins themselves may yet
be found to produce a greater variety of calls, a system of two call variants with varying
degrees of predator specificity and behavioural response is not uncommon among primates
and appears functionally appropriate for capuchins. The basic structure of the alerting call
allows conspecific listeners to localize the caller and the source of disturbance readily, thereby
allowing listeners to approach and assist in mobbing in cases where the disturbance warrants
it, or to avoid the area in cases where the disturbance is identified as a predatory threat.
Conversely, the aerial predator alarm is inherently less localizable and therefore conveys the
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Beaver, B. V. (1981). Problems & values associated with dominance. Vet Med Small Anim Clin, 76(8), 1129–1131.
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