Testosterone: A role in the development of brain asymmetry in the chick

Schwarz, Irene; Rogers, Lesley J.

doi:10.1016/0304-3940(92)90069-j

Cited by 56 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…These authors also found that right PFC activation was also found in a model of learned helplessness, and they concluded that, in rats, the two sides of the PFC are differentially specialized for responding to stress, with the right hemisphere showing more changes than the left. In chicks, asymmetries in the development of thalamofugal visual projections are known to be regulated by testosterone [Schwarz and Rogers, 1992;Rogers and Rajendra, 1993; and likely underlie the preference of chicks for using the left eye/right hemisphere in attack and copulating behaviors [Rogers, 1989[Rogers, , 1990. The above findings are conceptually similar to those of the current experiment, which found a sensitivity of the right hemisphere to stress.…”

Section: Aggression In Anolis Carolinensissupporting

confidence: 82%

Hemispheric Control of Territorial Aggression in <i>Anolis carolinensis:</i> Effects of Mild Stress

Deckel

1997

Brain Behav Evol

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Previous work has demonstrated that the brain of Anolis carolinensis is functionally split, in that the left and right eyes project predominantly to the contralateral hemisphere, and as there are minimal connections between the left and right hemispheres. Using this model, the current experiment examined the effect of mild acute stress on hemispheric regulation of territorial aggression. Thirteen adult male Anolis were paired with an antagonistic males, and eye use and behavioral responses were repeatedly measured during 3 minute behavioral trials. Trials were conducted either after exposure to mild stress, produced by handling the subject, or without stress, and they were run either in the subject’s home cage or in a cage foreign to the subject. Left eye preference for aggressive movements was found during the trials run in the non-stressed conditions (p <0.05). Conversely, stressed subjects showed a reduction in left eye/right hemisphere mediated aggressive movements relative to the non-stressed subjects but no changes in right eye/left hemisphere aggression. This effect was independent of whether or not the subject was in its home or a foreign cage. No laterality in aggressive responding was found when the subjects were placed in separate cages with visual contact. These findings suggest that territorial aggression in Anolis is preferentially initiated and processed by the left eye/right hemisphere but is subject to right-hemispheric inhibition following exposure to acute mild stress.

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Section: Aggression In Anolis Carolinensissupporting

confidence: 82%

Hemispheric Control of Territorial Aggression in <i>Anolis carolinensis:</i> Effects of Mild Stress

Deckel

1997

Brain Behav Evol

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“…For instance, testosterone has been shown to induce a right‐hemisphere dominance in other bird species (Pfannkuche, Bouma, & Groothuis, ). Experiencing high levels of testosterone during the last stages of embryonic development prevent the development of brain asymmetry in females chicks and reverses asymmetry in males (Schwarz & Rogers, ). After hatching, a shift of hemispheric dominance from left to right can also be induced by treating chicks with testosterone (Rogers et al, ; Rogers, Zappia, & Bullock, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex‐specific lateralization during aggressive interactions in breeding king penguins

2019

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Brain and behavioral asymmetries (termed "lateralization"; e.g., preferential eye‐use) have been mostly described in controlled laboratory conditions, although striking similarities of hemispheric brain control for specific behaviors have also been shown in the wild. Visual lateralization may provide ecological advantages by allowing complementary roles played by the left–right lateral and frontal visual field in distant or close motion detection of predators or other threats. In this study, we tested for lateralization in aggressive behavior in wild king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), seabirds breeding in a context of strong colonial aggressiveness, and subject to on‐land‐based predation of their egg or chick. We show that males initiated more agonistic interactions when a congener was located in their right frontal visual field and in their left lateral visual field. The results obtained in females were the exact opposite for each subdivision of their visual fields. Complementary lateralization in male and female penguins may be part of a more general phenomenon, allowing partners to coordinate their behavior during reproduction. This may be especially true during the period of courtship, during which these seasonally monogamous and monomorphic seabirds engage in mutual mate choice based on a complex and ritualized display of ornaments located on the left and right lateral sides of the head. Those results open exciting questions as to whether hemispheric control of aggression is a commonly selected phenotypic trait across colonial seabirds.

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“…From research on chicks, we know that visual lateralization changes markedly over early, and critical, stages of development (see [4,104], p. 120) and that it can be modulated by steroid hormones [105][106][107] and environmental stimulation (e.g., light exposure, discussed above). A recent review by Hausmann [108] considers the influence of sex hormones on lateralization in humans and points out the difficulties in drawing conclusions from the research on humans.…”

Section: Multiple Modality Laterality and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Matter of Degree: Strength of Brain Asymmetry and Behaviour

Rogers

2017

Symmetry

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Abstract:Research on a growing number of vertebrate species has shown that the left and right sides of the brain process information in different ways and that lateralized brain function is expressed in both specific and broad aspects of behaviour. This paper reviews the available evidence relating strength of lateralization to behavioural/cognitive performance. It begins by considering the relationship between limb preference and behaviour in humans and primates from the perspectives of direction and strength of lateralization. In birds, eye preference is used as a reflection of brain asymmetry and the strength of this asymmetry is associated with behaviour important for survival (e.g., visual discrimination of food from non-food and performance of two tasks in parallel). The same applies to studies on aquatic species, mainly fish but also tadpoles, in which strength of lateralization has been assessed as eye preferences or turning biases. Overall, the empirical evidence across vertebrate species points to the conclusion that stronger lateralization is advantageous in a wide range of contexts. Brief discussion of interhemispheric communication follows together with discussion of experiments that examined the effects of sectioning pathways connecting the left and right sides of the brain, or of preventing the development of these left-right connections. The conclusion reached is that degree of functional lateralization affects behaviour in quite similar ways across vertebrate species. Although the direction of lateralization is also important, in many situations strength of lateralization matters more. Finally, possible interactions between asymmetry in different sensory modalities is considered.

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Testosterone: A role in the development of brain asymmetry in the chick

Cited by 56 publications

References 15 publications

Hemispheric Control of Territorial Aggression in <i>Anolis carolinensis:</i> Effects of Mild Stress

Hemispheric Control of Territorial Aggression in <i>Anolis carolinensis:</i> Effects of Mild Stress

Sex‐specific lateralization during aggressive interactions in breeding king penguins

A Matter of Degree: Strength of Brain Asymmetry and Behaviour

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