The study of hemispheric specialization for categorical and coordinate spatial relations in animals

Abstract

This article reviews some of the most representative studies in the animal literature pertaining to the processing of categorical and coordinate spatial relations and of their hemispheric control. Although the processing of coordinate and categorical cognition has been studied directly with nonhuman primates, experiments on cerebral asymmetries in avian spatial orientation are also reviewed. It turns out that Kosslyn's model concerning the existence of two types of spatial representations each with a specific lateralization pattern has received some support in nonhuman primates and is only weakly verified in the avian studies. Procedural differences might explain some but certainly not all of the discrepancies between the human and the animal literature. It is especially the laterality hypothesis of a left hemisphere advantage in relational cognition and a right hemispheric superiority in judging absolute distances that is not supported by the animal data. Studies specifically addressing Kosslyn's hypotheses and bearing on the use of similar stimuli, procedures and methods between the species tested are needed in order to lead to firm conclusions about the existence of coordinate versus categorical processing systems in animals.

Distinct neural networks underlie encoding of categorical versus coordinate spatial relations during active navigation

“…The receptive field hypothesis is broadly consistent with the observation that inputs from the magnocellular visual pathway are more pronounced in the right hemisphere, and that inputs from the parvocellular visual pathway are more pronounced on the left (Hellige & Cumberland, 2001;Kosslyn, et al, 1992;Roth & Hellige, 1998). These and similar findings have led some researchers (e.g., Vauclair et al, 2006) to suggest that the categorical versus coordinate distinction should be rephrased in terms of a distinction between perceptual processes operating at global and local spatial scales, respectively, whereas others (Laeng et al 2011;Michimata et al, 2011) have proposed interactive effects of global and local attention on the processing of categorical and coordinate spatial relations.…”

Use of a geometric rule or absolute vectors: Landmark use by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana)

“…But positive transfer would suggest that some more general rules had also been learned during training with a single exemplar. Studies of avian lateralization would likely not predict positive transfer given that many studies of spatial encoding show a right hemisphere dominance-relational encoding-even under binocular viewing [20]. The results from our present study suggest that incorporating multiple versus single exemplar training may prove to be an important methodological consideration for future studies of avian spatial learning and memory.…”

Lateralization of the Vertebrate Brain: Taking the Side of Model Systems: Figure 1.

“…In pigeons, visuocognitive processes are changed asymmetrically for the entire lifetime of the animal. A detailed analysis of pigeons learning to categorize hundreds of pictures with everyday scenes into those that contain a human figure or not shows that left and right hemispheres use complementary strategies (Vauclair et al, 2005a). The left hemisphere concentrates on local features and is able to generate categorical distinctions based on the invariant properties of the target stimulus.…”