Laterality enhances numerical skills in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata

It has been hypothesized that cerebral lateralization can significantly enhance cognition and that this was one of the primary selective forces shaping its wide-spread evolution amongst vertebrate taxa. Here, we tested this hypothesis by examining the link between cerebral lateralization and numeric...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFrontiers in behavioral neuroscience Vol. 9; p. 285
Main Authors Dadda, Marco, Agrillo, Christian, Bisazza, Angelo, Brown, Culum
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Research Foundation 26.10.2015
Frontiers Media S.A
Subjects
Cognitive ability
Fish
Fishes
functional asymmetries
Hemispheric laterality
Investigations
Neuroscience
numerical discrimination
operant conditioning
Poecilia reticulata
quantity discrimination
Vertebrates
Italy
numerical discrimination
functional asymmetries
fishes
quantity discrimination
operant conditioning
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Summary:It has been hypothesized that cerebral lateralization can significantly enhance cognition and that this was one of the primary selective forces shaping its wide-spread evolution amongst vertebrate taxa. Here, we tested this hypothesis by examining the link between cerebral lateralization and numerical discrimination. Guppies, Poecilia reticulata, were sorted into left, right and non-lateralized groups using a standard mirror test and their numerical discrimination abilities tested in both natural shoal choice and abstract contexts. Our results show that strongly lateralized guppies have enhanced numerical abilities compared to non-lateralized guppies irrespective of context. These data provide further credence to the notion that cerebral lateralization can enhance cognitive efficiency.
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Reviewed by: Preston E. Garraghty, Indiana University, USA; Eliane Gonçalves De Freitas, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brazil
Edited by: Rui F. Oliveira, ISPA - Instituto Universitário, Portugal
ISSN:1662-5153
1662-5153
DOI:10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00285