Visual laterality in dolphins: importance of the familiarity of stimuli
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many studies of cerebral asymmetries in different species lead, on the one hand, to a better understanding of the functions of each cerebral hemisphere and, on the other hand, to develop an evolutionary history of hemispheric lateral...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2012-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Neuroscience |
| Online Access: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/13/9 |
| _version_ | 1811258616955535360 |
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| author | Blois-Heulin Catherine Crével Mélodie Böye Martin Lemasson Alban |
| author_facet | Blois-Heulin Catherine Crével Mélodie Böye Martin Lemasson Alban |
| author_sort | Blois-Heulin Catherine |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many studies of cerebral asymmetries in different species lead, on the one hand, to a better understanding of the functions of each cerebral hemisphere and, on the other hand, to develop an evolutionary history of hemispheric laterality. Our animal model is particularly interesting because of its original evolutionary path, i.e. return to aquatic life after a terrestrial phase. The rare reports concerning visual laterality of marine mammals investigated mainly discrimination processes. As dolphins are migrant species they are confronted to a changing environment. Being able to categorize new versus familiar objects would allow dolphins a rapid adaptation to novel environments. Visual laterality could be a prerequisite to this adaptability. To date, no study, to our knowledge, has analyzed the environmental factors that could influence their visual laterality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We investigated visual laterality expressed spontaneously at the water surface by a group of five common bottlenose dolphins (<it>Tursiops truncatus</it>) in response to various stimuli. The stimuli presented ranged from very familiar objects (known and manipulated previously) to familiar objects (known but never manipulated) to unfamiliar objects (unknown, never seen previously). At the group level, dolphins used their left eye to observe very familiar objects and their right eye to observe unfamiliar objects. However, eyes are used indifferently to observe familiar objects with intermediate valence.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest different visual cerebral processes based either on the global shape of well-known objects or on local details of unknown objects. Moreover, the manipulation of an object appears necessary for these dolphins to construct a global representation of an object enabling its immediate categorization for subsequent use. Our experimental results pointed out some cognitive capacities of dolphins which might be crucial for their wild life given their fission-fusion social system and migratory behaviour.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:17:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-badf47d701c14d70b0d930aa25e946c6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2202 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:17:05Z |
| publishDate | 2012-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-badf47d701c14d70b0d930aa25e946c62022-12-22T03:21:34ZengBMCBMC Neuroscience1471-22022012-01-01131910.1186/1471-2202-13-9Visual laterality in dolphins: importance of the familiarity of stimuliBlois-Heulin CatherineCrével MélodieBöye MartinLemasson Alban<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many studies of cerebral asymmetries in different species lead, on the one hand, to a better understanding of the functions of each cerebral hemisphere and, on the other hand, to develop an evolutionary history of hemispheric laterality. Our animal model is particularly interesting because of its original evolutionary path, i.e. return to aquatic life after a terrestrial phase. The rare reports concerning visual laterality of marine mammals investigated mainly discrimination processes. As dolphins are migrant species they are confronted to a changing environment. Being able to categorize new versus familiar objects would allow dolphins a rapid adaptation to novel environments. Visual laterality could be a prerequisite to this adaptability. To date, no study, to our knowledge, has analyzed the environmental factors that could influence their visual laterality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We investigated visual laterality expressed spontaneously at the water surface by a group of five common bottlenose dolphins (<it>Tursiops truncatus</it>) in response to various stimuli. The stimuli presented ranged from very familiar objects (known and manipulated previously) to familiar objects (known but never manipulated) to unfamiliar objects (unknown, never seen previously). At the group level, dolphins used their left eye to observe very familiar objects and their right eye to observe unfamiliar objects. However, eyes are used indifferently to observe familiar objects with intermediate valence.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest different visual cerebral processes based either on the global shape of well-known objects or on local details of unknown objects. Moreover, the manipulation of an object appears necessary for these dolphins to construct a global representation of an object enabling its immediate categorization for subsequent use. Our experimental results pointed out some cognitive capacities of dolphins which might be crucial for their wild life given their fission-fusion social system and migratory behaviour.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/13/9 |
| spellingShingle | Blois-Heulin Catherine Crével Mélodie Böye Martin Lemasson Alban Visual laterality in dolphins: importance of the familiarity of stimuli BMC Neuroscience |
| title | Visual laterality in dolphins: importance of the familiarity of stimuli |
| title_full | Visual laterality in dolphins: importance of the familiarity of stimuli |
| title_fullStr | Visual laterality in dolphins: importance of the familiarity of stimuli |
| title_full_unstemmed | Visual laterality in dolphins: importance of the familiarity of stimuli |
| title_short | Visual laterality in dolphins: importance of the familiarity of stimuli |
| title_sort | visual laterality in dolphins importance of the familiarity of stimuli |
| url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2202/13/9 |
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