[Features of performance of acquired motor skill in rats with various motor preference]

In Wistar rats with different motor preference (right and left-handed), features of performing food-getting skill (extraction of food spheres from a narrow horizontal tube-feeder) were examined. When using preferred forepaw, left-handed rats performed the task more quickly (including both preliminary attempts and final successful movement) than the right-handed ones. This skill was more quickly performed with the left paw irrespective of whether this paw was preferred or not. At the final stage of skill performance (grasping and extraction of food), the preferred paw appeared to be more successful than the not preferred one for both the right- and left-handed rats. These results suggest that the organization of general strategy of performance of the complex behavioral task is determined by functional heterogeneity of the right and left hemispheres of the rat brain, and this heterogeneity is not connected with paw preference. Specific motor and precision abilities of a preferred paw underlie the chosen preference. A special role in realization of these abilities is played by a contralateral hemisphere.