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Related Concept Videos

Lateralization

Lateralization

Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.

Migration

Migration

Migration is long-range, seasonal movement from one region or habitat to another. This common strategy, carried out by many different organisms around the world, is an adaptive response that typically corresponds to changes in an organism’s environment, like resource availability or climate. Migrations can involve huge groups of thousands of animals as well as single individuals traveling alone and can range from thousands of kilometers to just a few hundred meters.

Limits to Natural Selection

Limits to Natural Selection

Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.

Distribution and Dispersion

Distribution and Dispersion

To understand intra-specific interactions in populations, scientists measure the spatial arrangement of species individuals. This geographic arrangement is known as the species distribution or dispersion. Highly territorial species exhibit a uniform distribution pattern, in which individuals are spaced at relatively equal distances from one another. Species that are highly tied to particular resources, such as food or shelter, tend to concentrate around those resources, and thus exhibit a...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 31, 2026

Asymmetric Walkway: A Novel Behavioral Assay for Studying Asymmetric Locomotion

Asymmetric Walkway: A Novel Behavioral Assay for Studying Asymmetric Locomotion

Published on: January 15, 2016

Space availability influence laterality in donkeys (Equus asinus).

Paolo Zucca¹, Francesco Cerri, Augusto Carluccio

¹Zooantropology Unit, Healthcare Services Agency, Sgonico, Trieste, Italy. zucca@units.it

Behavioural Processes

|July 12, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Donkeys exhibit right-forelimb dominance in posture. Reduced space availability significantly alters this brain lateralization, impacting its strength and direction in this animal model.

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 31, 2026

Asymmetric Walkway: A Novel Behavioral Assay for Studying Asymmetric Locomotion

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Published on: January 15, 2016

Protocol for Assessing the Relative Effects of Environment and Genetics on Antler and Body Growth for a Long-lived Cervid

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Published on: August 8, 2017

Spinal Cord Lateral Hemisection and Asymmetric Behavioral Assessments in Adult Rats

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Published on: March 24, 2020

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Ethology
Animal Behavior

Background:

Cerebral lateralization, the functional specialization of brain hemispheres, shows variability influenced by factors like age, sex, and health.
Environmental factors are increasingly recognized for their role in shaping neural and behavioral asymmetries.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate space availability as a novel environmental factor influencing motor lateralization in adult donkeys.
To determine if donkeys exhibit population-level motor lateralization biases.

Main Methods:

Assessed population-level motor lateralization in donkeys under baseline conditions.
Manipulated space availability as an environmental constraint in an experimental condition.
Quantified changes in the strength and direction of laterality in response to reduced space.

Main Results:

Donkeys demonstrate significant population-level lateralization, with a bias towards advancing the right forelimb.
A reduction in available space was identified as a significant source of variation in both the strength and direction of lateralization.
Individual differences in laterality were observed to be influenced by the spatial constraint.

Conclusions:

Space availability represents a critical environmental variable influencing brain lateralization in adult vertebrates.
Understanding environmental impacts on lateralization is key to deciphering its evolutionary origins.
The donkey serves as a valuable model for studying the interplay between environment and neural asymmetry.