Arabella Voegeli, “Are You a Lefty, a Righty, or Ambidextrous? Assessment of Brain Lateralization Using Handedness Assays Treefrogs”
Mentor: Gerlinde Höbel, Biological Sciences
Poster #199

Brain lateralization is common across the animal kingdom and thought to be beneficial because eliminating repetitive functions across hemispheres increases cognitive capacity. However, lateralization may be detrimental in certain scenarios as it can delay reaction times or impair movements requiring bilateral coordination. Given that different species have variable lifestyles and locomotive habits, the prevalence of brain lateralization is not entirely ubiquitous. Here, we investigate brain lateralization using two handedness behavioral assays (snout-wiping and righting responses), consequently recording side-biases in reflexive motor responses. We also investigate the consistency of handedness patterns across six closely related treefrog species. Results from the snout-wiping assay provide evidence of ambidexterity (i.e., no lateralization) across all species, however, some species show left-bias during the physically more demanding righting response assay. Wiping and righting tasks may be more reflexive and not require strong brain lateralization. Lateralization may mostly occur in tasks that require higher order cognitive processing, such as predator avoidance or prey capture.