title: Callosal agenesis affects consistency of laterality in a paw preference task in BALB/cCF mice.
abstract: We tested the hypothesis that the ontogenetic development of the corpus callosum (CC) affects the consistency of laterality in a paw preference task. Adult male mice (55 normal and 29 acallosal) of the BALB/cCF strain were initially tested (twice; inter-test interval: 72 h) in an unbiased setup in which both forepaws could easily perform a reaching movement. In a subsequent test, animals were placed in a biased setup that favored the use of the non-preferred paw. Acallosal and normal mice were strongly lateralized in the unbiased setup. Additionally, while normal mice did not present a populational bias favoring one of the paws, acallosal mice presented a significant bias favoring the left paw. In the biased setup, left- and right-pawed normal mice were equally consistent (approximately 65% of the animals, in both groups, used the preferred paw of the initial two tests, in spite of the bias). Conversely, while left-pawed acallosal mice were as consistent (65%) as normal mice, only 20% of right-pawed mice were consistent. These results suggest that the development of the CC affects consistency of laterality in a side-dependent manner. These results are discussed considering the role of the CC in the establishment of behavioral lateralization.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Neurofisiologia, Departamento de Ciências Fisiológicas, IBRAG, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Av. Professor Manuel de Abreu 444, 5 Andar, Vila Isabel, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20.550-170, Brazil. amanhaes@uerj.br
authors.forename: Alex C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Manhães
authors.forename: Sergio L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Cláudio C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Filgueiras
mesh_terms: D061085:Agenesis of Corpus Callosum; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005528:Foot / Q000502:physiology; D005552:Forelimb / Q000503:physiopathology; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008818:Mice, Neurologic Mutants; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013045:Species Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric