Abstract
Studies on the role of heredity in the transmission of handedness in nonhuman mammals have, so far, led to the isolation of mouse strains that differed in the lateralized versus ambidextrous use of the forepaw in a food-retrieval task (strength of paw preference). Here we report that left versus right use of the forepaw (direction of paw preference) is associated with a genetically expressed structural asymmetry of a sensory system, the whisker-to-barrel pathway. Mice that express whisker pad asymmetry of a direction that corresponds with the asymmetry for which they were bred demonstrate an opposite shift in the distribution of handedness: a right or left dominance of the whisker pad predicts a high proportion of left-handers or right-handers, respectively. Is an altered brain circuit--that is, a consequence of the asymmetry of the whisker pad--associated with a change in the circuitry that governs handedness? Or, alternatively, are there two gene sets responsible for the phenomena that we report--one that causes "whiskeredness" and another that causes handedness?
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Betancur C., Neveu P. J., Le Moal M. Strain and sex differences in the degree of paw preference in mice. Behav Brain Res. 1991 Oct 25;45(1):97–101. doi: 10.1016/s0166-4328(05)80185-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Collins R. L. On the inheritance of handedness. I. Laterality in inbred mice. J Hered. 1968 Jan-Feb;59(1):9–12. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a107656. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Collins R. L. Reimpressed selective breeding for lateralization of handedness in mice. Brain Res. 1991 Nov 15;564(2):194–202. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(91)91455-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Collins R. L. When left-handed mice live in right-handed worlds. Science. 1975 Jan 17;187(4172):181–184. doi: 10.1126/science.1111097. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Larson C. F., Dodson D. L., Ward J. P. Hand preferences and whole (Galago senegalensis). Brain Behav Evol. 1989;33(5):261–267. doi: 10.1159/000115934. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Signore P., Nosten-Bertrand M., Chaoui M., Roubertoux P. L., Marchaland C., Perez-Diaz F. An assessment of handedness in mice. Physiol Behav. 1991 Apr;49(4):701–704. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(91)90305-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Van der Loos H., Dörfl J., Welker E. Variation in pattern of mystacial vibrissae in mice. A quantitative study of ICR stock and several inbred strains. J Hered. 1984 Sep-Oct;75(5):326–336. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Van der Loos H., Welker E., Dörfl J., Rumo G. Selective breeding for variations in patterns of mystacial vibrissae of mice. Bilaterally symmetrical strains derived from ICR stock. J Hered. 1986 Mar-Apr;77(2):66–82. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a110201. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Van der Loos H., Woolsey T. A. Somatosensory cortex: structural alterations following early injury to sense organs. Science. 1973 Jan 26;179(4071):395–398. doi: 10.1126/science.179.4071.395. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Walker S. F. Lateralization of functions in the vertebrate brain: a review. Br J Psychol. 1980 Aug;71(3):329–367. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1980.tb01750.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Woolsey T. A., Van der Loos H. The structural organization of layer IV in the somatosensory region (SI) of mouse cerebral cortex. The description of a cortical field composed of discrete cytoarchitectonic units. Brain Res. 1970 Jan 20;17(2):205–242. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(70)90079-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]