Brain asymmetry modulates perception of biological motion in newborn chicks (Gallus gallus)

摘要

Few light-points on the joints of a moving animal give the impression of biological motion (BM). Dayold chicks prefer BM to non-BM, suggesting a conserved predisposition to attend to moving animals. In humans and other mammals a network of regions, primarily in the right hemisphere, provides the neural substrate for BM perception. However, this has not been investigated in avians. In birds the information from each eye is mainly feeding to the contralateral hemisphere. To study brain asymmetry, we recorded the eye spontaneously used by chicks to inspect a BM stimulus. We also investigated the effect of lateralization following light exposure of the embryos.