Work

Hand Preference for Tool‐Use in Capuchin Monkeys ( C ebus apella) Is Associated With Asymmetry of the Primary Motor Cortex

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Skilled motor actions are associated with handedness and neuroanatomical specializations in humans. Recent reports have documented similar neuroanatomical asymmetries and their relationship to hand preference in some nonhuman primate species, including chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys. We investigated whether capuchins displayed significant hand preferences for a tool-use task and whether such preferences were associated with motor-processing regions of the brain. Handedness data on a dipping tool-use task and high-resolution 3T MRI scans were collected from 15 monkeys. Capuchins displayed a significant group-level left-hand preference for this type of tool use, and handedness was associated with asymmetry of the primary motor cortex. Left-hand preferent individuals displayed a deeper central sulcus in the right hemisphere. Our results suggest that capuchins show an underlying right-hemisphere bias for skilled movement.

Source: American Journal of Primatology

DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22079

Authors: KIMBERLEY A. PHILLIPS, CLAUDIA R. THOMPSON

Institutions: Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Trinity University, College of Wooster

Language: English

Topic: Hemispheric Asymmetry in Neuroscience

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Center for Research Resources, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences