Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Italy.
Biol Lett. 2010 Jun 23;6(3):414-7. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0904. Epub 2010 Jan 20.
Escape performance is fundamental for survival in fish and most other animals. While previous work has shown that both intrinsic (e.g. size, shape) and extrinsic (e.g. temperature, hypoxia) factors can affect escape performance, the possibility that behavioural asymmetry may affect timing and locomotor performance in startled fish is largely unexplored. Numerous studies have found a relationship between brain lateralization and performance in several cognitive tasks. Here, we tested the hypothesis that behavioural lateralization may affect escape performance in a teleost, the shiner perch Cymatogaster aggregata. Escape responses were elicited by mechanical stimulation and recorded using high-speed video (250 Hz). A number of performance variables were analysed, including directionality, escape latency, turning rate and distance travelled within a fixed time. A lateralization index was obtained by testing the turning preference of each subject in a detour test. While lateralization had no effect on escape directionality, strongly lateralized fish showed higher escape reactivity, i.e. shorter latencies, which were associated with higher turning rates and longer distances travelled. Therefore, lateralization is likely to result in superior ability to escape from predator attacks, since previous work has shown that escape timing, turning rate and distance travelled are among the main determinants of escape success.
逃避性能是鱼类和大多数其他动物生存的基础。虽然之前的研究表明，内在因素（如体型、形状）和外在因素（如温度、缺氧）都可以影响逃避性能，但行为不对称性是否会影响受惊鱼类的时间和运动性能，这在很大程度上尚未得到探索。许多研究发现，大脑偏侧性与几种认知任务的表现之间存在关系。在这里，我们检验了这样一个假设，即行为偏侧性可能会影响鲈形目鱼类的逃避性能，这种鱼类是黄黝鱼。通过机械刺激引发逃避反应，并使用高速视频（250 Hz）进行记录。分析了包括方向性、逃避潜伏期、转弯率和在固定时间内行进的距离在内的多个性能变量。通过在回避测试中测试每个个体的转弯偏好，获得了一个偏侧化指数。虽然偏侧化对逃避方向性没有影响，但强烈偏侧化的鱼类表现出更高的逃避反应性，即潜伏期更短，这与更高的转弯率和更长的行进距离有关。因此，偏侧化可能会导致逃避捕食者攻击的能力更强，因为之前的研究表明，逃避时间、转弯率和行进距离是逃避成功的主要决定因素之一。
