Abstract
Laterality is now known to be an ubiquitous phenomenon among the vertebrates. Particularly, laterality of auditory processing has been demonstrated in a variety of species, especially songbirds and primates. Such a hemispheric specialization has been shown to depend on factors such as sound structure, species specificity and types of stimuli. Much less is known on the possible influence of social familiarity although a few studies suggest such an influence. Here we tested the influence of the degree of familiarity on the laterality of the auditory response in the domestic horse. This species is known for its social system and shows visible reactions to sounds, with one or two ears moving towards a sound source. By comparing such responses to the playback of different conspecific whinnies (group member, neighbor and stranger), we could demonstrate a clear left hemisphere (LH) preference for familiar neighbor calls while no preference was found for group member and stranger calls. Yet, we found an opposite pattern of ear side preference for neighbor versus stranger calls. These results are, to our knowledge, the first to demonstrate auditory laterality in an ungulate species. They open further lines of thought on the influence of the social “value” of calls and the listener’s arousal on auditory processing and laterality.
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Acknowledgments
This work was conducted at the “Laboratoire EthoS Ethologie animale et humaine”, at the Station Biologique de Paimpont, in France. We are especially grateful to the personnel and direction of the Lycée agricole La Touche de Ploërmel, the Lycée agricole de Laval for their interest and cooperation during this study. We are particularly thankful to Pascaline Le Gouar for useful advice, help and assistance on statistical analyses. We would also like to thank Richard Jean-Pierre, Samuel Gornet, Haïfa Benhajahali, Carole Fureix, for their technical assistance and help and George Morton for English corrections. We are particularly grateful to anonymous reviewers and the editor for their helpful comments and advice on this manuscript. The experiments complied with the current French laws governing animal research.
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Basile, M., Boivin, S., Boutin, A. et al. Socially dependent auditory laterality in domestic horses (Equus caballus). Anim Cogn 12, 611–619 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-009-0220-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-009-0220-5