Abstract
Screening for handedness was performed in 11 inbred strains of mice. Direction and degree of handedness were measured for both males and females in each strain. The data show that there are almost as many right-as left-handed subjects and no strain could be classified as right-or left-handed. Females, however, tend to be more strongly lateralized than males. The range of variation for degree of handedness is pronounced between strains. These results thus suggest that degree of handedness would be the relevant variable in a genetic analysis of handedness in mice. They are in agreement with Collins' previous results showing a response to selection for degree, but not for direction, of handedness.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cole, J. (1950). Paw preference in cats related to hand preference in animals and man.J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol. 48:137–140.
Collins, R. L. (1968). On the inheritance of handedness. I. Laterality in inbred mice.J. Hered. 59:9–12.
Collins, R. L. (1969). On the inheritance of handedness. II. Selection for sinistrality in mice.J. Hered. 60:117–119.
Collins, R. L. (1970). The sound of one paw clapping: An inquiry into the origin of left-handedness. In Lindzey, G., and Thiessen, D. D. (eds.),Contributions to Behavior-Genetic Analysis: the Mouse as a Prototype, Academic Press, New York, pp. 115–136.
Collins, R. L. (1985). On the inheritance of direction and degree of asymmetry. In Glick, S. D. (ed.),Cerebral Lateralization in Nonhuman Species, Academic Press, London, pp. 41–71.
Galaburda, A., Sherman, G., and Geschwind, N. (1985). Cerebral lateralisation: Historical note on animal studies. In Glick, S. D. (ed.),Cerebral Lateralization in Nonhuman Species, Academic Press, London, pp. 1–10.
Geschwind, N. (1984). Immunological associations of cerebral dominance. In Behan, P. O., and Spreafico, F. (eds.),Neuroimmunology, Raven Press, New York, pp. 451–461.
MacNeilage, P. F., Studdert-Kennedy, M. G., and Linblom, B. (1987). Primate handedness reconsidered.Behav. Brain Sci. 10:247–303.
Nosten, M., Signore, P., Chaoui, M., and Roubertoux, P. (1988a). Genetics and handedness in mice: Preliminary results.Behav. Genet.,18:727.
Nosten, M., Signore, P., Chaoui, M., and Roubertoux, P. (1988b). Genetics and lateralization in mice.Eur. J. Neurosci. Suppl.:199.
Peterson, G. M. (1934). Mechanisms of handedness in the rat.Comp. Psychol. Monogr.9:1–6.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This study was supported by the CNRS (URA 1294), the University of Paris V (UFR Biomédicale), the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, and the Ministère de l'Education Nationale du Maroc.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Signore, P., Chaoui, M., Nosten-Bertrand, M. et al. Handedness in mice: Comparison across eleven inbred strains. Behav Genet 21, 421–429 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065977
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065977