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Browsing Neurociências by advisor "Mendonça, Renata da Silva"
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- Show me your best side : lateralization of social behaviours on a population of feral horses - a case studyPublication . Cruz, André de Santa Bárbara Beirão da; Santos, Manuel Eduardo dos; Mendonça, Renata da SilvaRecent evidence in the animal kingdom, specifically in the Phylum Chordata, has revealed a variety of asymmetries regarding social and non-social behaviours. These preferences for side use can be translated into a lateralized processing of information in the brain. Studies performed with domestic horses show several behavioural asymmetries, however, domestic horses have a lot of interaction with caretakers and tend to lack real threats. This study investigated lateralization in frequency and duration of social interactions (affiliative and agonistic) and in resting behaviours on feral horses (Equus ferus caballus). While a small skewness of the data for a left-side preference was found for agonistic behaviours, statistical analyses revealed no significant bias. Horses were more prone to display grooming interactions using the right side and this behaviour lasted longer on this side, but no bias was found for cross-resting (although a skewness was visible for the left side). As for resting, although no bias was found for frequency of side use, a marginal (albeit non-significant) difference was present for the duration, resting tends to last longer when performed on the left side. These results do not entirely support a right-hemisphere dominance for social interactions nor a valence-specific assumption (left-hemisphere dominance for positive affect and right-hemisphere dominance for negative affect). Our findings on the right-side bias for grooming may eventually be interpreted as a role of the environment (ecological pressures) that shapes lateralization in different behaviours.