Sex, personaltiy and individual differences in cerebral lateralization in the convict cichlid

• Author / Creator

  Reddon, Adam R.

• Cerebral lateralization was once thought to be unique to humans, but is now known to be widespread among the vertebrates. Lateralization appears to confer cognitive advantages upon those that possess it. Despite the taxonomic ubiquity and described advantages of lateralization, substantial individual variation exists in all species. Individual variation in cerebral lateralization may be tied to individual variation in behaviour and the selective forces that act to maintain variation in behaviour may also act to maintain variation in lateralization. Sex differences may also be an important source of variation in lateralization, as differences between males and females are often observed. Here, I present three papers that collectively deal with the interrelationships between sex, behaviour and cerebral lateralization in the convict cichlid. My results illustrate that lateralization is related to personality-like characteristics in the convict cichlid, and that there are important differences between the sexes in their pattern of lateralization.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Aggression
  • Emotion
  • Damage-induced alarm signals
  • Archocentrus nigrofaciatus
  • Personality
  • Cerebral lateralization
  • Shy-bold continuum
  • Convict cichlid
  • Sex

• Graduation date

  Fall 2009

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3CW20

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.