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Symmetry
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Brain Asymmetry in Evolution
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Brain Asymmetry in Evolution

A special issue of Symmetry (ISSN 2073-8994). This special issue belongs to the section "Life Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2020) | Viewed by 18937

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Kazuhiko Sawada

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Nurtrition, Tsukuba International University, Tuchiura, Japan
Interests: phylogeny and evolution of the brain
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Asymmetrical aspects of brain morphology and function have been shown in higher mammals, including primates and carnivores, as species-related, sex-related, and individual diversities, and are associated with cognition, emotion, language, preference of hand/paw use, and so on. A disturbance of the brain lateralization is involved in human neurodevelopmental disorders with cognitive impairments and/or social deficits such as autism, schizophrenia, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and specific language impairments. Asymmetric development may be essential to the evolution of the brain for acquiring higher and/or more diverse function. The purpose of this Special Issue on “Brain Asymmetry in Evolution” is highlighting morphological and functional lateralization of the brain in various species of mammals for understanding the evolution of the brain. This Issue is also interested in the sexual dimorphism of brain asymmetry, brain function as relevant to motor and behavioral lateralization, and altered brain asymmetry in diseases and/or by gene manipulations. It especially welcomes research papers, short communications, and comprehensive reviews. The Issue will also accept descriptive studies, case reports, and mini-reviews if they have the potential to lead to new insights or hypotheses in future research.

Prof. Dr. Kazuhiko Sawada
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Symmetry is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cerebrum
  • cerebellum
  • cognition
  • social deficits
  • language lateralization
  • handedness
  • motor lateralization
  • behavioral lateralization
  • autism
  • schizophrenia

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 165 KiB  
Editorial
Special Issue on Brain Asymmetry in Evolution
by Kazuhiko Sawada
Symmetry 2022, 14(10), 2014; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym14102014 - 25 Sep 2022
Viewed by 1173
Abstract
The brain is lateralized morphologically and functionally, with unique species-related specifications [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Brain Asymmetry in Evolution)

Research

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9 pages, 1443 KiB  
Article
Disconnection between Rat’s Left and Right Hemisphere Impairs Short-Term Memory but Not Long-Term Memory
by Yukitoshi Sakaguchi and Yoshio Sakurai
Symmetry 2021, 13(10), 1872; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13101872 - 4 Oct 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2248
Abstract
Split-brain experiments, which have been actively conducted since the twentieth century, have provided a great deal of insight into functional asymmetry and inter-hemispheric interactions. However, how communication between the left and right hemispheres directly contributes to memory formation is still poorly understood. To [...] Read more.
Split-brain experiments, which have been actively conducted since the twentieth century, have provided a great deal of insight into functional asymmetry and inter-hemispheric interactions. However, how communication between the left and right hemispheres directly contributes to memory formation is still poorly understood. To address this issue, we cut the rat commissural fibers prior to performing behavioral tests, which consisted of two short-term and two long-term memory tasks. The result showed that cutting the commissural fibers impairs short-term memory but not long-term memory. This suggests that the left-right hemispheric interaction through the commissural fibers contributes to the appropriate formation of short-term memory, but not that of long-term memory. Our findings would help to elucidate dynamic memory formation between the two hemispheres and contribute to the development of therapeutics for some neurological diseases which cause a reduction in the inter-hemispheric interaction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Brain Asymmetry in Evolution)
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17 pages, 3166 KiB  
Article
The Topology of Pediatric Structural Asymmetries in Language-Related Cortex
by Mark A. Eckert, Federico Iuricich, Kenneth I. Vaden, Brittany T. Glaze and Dyslexia Data Consortium
Symmetry 2020, 12(11), 1809; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12111809 - 31 Oct 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2700
Abstract
Structural asymmetries in language-related brain regions have long been hypothesized to underlie hemispheric language laterality and variability in language functions. These structural asymmetries have been examined using voxel-level, gross volumetric, and surface area measures of gray matter and white matter. Here we used [...] Read more.
Structural asymmetries in language-related brain regions have long been hypothesized to underlie hemispheric language laterality and variability in language functions. These structural asymmetries have been examined using voxel-level, gross volumetric, and surface area measures of gray matter and white matter. Here we used deformation-based and persistent homology approaches to characterize the three-dimensional topology of brain structure asymmetries within language-related areas that were defined in functional neuroimaging experiments. Persistence diagrams representing the range of values for each spatially unique structural asymmetry were collected within language-related regions of interest across 212 children (mean age (years) = 10.56, range 6.39–16.92; 39% female). These topological data exhibited both leftward and rightward asymmetries within the same language-related regions. Permutation testing demonstrated that age and sex effects were most consistent and pronounced in the superior temporal sulcus, where older children and males had more rightward asymmetries. While, consistent with previous findings, these associations exhibited small effect sizes that were observable because of the relatively large sample. In addition, the density of rightward asymmetry structures in nearly all language-related regions was consistently higher than the density of leftward asymmetric structures. These findings guide the prediction that the topological pattern of structural asymmetries in language-related regions underlies the organization of language. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Brain Asymmetry in Evolution)
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12 pages, 2353 KiB  
Article
Does Brain Lateralization Affect the Performance in Binary Choice Tasks? A Study in the Animal Model Danio rerio
by Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini, Alessandra Pecunioso, Marco Dadda and Christian Agrillo
Symmetry 2020, 12(8), 1294; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12081294 - 4 Aug 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2707
Abstract
Researchers in behavioral neuroscience commonly observe the behavior of animal subjects in the presence of two alternative stimuli. However, this type of binary choice introduces a potential confound related to side biases. Understanding whether subjects exhibit this bias, and the origin of it [...] Read more.
Researchers in behavioral neuroscience commonly observe the behavior of animal subjects in the presence of two alternative stimuli. However, this type of binary choice introduces a potential confound related to side biases. Understanding whether subjects exhibit this bias, and the origin of it (pre-existent or acquired throughout the experimental sessions), is particularly important to interpreting the results. Here, we tested the hypothesis according to which brain lateralization may influence the emergence of side biases in a well-known model of neuroscience, the zebrafish. As a measure of lateralization, individuals were observed in their spontaneous tendencies to monitor a potential predator with either the left or the right eye. Subjects also underwent an operant conditioning task requiring discrimination between two colors placed on the left–right axis. Although the low performance exhibited in the operant conditioning task prevents firm conclusions from being drawn, a positive correlation was found between the direction of lateralization and the tendency to select the stimulus presented on one specific side (e.g., right). The choice for this preferred side did not change throughout the experimental sessions, meaning that this side bias was not the result of the prolonged training. Overall, our study calls for a wider investigation of pre-existing lateralization biases in animal models to set up methodological counterstrategies to test individuals that do not properly work in a binary choice task with stimuli arranged on the left–right axis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Brain Asymmetry in Evolution)
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8 pages, 441 KiB  
Article
Asymmetry of Cerebellar Lobular Development in Ferrets
by Kazuhiko Sawada, Shiori Kamiya and Ichio Aoki
Symmetry 2020, 12(5), 735; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12050735 - 5 May 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3153
Abstract
The ferret cerebellum is anteriorly right-lateralized and posteriorly left-lateralized. This study characterized the left/right difference in ferret cerebellar lobular morphology using 3D-rendered magnetic resonance images of fixed brains from seven male and seven female ferrets on postnatal day 90. Asymmetrical lobular morphology showed [...] Read more.
The ferret cerebellum is anteriorly right-lateralized and posteriorly left-lateralized. This study characterized the left/right difference in ferret cerebellar lobular morphology using 3D-rendered magnetic resonance images of fixed brains from seven male and seven female ferrets on postnatal day 90. Asymmetrical lobular morphology showed asymmetrical sublobular development in the anterior vermis, lobulus simplex, and ansiform lobules and additional grooves asymmetrically appearing in the paramedian lobule, lobule VI, and ansiform lobules. Although we observed these asymmetric hallmarks in four cerebellar transverse domains in both sexes, there was no left/right difference in their incidence in each domain. Males showed a significantly higher incidence of the additional grooves in the left side of the ansiform lobules than in females. Data were combined and classified as per the asymmetry quotient (AQ) into left- (AQ < 0) and right-dominant (AQ > 0) groups. There were significantly higher incidences of poor sublobular development of ansiform lobules and additional groove appearing in lobule VI on the right than on the left in the left-dominant group. Asymmetric hallmarks visible on the cerebellar surface of ferrets are relevant to the left-biased volume asymmetry of the central zone of cerebellar transversus domains containing lobule VI and ansiform lobules. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Brain Asymmetry in Evolution)
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10 pages, 427 KiB  
Article
Rightward Shift of Two-Channel NIRS-Defined Prefrontal Cortex Activity during Mental Arithmetic Tasks with Increasing Levels of State Anxiety
by Miwa Horiuchi-Hirose and Kazuhiko Sawada
Symmetry 2020, 12(4), 538; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12040538 - 3 Apr 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2545
Abstract
This study was aimed at clarifying the effect of different levels of state anxiety caused by mental arithmetic tasks on the anxiety- and/or task performance-related activation of the frontopolar prefrontal cortex (PFC). Twenty-six healthy male subjects performed two sets of mental arithmetic tasks, [...] Read more.
This study was aimed at clarifying the effect of different levels of state anxiety caused by mental arithmetic tasks on the anxiety- and/or task performance-related activation of the frontopolar prefrontal cortex (PFC). Twenty-six healthy male subjects performed two sets of mental arithmetic tasks, which consisted of two difficulty levels. Anxiety levels were evaluated subjectively by the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory-Form JYZ (STAI). Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measurements revealed greater levels of oxyhemoglobin in the frontopolar PFC during experimental tasks. When the subjects were divided into three anxiety groups based on STAI scores, arithmetic task performance was reduced in the moderate and high state anxiety groups compared the low state anxiety group during the experimental task, but not in the control task. Increased frontopolar PFC activity during the experimental task was observed on either side in the moderate anxiety group. The laterality of frontopolar PFC activity in moderate and high state anxiety groups shifted from left to right dominance, independent of task difficulty. Our findings suggested that reduced task performance increased the difficulty of the arithmetic tasks and was involved in the state anxiety-associated rightward lateralization of the frontopolar PFC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Brain Asymmetry in Evolution)
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Review

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9 pages, 1140 KiB  
Review
Cerebral Sulcal Asymmetry in Macaque Monkeys
by Kazuhiko Sawada
Symmetry 2020, 12(9), 1509; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym12091509 - 14 Sep 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3480
Abstract
The asymmetry of the cerebral sulcal morphology is particularly obvious in higher primates. The sulcal asymmetry in macaque monkeys, a genus of the Old World monkeys, in our previous studies and others is summarized, and its evolutionary significance is speculated. Cynomolgus macaques displayed [...] Read more.
The asymmetry of the cerebral sulcal morphology is particularly obvious in higher primates. The sulcal asymmetry in macaque monkeys, a genus of the Old World monkeys, in our previous studies and others is summarized, and its evolutionary significance is speculated. Cynomolgus macaques displayed fetal sulcation and gyration symmetrically, and the sulcal asymmetry appeared after adolescence. Population-level rightward asymmetry was revealed in the length of arcuate sulcus (ars) and the surface area of superior temporal sulcus (sts) in adult macaques. When compared to other nonhuman primates, the superior postcentral sulcus (spcs) was left-lateralized in chimpanzees, opposite of the direction of asymmetry in the ars, anatomically-identical to the spcs, in macaques. This may be associated with handedness: either right-handedness in chimpanzees or left-handedness/ambidexterity in macaques. The rightward asymmetry in the sts surface area was seen in macaques, and it was similar to humans. However, no left/right side differences were identified in the sts morphology among great apes, which suggests the evolutionary discontinuity of the sts asymmetry. The diversity of the cortical lateralization among primate species suggests that the sulcal asymmetry reflects the species-related specialization of the cortical morphology and function, which is facilitated by evolutionary expansion in higher primates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Brain Asymmetry in Evolution)
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