Psychology Commons^™

Performance Asymmetries In Tool Use Are Associated With Corpus Callosum Integrity In Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes): A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study, Kimberley A. Phillips, J. Schaeffer, E. A. Barrett, William D. Hopkins

Psychology Faculty Research

The authors examined the relationship of corpus callosum (CC) morphology and organization to hand preference and performance on a motor skill task in chimpanzees. Handedness was assessed using a complex tool use task that simulated termite fishing. Chimpanzees were initially allowed to perform the task wherein they could choose which hand to use (preference measure), then they were required to complete trials using each hand (performance measure). Two measures were used to assess the CC: midsagittal area obtained from in vivo magnetic resonance images and density of transcallosal connections as determined by fractional anisotropy values obtained from diffusion tensor imaging. …