Development of hemispheric specialization pattern, a model of ontogenetic plasticity

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Martina Manns
• Subject Area: Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology ; General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology ; Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
• Term: from 2014 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 247871126

Cerebral lateralization, the dominance of one brain side for a specific function, is a core feature of neuronal information processing in the animal kingdom indicating a profound fitness advantage when brains display a division of labour between the two brain halves. Lateralized processing is based on complex intra- and interhemispheric mechanisms enabling independent, hemispheric-specific encoding but also exchange, integration, or suppression of information. The underlying functional organization of cooperative or independent processing as well as its development is only poorly understood. It is therefore the aim of this project proposal to understand how two specialized brain halves communicate generating adaptive decisions and behavioural control and how gene-environment interactions during development shape the underlying intra- and interhemispheric processes. We use the asymmetrically organized visual system of pigeons as a model to investigate the impact of the environmental factor light since the emergence of visual asymmetries depend on biased visual stimulation during embryonic development. Especially tasks investigating response selection in conflict situations (metacontrol) enable us to probe the relevance of intra- and interhemispheric processes facilitating a dynamic use of hemispheric-specific specialized neuronal circuits. We want to address this topic by three sets of experiments comparing metacontrol pattern of pigeons with and without embryonic light experience:Experiment I investigates in how far the emergence of hemispheric dominance in conflict choices depends on embryonic light stimulation. Experiment II addresses the question in how far a lateralized mode of stimulus analysis depends on ontogenetic light experience and explores the dynamics and flexibility of metacontrol in relation to hemispheric processing specializations. Experiment III aims for unravelling the neuronal mechanisms underlying hemispheric dominance in conflict decisions by means of optogenetics.Our studies can provide important hints how ontogenetic sensory experience impacts efficient interactions between the two brain halves. This may crucially improve our understanding the cognitive advantages of a lateralized brain but also impairments in developmental and psychiatric disorders.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants