Biomedical subjects

J Fagot

Publications and source records attributed to J Fagot.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1991

[Lateralization in cats in a pointing task of the anterior limb towards a moving target].

In a group of 44 cats overtrained on a task where they had to reach for a moving target, paw performance and paw preference were investigated. More than half of the cats (n = 23) were strongly lateralized in that they used one of their paws to perform more than 90% of the reaching attempts. Among these lateralized cats, left-pawed ones (n = 17) significantly exceeded right pawed-animals (n = 6). Investigating both the accuracy and speed scores, the comparison between lateralized and non-lateralized cats (using a criterion of 90% lateralization) showed that although the accuracy scores did not differ, lateralized cats were significantly quicker to trigger their movement. No difference was found concerning the movement time. For the whole group of 44 cats the comparison between the performance levels obtained with their two forepaws showed that the more frequently used paw was significantly more accurate and faster to trigger and to execute the movement than the less used paw. This study shows that, in pointing towards a moving target, cats display an asymmetry in paw preference that is associated with a performance asymmetry.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Handedness and manual specialization in the baboon.

Manual preferences of six baboons were tested with three kinds of experimental tasks: (1) a simple reaching on a board or in a hole; (2) a box opening; (3) two visuo-spatial tasks requiring precise alignments of apertures. The distribution of right and left hand preferences was found to be symmetrical for the simple reachings (3 right- and 3 left-handers) and was consistent with the preferences in the box opening task. However, manual tasks with strong visuo-spatial components gave a unimodal distribution with a left hand preference for the group for aligning and adjusting the apertures. These results suggest the coexistence within an individual of two types of preferences according to the distinction between handedness and manual specialization.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Handedness and bimanual coordination in the lowland gorilla.

One could hypothesize from previous studies that gorillas, as a group, might show a right-hand preference, making this species an exception among nonhuman primates. A study of 10 captive gorillas observed while reaching for food and tested on unimanual and bimanual tasks does not support this conclusion. Instead, the present study found (a) a symmetrical distribution of subjects with right-hand (n = 3), left-hand (n = 3), and no hand preference (n = 4) when simply reaching for food and (b) a left-hand preference by 7 of 8 gorillas tested on a spatial task requiring precise alignment of two openings. These results stress the importance of considering the kind of task employed in the assessment of lateral preferences. Furthermore, it is suggested that it might be useful to distinguish between the handedness of a gorilla when simply reaching and its manual specialization for novel and complex tasks.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Spontaneous hand usage and handedness in a troop of baboons.

Hand usage was studied in a troop of 18 Guinea baboons (10 adults and 8 young) for spontaneous activities. Handedness was determined by an analysis of unimanual activities and bimanual asymmetric activities. The distribution of preferential biases gave 5 right-handers and 2 left-handers, other subjects being ambidextrous. Main effects were age related: the strength of the preference was greater for adults than for young; moreover, bimanual activities performed by the adult group were more asymmetric than those realized by the subgroup of young. Laterality thus appears to develop during ontogeny in baboons.

Aging↗

PubMed1987

[A peculiar tumor. Adamantinoma of the long bones. Apropos of 7 consecutive cases followed up after resection].

Seven cases of tibial adamantinoma have been reviewed. All were treated by en bloc resection and followed for one to twenty years after operation. Of five patients followed for more than three years, three have had a good result after 3, 12 and 20 years of follow-up. One patient suffered a recurrence in the soft tissues seven years after resection and remained well after thirteen years follow-up. One patient required amputation two years after resection and died from a mediastinal tumour of undetermined nature sixteen years after amputation. The two failures occurred in patients seen secondarily following recurrence after initial curettage. The tibial shaft was reconstructed in three cases by massive allografts. One of these failed because of infection but was reconstructed using autografts; one had a late fracture which united spontaneously. The third, after sound union, had to be amputated for recurrence. Two smaller resections were treated successfully by tibial and iliac autografts. Two cases were treated by free vascularised fibular transplants which united, though one suffered a late fracture which united spontaneously. Curettage, which is almost always followed by recurrence, should be rejected in favour of extensive resection. Resection is successful when done primarily but poses severe problems in reconstruction and requires a prolonged period of treatment. The small numbers in this series do not allow a judgement to be made as to the superiority of one technique over another.

Adolescent↗