Lateralized changes in tympanic membrane temperature in relation to different cognitive tasks in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Abstract

Lateralized changes in tympanic membrane (TM) temperature were assessed in chimpanzees. Subjects were engaged in 1 of 3 different cognitive tasks, including matching-to-sample, visual-spatial discrimination, and a motor task. During execution of each task, TM temperatures were taken from each ear over a 20-min time period. The TM temperatures at each time interval were subtracted from a baseline measure to assess relative change in blood flow. For the matching-to-sample and visual-spatial discrimination tasks, significant lateralized changes in TM temperature were found, with left-ear temperature increasing and right-ear temperature decreasing. No laterality effects were found for the motor or control tasks. These data provide the first evidence of laterality in physiological functioning in chimpanzees and suggest that transient asymmetries in cognitive functions are associated with changes in cerebral blood flow as assessed by TM temperature change.