The relationship between problem-solving ability and laterality in cats

Abstract

The association between hemispheric asymmetries and cognitive ability is one of the key areas of comparative laterality research. In several animal species, individual limb preferences correlate with perceptual, cognitive, or motor abilities, possibly by increasing dexterity of one limb and minimizing response conflicts between hemispheres. Despite this wealth of research, the association between laterality and cognitive abilities in the cat (Felis catus) is not well understood. Therefore, it was the aim of the present study to investigate the relationship between laterality and problem-solving ability in cats. To this end, strength and direction of paw preferences in 41 cats were measured using two novel food reaching tasks in which the animals needed to open a lid in order to reach the food reward. We found that cats that showed a clear preference for one paw were able to open more lids succesfully than ambilateral animals. Moreover, cats that preferred to interact with the test apparatus with their paw from the beginning, opened more lids than cats the first tried to interact with the test apparatus using their heads. Results also suggested a predictive validity of the first paw usage for general paw usage. It was also shown that the cats' individual paw preferences were stable and task-independent. These results yield further support to the idea that lateralization may enhance cognitive abilities.

Keywords: Cat; Functional cerebral asymmetry; Laterality; Paw preference; Problem-solving ability.