Effects of early predation and social cues on the relationship between laterality and personality in the Threespined stickleback

Individual differences in laterality and personality are expected to
covary, as emotions are processed differently by the two hemispheres and
personality involves emotional behavior. Fish species are often used to
investigate this topic due to the large variability in personality and
laterality patterns. While some species show a positive relationship
between lateralization strength and boldness, others show a negative
relationship, and some show no relationship. To investigate whether this
relationship follows changes in laterality and personality, we conducted a
fully factorial design experiment manipulating predation and group size
during early development. Results showed that the strength of laterality
was influenced by predation threat, while social
tendency and boldness were influenced by group size. These
findings suggest that early life conditions can have an
impact on laterality and social behavior. The relationship
between laterality and personality traits, while present, was
heavily influenced by the specific trial conditions, but not by
the different developmental conditions.