Endocrinology, energetics, and human life history: A synthetic model

Ellison, Peter T.

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.09.006

Cited by 57 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…LH refers to organisms capturing energy from the environment and allocating it to support different life tasks such as physical growth, learning and development, mating, and raising offspring (Ellison, ). Food and safety are essential for this energy‐gathering process, i.e., life (Chang & Lu, , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aggression and risk‐taking as adaptive implementations of fast life history strategy

Chang

2019

Developmental Science

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Within the evolutionary life history (LH) framework, aggression and risk‐taking are adaptive implementations of a fast LH strategy to adapt to environmental unsafety and unpredictability. Based on a longitudinal sample of 198 Chinese adolescents living in rural areas, half of whom were separated from their parents, this study tested LH hypotheses about aggression and risk‐taking in relation to safety constraints in the childhood living environments. The results showed that proxies of environmental unpredictability, including parental separation, were positively associated with aggression and risk‐taking and negatively associated with slow LH strategy, which in turn was negatively associated with aggression and risk‐taking. Children separated from their parents scored lower on slow LH strategies and higher on aggression and risk‐taking. These findings support the evolutionary assumption that human development responds to safety cues through behavioral implementations of LH strategies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aggression and risk‐taking as adaptive implementations of fast life history strategy

Chang

2019

Developmental Science

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“…Life history theory posits that the principal functions of self‐management and reproduction need adequate resource allocations that are extracted from the finite amounts of energy that every organism has at its disposal (Ellison, ; Said‐Mohamed, Pettifor, & Norris, ). This creates a natural constraint on the organism's adaptations and limits its fitness potential (Stearns, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A head start for life history development? Family income mediates associations between height and immune response in men

Krams

Luoto

Rubika

et al. 2018

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: Male height and health affect a diverse range of social and economic outcomes such as competition for resources and mates. Life history theory predicts that limited availability of bioenergetic resources curbs the development of central life history functions such as somatic growth, immunity, and investment in offspring. Although genetic factors are important determinants of height, other factors such as income level may affect the incidence of infections during ontogeny, thus having indirect effects on somatic growth. We tested whether growing up in families with a higher income positively affects height and immune function.Materials and Methods: Seventy-three young Latvian men from various socioeconomic backgrounds were given a hepatitis B vaccine. Blood samples were subsequently collected to measure the antibodies produced in response to the vaccination. Tweedie compound Poisson generalized linear models were used to examine relationships between height, family income, and antibody titers.Results: Both height and family income positively correlated with the strength of men's immune response. However, when testing for the simultaneous effects of height and income on antibody titers, the statistical models showed that height affected antibody levels indirectly because income level mediated variance in height. Discussion:The results of this study show that the relationships between height and immune function in young men are more complex than previously thought. Associations between taller stature of men and the robustness of their immune response are indirect because resource availability affects both somatic growth and the development of the immune system. K E Y W O R D Simmunity, life history theory, nutrition, socioeconomic status, stature

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“…Immunity is the ability of the organism to protect itself against invasions of foreign bodies such as bacteria, viruses, parasitoids, parasites, and toxic substances. The immune system keeps the body healthy and free from infections, but each organism also has to allocate resources to a variety of other life-history functionssuch as reproduction and developmentto improve its lifetime fitness (Stearns, 1992;Dillon et al, 2013;Minkov & Bond, 2015;Ellison, 2017). The resources available to satisfy competing functions of an individual are limited (Stearns, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food quality affects the expression of antimicrobial peptide genes upon simulated parasite attack in the larvae of greater wax moth

Krams

Kecko

Inashkina

et al. 2017

Entomologia Exp Applicata

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Predator‐prey interactions are an important evolutionary force affecting the immunity of the prey. Parasitoids and mites pierce the cuticle of their prey, which respond by activating their immune system against predatory attacks. Immunity is a costly function for the organism, as it often competes with other life‐history traits for limited nutrients. We tested whether the expression of antimicrobial peptides (AMP) of the larvae of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) changes as a consequence of insertion of a nylon monofilament, which acts like a synthetic parasite. The treatment was done for larvae grown on a high‐quality vs. a low‐quality diet. The expression of Gloverin and 6‐tox were upregulated in response to the insertion of the nylon monofilament. The expression of 6‐tox, Cecropin‐D, and Gallerimycin were significantly higher in the ‘low‐quality diet’ group than in the ‘high‐quality diet’ group. As food quality seems to affect AMP gene expression in G. mellonella larvae, it should always be controlled for in studies on bacterial and fungal infections in G. mellonella.

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Endocrinology, energetics, and human life history: A synthetic model

Cited by 57 publications

References 65 publications

Aggression and risk‐taking as adaptive implementations of fast life history strategy

Aggression and risk‐taking as adaptive implementations of fast life history strategy

A head start for life history development? Family income mediates associations between height and immune response in men

Food quality affects the expression of antimicrobial peptide genes upon simulated parasite attack in the larvae of greater wax moth

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