Fluctuating Asymmetry and Steroid Hormones: A Review

Benderlioglu, Zeynep

doi:10.3390/sym2020541

Cited by 20 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 88 publications

(125 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Fink and colleagues [126] found a significant correlation between prenatal testosterone level (low second-to-fourth digit ratio) and high facial asymmetry in males, but not females. These findings, however, are controversial [127].…”

Section: Sex Differencesmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Stressors operate through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis [127], which acts in part as a link between the nervous system and the immune system. Under normally stressful conditions, corticotropin releasing hormone stimulates the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone, which stimulates the adrenal gland to release cortisol (a corticoid hormone).…”

Section: Stressorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fluctuating Asymmetry of Human Populations: A Review

Graham

Özener

2016

Symmetry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fluctuating asymmetry, the random deviation from perfect symmetry, is a widely used population-level index of developmental instability, developmental noise, and robustness. It reflects a population's state of adaptation and genomic coadaptation. Here, we review the literature on fluctuating asymmetry of human populations. The most widely used bilateral traits include skeletal, dental, and facial dimensions; dermatoglyphic patterns and ridge counts; and facial shape. Each trait has its advantages and disadvantages, but results are most robust when multiple traits are combined into a composite index of fluctuating asymmetry (CFA). Both environmental (diet, climate, toxins) and genetic (aneuploidy, heterozygosity, inbreeding) stressors have been linked to population-level variation in fluctuating asymmetry. In general, these stressors increase average fluctuating asymmetry. Nevertheless, there have been many conflicting results, in part because (1) fluctuating asymmetry is a weak signal in a sea of noise; and (2) studies of human fluctuating asymmetry have not always followed best practices. The most serious concerns are insensitive asymmetry indices (correlation coefficient and coefficient of indetermination), inappropriate size scaling, unrecognized mixture distributions, inappropriate corrections for directional asymmetry, failure to use composite indices, and inattention to measurement error. Consequently, it is often difficult (or impossible) to compare results across traits, and across studies.

show abstract

Section: Sex Differencesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Stressorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluctuating Asymmetry of Human Populations: A Review

Graham

Özener

2016

Symmetry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Consequently there is no strong correlation between asymmetry patterns and androgen levels among studied populations. Nevertheless a trend that higher androgen levels are associated with decreased asymmetry can be described for !Kung San males but only partly for Kavango males Unfortunately only few studies analyzed the association between androgen levels and asymmetry patterns in humans and the mechanisms through which androgens exert their influence on the development of bilateral characters remain unspecified [26,27]. On the one hand, a positive association between testosterone levels and dermatoglyphic asymmetry in males was found [35].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Androgen Levels and Body Size Are Associated with Directional as Well as Fluctuating Asymmetry Patterns in Adult !Kung San and Kavango Males from Northern Namibia

Kirchengast

Christiansen

2017

Symmetry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Fluctuating asymmetry is mainly interpreted as an indicator of developmental instability, while directional asymmetry of the upper limbs is associated with handedness. The association patterns between adult androgen levels and fluctuating as well directional asymmetry patterns are still unclear. In the present study, the association between adult androgen levels, body size and directional as well as fluctuating asymmetry pattern was tested among !Kung San and Kavango males from northern Namibia. Serum concentrations of testosterone (Tser) and 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) as well as salivary testosterone (Tsal) concentrations were obtained from 114 !Kung San and 136 Kavango men aged 18-40 years. Fluctuating and directional asymmetry were determined from eight paired traits. Signed and unsigned asymmetry, composite fluctuating and directional asymmetry were calculated. !Kung San males surpassed their Kavango counterparts in the directional asymmetry but also in composite directional asymmetry (CDA) significantly. Among !Kung San males, DHT correlated significantly negatively with parameters of fluctuating asymmetry as well as with parameters of directional asymmetry. Free testosterone of the saliva correlated significantly negatively with asymmetry of hand length. Among Kavango males, DHT is negatively associated with foot breadth asymmetry, but positively associated with wrist asymmetry. Although the correlations between asymmetry patterns and androgen levels are weak, it can be concluded that among !Kung San males adult androgen levels are negatively associated with a high quality phenotype.

show abstract

“…Therefore, this study highlighted the significance of thumbprints minutiae in assessing the level of developmental stress and instability among the Hausa population using FA. It was reported that fluctuating asymmetry is often used as a proxy to quantify developmental stressors and explore the effects of these developmental insults on individuals' health, fitness, and behavior (Benderlioglu, 2010). It may be recommended that this study be expanded to other digits and other populations in order to explore more about the pattern of the asymmetry in other digits and populations for better explanation of the phenomenon.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of asymmetry using thumbprint minutiae among Hausa population of Kano State, Nigeria

Adamu¹,

Ojo²,

Danborno³

et al. 2017

Bayero J. Pure App. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study was aimed at determining the existence of FA in Hausa populations using thumbprint minutiae. The participants included 112 males and 105 females of Hausa Ethnic descent, aged between 18-25 years. The minutiae of the plain thumbprints were determined from a circle with radius that cut across the nucleus of the fingerprints. The result showed that in signed asymmetry bifurcation, crossbar, break, point/dot into ridges and point/dot between ridges exhibited sexual dimorphism. The left ward asymmetry in male was exhibited in bifurcation, cross bar, trifurcation bifurcation, break, bridge, opposite bifurcation, in "M" convergence, in "M" bifurcation and Point/Dot into ridges. Similarly, in female bifurcation, trifurcation bifurcation, enclosure big, opposite bifurcation, convergence, in "M" bifurcation and return exhibit left ward asymmetry. For absolute and composite asymmetry the significant differences was observed in end, enclosure (small), bridge and return. In the entire minutiae types only ridge bifurcation exhibited directional asymmetry in males and six other minutiae types in females. In conclusion, the presence of sexual dimorphism in thumbprint ridge minutiae was demonstrated in the present study. The leftward asymmetry was observed in both sexes in different types minutiae. Females were observed to exhibit directional type of asymmetry more than the males in this population.

show abstract

Fluctuating Asymmetry and Steroid Hormones: A Review

Cited by 20 publications

References 88 publications

Fluctuating Asymmetry of Human Populations: A Review

Fluctuating Asymmetry of Human Populations: A Review

Androgen Levels and Body Size Are Associated with Directional as Well as Fluctuating Asymmetry Patterns in Adult !Kung San and Kavango Males from Northern Namibia

Evaluation of asymmetry using thumbprint minutiae among Hausa population of Kano State, Nigeria

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About