To the extreme! How biological anthropology can inform exercise physiology in extreme environments

Niclou, Alexandra; Sarma, Mallika S.; Lévy, Stéphanie; Ocobock, Cara

doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.111476

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 236 publications

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“…Our current understanding of evolution is predicated on human variability and plasticity, allowing for phenotypic and genotypic diversity within species (Laland et al, 2015). Previous work by biological anthropologists at extremes has demonstrated the wide range of human function and performance and the possibility for plasticity even within an individual (Frisancho, 2013; Mascie‐Taylor & Bogin, 1995; Niclou et al, 2023; Sarma et al, 2022; Wells & Stock, 2007). This understanding of human variability and diversity fundamentally changes how we should approach humans in space, complementing sociopolitical shifts as spaceflight grows increasingly more global and accessible.…”

Section: Contributions To Spaceflight Research and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Missions to the moon and Mars will likely be too demanding, dangerous, and expensive for high‐volume research, and thus maximizing low‐earth orbit and terrestrial analogs will be essential. Analogous research frameworks to maximize data collection under constrained circumstances in extreme terrestrial settings are already used by human biologists (Leonard, this issue; Niclou et al, 2023; Ocobock, 2023). As this research in extreme settings has developed over decades, human biology work as we see it today has acquired an agile methodological toolkit developed for use in intensive field‐based research, biocultural perspectives, and a research infrastructure that relies on dialectic engagement and communication between researchers and resident communities.…”

Section: Contributions To Spaceflight Research and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The cost, distance, and inevitable “unknowns” of the spaceflight environment(s) make it a distinctly extreme setting. Human biologists are particularly well suited to further develop research in human spaceflight given the discipline's foundations in evolutionary perspectives, biocultural interactions, and mixed methodological toolkits (Niclou et al, 2023). Here, we argue that current perspectives in human biology can critically contribute to the emerging human‐spaceflight research infrastructure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Long‐term habitation of humans in multiple spaceflight environments (e.g., spacecraft, moons, and planets) is predicated on the capacities of human acclimatization and adaptation, demonstrated to startling effect in terrestrial extremes. On Earth, humans have lived for extended periods (including over generations) in a range of extreme environments with varying success: from high‐altitude environments to desert environments to extreme cold to environments that are resource‐abundant but with high parasitic and pathogenic burdens (Beall, 2014; Frisancho, 2013; Moran, 2008; Niclou et al, 2023; Siddle & Quintana‐Murci, 2014). Space, including but not limited to environments of weightlessness in a spacecraft, and celestial bodies like the moon or Mars, is the newest of these extremes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The human biology of spaceflight

Sarma,

Shelhamer

2024

American J Hum Biol

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To expand the human exploration footprint and reach Mars in the 2030s, we must explore how humans survive and thrive in demanding, unusual, and novel ecologies (i.e., extreme environments). In the extreme conditions encountered during human spaceflight, there is a need to understand human functioning and response in a more rigorous theoretically informed way. Current models of human performance in space‐relevant environments and human space science are often operationally focused, with emphasis on acute physiological or behavioral outcomes. However, integrating current perspectives in human biology allows for a more holistic and complete understanding of how humans function over a range of time in an extreme environment. Here, we show how the use of evolution‐informed frameworks (i.e., models of life history theory to organize the adaptive pressures of spaceflight and biocultural perspectives) coupled with the use of mixed‐methodological toolkits can shape models that better encompass the scope of biobehavioral human adjustment to long‐duration space travel and extra‐terrestrial habitation. Further, we discuss how we can marry human biology perspectives with the rigorous programmatic structures developed for spaceflight to model other unknown and nascent extremes.

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Section: Contributions To Spaceflight Research and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contributions To Spaceflight Research and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The human biology of spaceflight

Sarma,

Shelhamer

2024

American J Hum Biol

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Born high, born fast: Does highland birth confer a pulmonary advantage for sea level endurance?

Paris,

Baranauskas,

Constantini

et al. 2024

Experimental Physiology

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Less than 7% of the world's population live at an altitude above 1500 m. Yet, as many as 67% of medalists in the 2020 men's and women's Olympic marathon, and 100% of medalists in the 2020 men's and women's Olympic 5000 m track race may have been born or raised above this otherwise rare threshold. As a possible explanation, research spanning nearly a quarter of a century demonstrates that indigenous highlanders exhibit pulmonary adaptations distinct from their lowland counterparts. These adaptations may then promote endurance performance. Indeed, healthy indigenous highlanders often exhibit a larger aerobic exercise capacity compared to sea‐level residents who travel to high altitude. However, questions remain on whether high‐altitude birth is advantageous for sea‐level competitions. In this review, we ask whether being born at a high altitude generates an ergogenic advantage for endurance performance in the Summer Olympics—a venue that is generally held at sea level. In so doing, we distinguish between three groups of high‐altitude residents: (i) the indigenous highlander, (ii) the highland newcomer, and (iii) the highland sojourner. Concentrating specifically on altitude‐induced alterations to pulmonary physiology beginning in the perinatal period, we propose that if altitude‐related maladaptations are avoided, genomic and developmental alterations accompanying highland birth may present benefits for endurance competitions at sea level.

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