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Anthropology 357 > Week 2 > Flashcards

Week 2 Flashcards

1
Q

Define canalization

A

The tendency of a trait to remain stable despite how a person’s genes or environment may be reacting

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2
Q

A “typical” pattern of growth in a trait among most humans is an example of…

A

Canalization of that trait

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3
Q

A highly canalized trait is likely to have a lot of constraints coming from…

A

Genetics

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4
Q

Define phenotypic plasticity

A

The ability of a genotype to produce various phenotypes which may confer environmental adaptation

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5
Q

Muscle mass and fat mass are good examples of traits which are highly (canalized/plastic)

A

Plastic

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6
Q

Plasticity has its most marked effects in these stages of life

A

Infancy to adolescence

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7
Q

Why are the adult and post-reproductive life periods less plastic than other life periods?

A

During these periods we are not growing very much

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8
Q

What are 3 methods by which humans are able to adapt to their environment?

A

Culture and technology
Physiology and development
Genetic adaptation

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9
Q

Humans are most reliant on (1) to mediate environmental stresses

A

Culture and technology and physiology (as opposed to genetics)

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10
Q

What likely drove the evolution of a very flexible life cycle observed in humans?

A

An unpredictable environment

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11
Q

Periods of time which can have the most drastic impacts on human growth and development are called…

A

Critical windows

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12
Q

When is a human considered to be the most vulnerable to its environment?

A

The first 1000 days

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13
Q

What is hyperplasic growth?

A

A period in time where cells are growing in number (rapid division) - structure and function of cells are being established

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14
Q

What is hypertrophic growth?

A

Follows hyperplasic growth, cells increase in size

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15
Q

At what point is the physiology of your cells “locked in”?

A

In early childhood after hyperplasic growth

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16
Q

Why are critical developmental windows so short?

A

Because we want to set them up when the environment is stable, and the longer the window is the less chance there is of the environment remaining stable

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17
Q

How do humans ensure our babies are sheltered from a variable environment?

A

The baby’s nutrition is provided by the mother, who is able to buffer the environmental conditions for the baby

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18
Q

What “environment” is a human baby exposed to in its first 1000 days?

A

The mom: placenta and breastmilk

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19
Q

What is transient gestational diabetes?

A

Giving energy to a baby may increase the mom’s insulin signals - high levels of insulin may cause transient resistance while this is happening and usually goes away after birth = gestational diabetes

20
Q

Why does the end of the critical window coincide with weaning?

A

By the time you’re weaned you are exposed to the environment, don’t want to be super sensitive to it at this point

21
Q

How does a mom signal her phenotype/nutritional status to her baby in utero?

A
  • Nutrients in the blood
  • Hormones
  • Cytokines and immune signals
  • Metabolites (like glucose)
22
Q

How is a mom able to signal stress to her baby if cortisol cannot cross the placenta?

A

Cortisol affects testosterone secretion (among other hormones) which are able to cross the placenta

23
Q

In a study on stress and colony density, female seals who were in dense colonies tended to be (less/more) stressed than seals in less dense colonies

A

More - crowding = stressed

24
Q

In seals, increased prenatal testosterone (due to stress) influenced these three qualities:

A
  1. Locomotor activity
  2. Growth
  3. Increased Competitiveness
25
Q

Describe complimentary feeding and why it is advantageous for human babies

A

Complimentary feeding = Feeding a mixture of breast milk and other soft foods

Advantageous because = this allows us to have some flexibility in the age we wean our kids, we can do what’s best for the mom

26
Q

Compared to other primates, humans wean their children (early/late)

A

Early!

27
Q

Why could it be that the HPG axis on in babies in the first 6 months of life?

A

Could be because the mom’s hormonal axes are very much on during breastfeeding - could influence the babies HPG axis

28
Q

Leptin is released from…

A

White adipose tissue

29
Q

What is leptin’s role?

A

Signal to the brain the status of the body’s energy stores

30
Q

How does the mom signal to the baby what her energy stores are?

A

Through leptin which can cross the placenta/breastmilk

31
Q

If a person has more body fat, their leptin secretion will be (higher/lower)

A

Higher

32
Q

When leptin levels are low, (1) is stimulated

A

Appetite

33
Q

What is the role of TGF-b in infants? (2)

A
  1. Crosses the breast milk and functions as an anti-inflammatory protein and induces the production of antibodies in the infant
  2. Helps to mature the immune and intestinal cells of the infant
34
Q

Infants who were breastfed may have more of this protein than those who were formula fed

A

TGF-b

35
Q

Why do humans have so much HMO in their breast milk when no other mammals have this and it is indigestible to us?

A

It is specifically for the gut microbiome - feeds “good” bacteria in the gut

36
Q

(1) colonizes the infant gut with bacteria

A

Breastmilk

37
Q

When are the 2 times a mother transfers gut microbiome content to her offspring?

A

Birth and breastfeeding

38
Q

What kind of bacteria specifically digests HMOs from breastmilk?

A

Bifidobacteria

39
Q

Bifidobacteria’s main role is to..

A

Outcompete “bad” bacteria for space in the gut microbiome

40
Q

The two main mechanisms which control access of TFs to DNA are…

A

DNA methylation and histones

41
Q

Changes in the epigenome are heritable when these changes occur in…

A

Egg and sperm cell DNA

42
Q

A poor maternal diet in mice may unmethylate this gene, which turns it on

A

The agouti gene

43
Q

If a baby is born in high-altitude conditions, how is it born adapted to these conditions if the mom is buffering her environment?

A

Mom’s adaptation shapes the signals that the fetus receives, and the fetus is able to respond accordingly

44
Q

When the critical window closes, how do many traits respond?

A

Respond by canalizing

45
Q

High levels of cortisol impairs…

A

Immune function

Anthropology 357 (9 decks)

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