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Fragaszy DM, Kelty-Stephen DG, Mangalam M. How bipedalism shapes humans' actions with hand tools. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230152. [PMID: 39155723 PMCID: PMC11391300 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Revised: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 08/20/2024] Open
Abstract
The task for an embodied cognitive understanding of humans' actions with tools is to elucidate how the human body, as a whole, supports the perception of affordances and dexterous action with objects in relation to other objects. Here, we focus on the relationship between humans' actions with handheld tools and bipedal posture. Posture plays a pivotal role in shaping animals' perception and action dynamics. While humans stand and locomote bipedally, other primates predominantly employ quadrupedal postures and locomotion, relying on both hands and feet to support the body. Drawing upon evidence from evolutionary biology, developmental psychology and performance studies, we elucidate the influence of bipedalism on our actions with objects and on our proficiency in using tools. We use the metaphor of cascades to capture the dynamic, nonlinear transformations in morphology and behaviour associated with posture and the use of tools across evolutionary and developmental timescales. Recent work illustrates the promise of multifractal cascade analysis to reveal nonlinear, cross-scale interactions across the entire body in real-time, supporting the perception of affordances for actions with tools. Cascade analysis enriches our comprehension of real-time performance and facilitates exploration of the relationships among whole-body coordination, individual development, and evolutionary processes.This article is part of the theme issue 'Minds in movement: embodied cognition in the age of artificial intelligence'.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Damian G Kelty-Stephen
- Department of Psychology, State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY 12561, USA
| | - Madhur Mangalam
- Division of Biomechanics and Research Development, Department of Biomechanics, Center for Research in Human Movement Variability, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE 68182, USA
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Marino FE. Evolution of the thirst mechanism in Homo: The need and limitations of thirst and hydration. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2024; 298:111745. [PMID: 39304116 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.111745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2024] [Revised: 08/29/2024] [Accepted: 09/16/2024] [Indexed: 09/22/2024]
Abstract
There is a view that the perception of thirst and actual body fluid balance may affect cognitive and exercise performance. The evolutionary evidence suggests that our survival was dependent on our ability to sweat profusely when hunting during the heat of the day (persistence hunting), so if water deficits were not tolerated, consequently the thirst mechanism would limit our persistence hunting capability. This also means that hunting and searching for water was undertaken with some extent of water deficit, and in turn suggests that performance; physical and cognitive, was conducted with a degree of dehydration. Given the current views on the maintenance of body water for performance, there is a need to evaluate the evidence relating to tolerance limits for water deficits with respect to both physical and cognitive performance. This review considers the thirst mechanism and the conditions and selective pressures under which this might have evolved. Consideration will be given to how the thirst mechanism influences our physical and cognitive performance. The review suggests that Homo developed appropriate tolerances for water deficits and thirst perception, with a safety margin that prevented detrimental declines in physical and cognitive performance to the point of inhibiting corrective action. This would have offered a selective advantage, enabling the search for water and functioning adequately during periods of water scarcity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank E Marino
- School of Rural Medicine, Charles Sturt University, Leeds Parade, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia.
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3
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Pargeter J, Cebeiro A, Levy SB. Stone toolmaking energy expenditure differs between novice and expert toolmakers. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024:e25026. [PMID: 39288016 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.25026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2024] [Revised: 08/16/2024] [Accepted: 08/20/2024] [Indexed: 09/19/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study investigates the energetic costs associated with Oldowan-style flake production and how skill differences influence these costs. MATERIALS AND METHODS Nine adult participants, including novice and expert toolmakers, underwent a 2-h experimental session where we measured energy expenditure and flaking outcomes. We measured body mass (kg), percent body fat, and fat-free mass (kg) and used open-circuit indirect calorimetry to quantify energy expenditure. The lithic analysis used standard linear and mass measurements on the resulting cores and flakes. Qualitative observations from the video recordings provide insight into the subject's body positions and hand grips. RESULTS Results reveal significant differences in energy expenditure between novice and expert toolmakers, with experts demonstrating lower overall energy expenditure. Additionally, experts produced more flakes, reduced greater core mass per unit of energy expenditure, and exhibited distinct body positions, hand grips, and core/flake morphologies compared with novices. DISCUSSION The study provides novel insights into the bio-cultural impacts of stone toolmaking skill acquisition, suggesting that skilled performance reduces the metabolic costs of stone tool production. These findings contribute to debates surrounding the origins of human cultural capacities and highlight the importance of including energy expenditure measures in knapping experiments. Moreover, the results suggest that the presence or absence of expertise in the Paleolithic would have fundamentally altered selective pressures and the reliability of skill reproduction. This study enhances our understanding of differences in stone toolmaking skill and their implications for human energy allocation strategies during early technological evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Pargeter
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, USA
- Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Adela Cebeiro
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, USA
| | - Stephanie B Levy
- Department of Anthropology, CUNY Hunter College, New York, USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, USA
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Takahashi K, Sado N, Wakahara T. Unique enlargement of human soleus muscle for bipedalism at the expense of the ease of leg swing. J Biomech 2024; 174:112263. [PMID: 39126782 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2024.112263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 07/12/2024] [Accepted: 08/06/2024] [Indexed: 08/12/2024]
Abstract
Humans exhibit unique skeletal muscle morphologies that are known to matter in upright bipedalism. However, their relevance to the ease of leg swing, which limits locomotion performance, remains unclear. Here, we aimed to examine muscle mass distribution within the human leg and the effect of each muscle on the ease of leg swing. We calculated the mass, center of mass position, and moment of inertia around the hip extension-flexion axis for all leg muscles by using a publicly available dataset of the 3D reconstruction of the musculoskeletal components in human male and female legs. The leg muscles showed a top-heavy-bottom-light tapering trend; muscles far from the hip joint tended to have smaller masses. Interestingly, however, the soleus exhibited sizable mass for its location. Consequently, the moment of inertia of the soleus was exceptionally greatest, accounting for approximately one-quarter of that of all muscles. These results indicate that compared to the other muscles the soleus muscle has a much larger effect on the leg moment of inertia and uniquely makes humans difficult to swing the leg, although the leg muscles basically show the top-heavy bottom-light tapering trend favoring the leg swing. Our findings highlight a novel functional consequence of human body evolution, suggesting that muscular enlargement for postural stability and endurance capacity has compromised the locomotion speed during the adaptation to bipedalism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katsuki Takahashi
- Faculty of Health and Sports Science, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan.
| | - Natsuki Sado
- Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
| | - Taku Wakahara
- Faculty of Health and Sports Science, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan; Human Performance Laboratory, Waseda University, Saitama, Japan.
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Panday SB, Pathak P, Ahn J. Professional long distance runners achieve high efficiency at the cost of weak orbital stability. Heliyon 2024; 10:e34707. [PMID: 39130430 PMCID: PMC11315134 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Revised: 07/13/2024] [Accepted: 07/15/2024] [Indexed: 08/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Successful performance in long distance race requires both high efficiency and stability. Previous research has demonstrated the high running efficiency of trained runners, but no prior study quantitatively addressed their orbital stability. In this study, we evaluated the efficiency and orbital stability of 8 professional long-distance runners and compared them with those of 8 novices. We calculated the cost of transport and normalized mechanical energy to assess physiological and mechanical running efficiency, respectively. We quantified orbital stability using Floquet Multipliers, which assess how fast a system converges to a limit cycle under perturbations. Our results show that professional runners run with significantly higher physiological and mechanical efficiency but with weaker orbital stability compared to novices. This finding is consistent with the inevitable trade-off between efficiency and stability; increase in orbital stability necessitates increase in energy dissipation. We suggest that professional runners have developed the ability to exploit inertia beneficially, enabling them to achieve higher efficiency partly at the cost of sacrificing orbital stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siddhartha Bikram Panday
- Division of Sports Industry and Science, Hanyang University, Republic of Korea
- Department of Art and Sportainment, Hanyang University, Republic of Korea
| | - Prabhat Pathak
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, USA
| | - Jooeun Ahn
- Department of Physical Education, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea
- Institute of Sport Science, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea
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Cross SRR, Marmol-Guijarro AC, Bates KT, Marrin JC, Tickle PG, Rose KA, Codd JR. Testing the form-function paradigm: body shape correlates with kinematics but not energetics in selectively-bred birds. Commun Biol 2024; 7:900. [PMID: 39048787 PMCID: PMC11269648 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06592-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024] Open
Abstract
A central concept of evolutionary biology, supported by broad scale allometric analyses, asserts that changing morphology should induce downstream changes in locomotor kinematics and energetics, and by inference selective fitness. However, if these mechanistic relationships exist at local intraspecific scales, where they could provide substrate for fundamental microevolutionary processes, is unknown. Here, analyses of selectively-bred duck breeds demonstrate that distinct body shapes incur kinematic shifts during walking, but these do not translate into differences in energetics. A combination of modular relationships between anatomical regions, and a trade-off between limb flexion and trunk pitching, are shown to homogenise potential functional differences between the breeds, accounting for this discrepancy between form and function. This complex interplay between morphology, motion and physiology indicates that understanding evolutionary links between the avian body plan and locomotor diversity requires studying locomotion as an integrated whole and not key anatomical innovations in isolation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel R R Cross
- Department of Musculoskeletal & Ageing Science, Institute of Life Course & Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, William Henry Duncan Building, 6 West Derby Street, Liverpool, L7 8TX, UK.
| | - Andres C Marmol-Guijarro
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstrasse 4, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Am Kirchtor 1, 06108, Halle, Germany
- 3Diversity, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Karl T Bates
- Department of Musculoskeletal & Ageing Science, Institute of Life Course & Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, William Henry Duncan Building, 6 West Derby Street, Liverpool, L7 8TX, UK
| | - John C Marrin
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Peter G Tickle
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Kayleigh A Rose
- Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK
| | - Jonathan R Codd
- Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
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Zhang L, Zhang Q, Zhong Y, Hortobagyi T, Gu Y. Effect of forefoot transverse arch stiffness on foot biomechanical response--based on finite element method. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2024; 12:1387768. [PMID: 39040495 PMCID: PMC11260739 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2024.1387768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2024] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Background The plantar vault, comprising the transverse and longitudinal arches of the human foot, is essential for impact absorption, elastic energy storage, and propulsion. Recent research underscores the importance of the transverse arch, contributing over 40% to midfoot stiffness. This study aimed to quantify biomechanical responses in the ankle-foot complex by varying the stiffness of the deep metatarsal transverse ligament (DTML). Methods Using CT image reconstruction, we constructed a complex three-dimensional finite element model of the foot and ankle joint complex, accounting for geometric complexity and nonlinear characteristics. The focus of our study was to evaluate the effect of different forefoot transverse arch stiffness, that is, different Young's modulus values of DTML (from 135 MPa to 405 MPa), on different biomechanical aspects of the foot and ankle complex. Notably, we analyzed their effects on plantar pressure distribution, metatarsal stress patterns, navicular subsidence, and plantar fascial strain. Results Increasing the stiffness of the DTML has significant effects on foot biomechanics. Specifically, higher DTML stiffness leads to elevate von Mises stress in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd metatarsals, while concurrently reducing plantar pressure by 14.2% when the Young's modulus is doubled. This stiffening also impedes navicular bone subsidence and foot lengthening. Notably, a 100% increase in the Young's modulus of DTML results in a 54.1% decrease in scaphoid subsidence and a 2.5% decrease in foot lengthening, which collectively contribute to a 33.1% enhancement in foot longitudinal stiffness. Additionally, doubling the Young's modulus of DTML can reduce the strain stretch of the plantar fascia by 38.5%. Conclusion Preserving DTML integrity sustains the transverse arch, enhancing foot longitudinal stiffness and elastic responsiveness. These findings have implications for treating arch dysfunction and provide insights for shoe developers seeking to enhance propulsion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linjie Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Ningbo No. 2 Hospital, Ningbo, China
- Department of Kinesiology, Hungarian University of Sports Science, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Qiaolin Zhang
- Doctoral School of Safety and Security Sciences, Obuda University, Budapest, Hungary
- Faculty of Engineering, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Yilin Zhong
- Faculty of Sport Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Tibor Hortobagyi
- Department of Radiology, Ningbo No. 2 Hospital, Ningbo, China
- Department of Kinesiology, Hungarian University of Sports Science, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Yaodong Gu
- Department of Radiology, Ningbo No. 2 Hospital, Ningbo, China
- Faculty of Sport Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
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8
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García-González R, Rodríguez L, Salazar-Fernández A, Arsuaga JL, Carretero JM. Updated study of adult and subadult pectoral girdle bones from Sima de los Huesos site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). Anatomical and age estimation keys. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2024; 307:2491-2518. [PMID: 36656646 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Here we present an updated inventory and study of pectoral girdle remains recovered from the Sima de los Huesos (SH) site. Here, we describe the key morphological traits of adults and, for the first time, subadult specimens. Because morphological traits can change with age, we also discuss some shortcomings related to age estimation in postcranial fossil specimens. Adult clavicles from the SH are long with a low robusticity index and marked curvatures in the superior view. Among these traits, only extreme clavicular length seems to characterize subadult individuals. Neandertals share all these traits. In the case of the scapula, the SH specimens share a relatively long and narrow glenoid fossa with Neandertals. This trait is also present in subadult individuals. Additionally, most specimens from SH, adults, and subadults showed a dorsal axillary sulcus on the scapular lateral border, a trait also present in most adult and subadult Neandertals. These traits in adult and subadult specimens supports substantial genetic control for many of them in both human species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebeca García-González
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Universidad de Burgos, Edificio I+D+i-CIBA, Burgos, Spain
| | - Laura Rodríguez
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Universidad de Burgos, Edificio I+D+i-CIBA, Burgos, Spain
- Departamento de Biodiversidad y Gestión Ambiental, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad de León, León, Spain
| | | | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - José-Miguel Carretero
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Universidad de Burgos, Edificio I+D+i-CIBA, Burgos, Spain
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Unidad Asociada de I+D+i al CSIC Vidrio y Materiales del Patrimonio Cultural (VIMPAC), Burgos, Spain
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9
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Gómez-Olivencia A, Arsuaga JL. The Sima de los Huesos cervical spine. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2024; 307:2451-2464. [PMID: 37070424 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2022] [Revised: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023]
Abstract
Information regarding the evolution of the neck in genus Homo is hampered owing to a limited fossil record. Neandertals display significant metric and/or morphological differences in all the cervical vertebrae, when compared to Homo sapiens. Thus, the important fossil record from the Middle Pleistocene site of Sima de los Huesos (SH) not only offers important information about the evolution of this anatomical region within the Neandertal lineage, but also provides important clues to understand the evolution of this region at the genus level. We present the current knowledge of the anatomy of the cervical spine of the hominins found in SH compared to that of Neandertals and modern humans, and, when possible, to Homo erectus and Homo antecessor. The current SH fossil record comprises 172 cervical specimens (after refittings) belonging to a minimum of 11 atlases, 13 axes, and 52 subaxial cervical vertebrae. The SH hominins exhibit a morphological pattern in their cervical spine more similar to that of Neandertals than that of H. sapiens, which is consistent with the phylogenetic position of these hominins. However, there are some differences between the SH hominins and Neandertals in this anatomical region, primarily in the length and robusticity, and to a lesser extent in the orientation of the spinous processes of the lowermost cervical vertebrae. We hypothesize that these differences in the lowermost subaxial cervical vertebrae could be related to the increase in the brain size and/or changes in the morphology of the skull that occurred in the Neandertal lineage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asier Gómez-Olivencia
- Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
- Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Curry BA, Drane AL, Atencia R, Feltrer Y, Calvi T, Milnes EL, Moittié S, Weigold A, Knauf-Witzens T, Sawung Kusuma A, Howatson G, Palmer C, Stembridge MR, Gorzynski JE, Eves ND, Dawkins TG, Shave RE. Left ventricular trabeculation in Hominidae: divergence of the human cardiac phenotype. Commun Biol 2024; 7:682. [PMID: 38877299 PMCID: PMC11178792 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06280-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Although the gross morphology of the heart is conserved across mammals, subtle interspecific variations exist in the cardiac phenotype, which may reflect evolutionary divergence among closely-related species. Here, we compare the left ventricle (LV) across all extant members of the Hominidae taxon, using 2D echocardiography, to gain insight into the evolution of the human heart. We present compelling evidence that the human LV has diverged away from a more trabeculated phenotype present in all other great apes, towards a ventricular wall with proportionally greater compact myocardium, which was corroborated by post-mortem chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) hearts. Speckle-tracking echocardiographic analyses identified a negative curvilinear relationship between the degree of trabeculation and LV systolic twist, revealing lower rotational mechanics in the trabeculated non-human great ape LV. This divergent evolution of the human heart may have facilitated the augmentation of cardiac output to support the metabolic and thermoregulatory demands of the human ecological niche.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryony A Curry
- Centre for Heart, Lung and Vascular Health, School of Health and Exercise Sciences, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada
| | - Aimee L Drane
- International Primate Heart Project, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cyncoed Road, Cardiff, CF23 6XD, UK.
- Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences, Swansea University, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK.
| | - Rebeca Atencia
- Jane Goodall Institute, Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre, Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo
| | - Yedra Feltrer
- International Primate Heart Project, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cyncoed Road, Cardiff, CF23 6XD, UK
| | - Thalita Calvi
- Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, Solwesi Road, Chingola, Zambia
| | - Ellie L Milnes
- Wildlife Health, Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, University of London, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL9 7TA, UK
- Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK
- Centre for Veterinary Wildlife Research, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, Pretoria, 0110, South Africa
| | - Sophie Moittié
- Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Congo Dam Access Road, Freetown, Sierra Leone
- School of Veterinary Medicine, St. George's University, St. George's, West Indies, Grenada
| | - Annika Weigold
- Wilhelma Zoological-Botanical Gardens, Wilhelma 13, Stuttgart, 70376, Germany
| | | | - Arga Sawung Kusuma
- Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, Central Kalimantan Orangutan Reintroduction Project at Nyaru Menteng, Jalan Cilik Riwut km 28, Palangkaraya, 73111, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
| | - Glyn Howatson
- Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
- Water Research Group, Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences, North West University, Potchefstroom, 2531, South Africa
| | - Christopher Palmer
- Biological Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Mike R Stembridge
- Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, CF23 6XD, UK
| | - John E Gorzynski
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Neil D Eves
- Centre for Heart, Lung and Vascular Health, School of Health and Exercise Sciences, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada
| | - Tony G Dawkins
- Centre for Heart, Lung and Vascular Health, School of Health and Exercise Sciences, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada
| | - Rob E Shave
- Centre for Heart, Lung and Vascular Health, School of Health and Exercise Sciences, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada.
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11
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Benhammou S, Mourot L, Clemente FM, Coquart J, Belkadi A. Is test specificity the issue in assessing aerobic fitness and performance of runners? A systematic review. J Sports Med Phys Fitness 2024; 64:539-549. [PMID: 38324270 DOI: 10.23736/s0022-4707.23.15619-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Various tests have been developed to evaluate aerobic fitness and performance of runners. However, a systematic understanding of which methods are more accurate is necessary to provide coaches and the sports sciences community with useful and confident outcomes. This study aims to summarize the evidence regarding the validity, reliability and sensitivity of tests for measuring aerobic fitness and performance in runners of several background of training. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION A systematic search was conducted of Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus up to 31st December 2022 according to PRISMA statement guidelines. Studies that reported findings about tests covering maximal aerobic speed, final velocity achieved during the test, average running speed or other method of evaluating the reference speed during the test were included. We evaluated the risk of bias in the included articles using the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Nonrandomized Studies (RoBANS). The tests were categorized into continuous incremental tests, intermittent tests and time-trial test. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS A total of 23 studies met eligibility criteria. These studies contained three background of training: track and road runners (N.=15), trail runners (N.=7) and inexperienced runners (N.=1). Criterion validity was assessed in 73% of the studies, while only 41% of studies examined convergent validity. The majority of the reviewed studies (87%) ignored test-retest reliability. Test sensitivity was not reported in any study. CONCLUSIONS At least one aerobic fitness and performance test was identified for each types of background of training. However, some methodological aspects were not provided in the included articles. Most studies examined at least one aspect of validity (i.e., criterion or convergent-related validity), whilst few studies investigated test-retest reliability. Researchers and practitioners can use the information provided in this systematic review to select appropriate tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saddek Benhammou
- Platform Exercise Performance Health Innovation (Plateforme EPSI), Paris, France -
- Laboratory of Optimizing Research Programs on Physical and Sports Activities, Institute of Physical Education and Sport, University of Abdelhamid Ibn Badis, Mostaganem, Algeria -
| | - Laurent Mourot
- Platform Exercise Performance Health Innovation (Plateforme EPSI), Paris, France
- Unit of Prognostic Markers and Regulatory Factors of Cardiac and Vascular Pathologies (MPFRPV), University of Franche-Comté, Besançon, France
| | - Filipe M Clemente
- Escola Superior Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Viana do Castelo, Portugal
- Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdańsk, Poland
- Sport Physical Activity and Health Research & Innovation Center (SPRINT), Viana do Castelo, Portugal
| | - Jeremy Coquart
- Univ. Lille, Univ. Artois, Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, ULR 7369 - URePSSS - Unité de Recherche Pluridisciplinaire Sport Sante Société, Lille, France
| | - Adel Belkadi
- Laboratory of Optimizing Research Programs on Physical and Sports Activities, Institute of Physical Education and Sport, University of Abdelhamid Ibn Badis, Mostaganem, Algeria
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12
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Hoenecke H, Fiske JW, Tamayo AE, D'Lima DD. Evolution of the throwing shoulder: why apes don't throw well and how that applies to throwing athletes. J Shoulder Elbow Surg 2024; 33:1404-1417. [PMID: 38316235 DOI: 10.1016/j.jse.2023.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Humans have unique characteristics making us the only primate that can throw well while most other primates throw predominately underhand with poor speed and accuracy. The purpose of this study is to illuminate the uniquely human characteristics that allow us to throw so well. When treating an injury such as a labral tear or capsule tear, this study hopes the reader can gain a better understanding of the issues that lead to the tear and those that may determine the success of treatment besides the actual repair. METHODS In addition to a review of scientific and medical literature, information was obtained from interviews and experience with primate veterinarians, anthropologists, archeologists, and professional baseball players. These sources were used to study the connection between evolutionary throwing activities and current sports medicine issues. RESULTS Arm acceleration requires a functional kinetic chain, rapid motor sequences, and the ability to absorb elastic energy in the shoulder. Successful treatment of the throwing shoulder requires awareness of the shoulder's position in the kinetic chain and correction of defects in the ability to execute the kinetic chain. Some problems in the shoulder could reflect regression to a more primitive anatomy or dyskinesis. Return of performance requires regaining the elasticity in the tissues of the shoulder to temporarily store kinetic energy. For example, tissue remodeling after rotator cuff repair continues for months to years; however, the newly formed tissue lacks the same elasticity of the native tendon. This suggests why throwing performance typically does not return for 7 or more months after repair even though there may be structural integrity at 3-4 months. CONCLUSION The shoulder has developed uniquely in modern man for the act of throwing. The anatomic deficiencies in primates for throwing provide an illustration of the more subtle changes that a throwing athlete might have that are detrimental to throwing. Nonhuman primates have been unable to demonstrate the kinetic chain sequence for throwing secondary to the lack of neurologic pathways required. Humans are more sophisticated and precise in their movements but lack robusticity in their bone and muscle architecture, seen especially in the human rotator cuff. Successful treatment of a throwing injury requires familiarity with the conditions that cause the injury or affect the rehabilitation process. The return of performance following injury or surgery requires regaining the elasticity in the tissues of the shoulder to temporarily store kinetic energy from the kinetic chain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heinz Hoenecke
- Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA, USA; Shiley Center for Orthopaedic Research & Education at Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | | | | | - Darryl D D'Lima
- Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA, USA; Shiley Center for Orthopaedic Research & Education at Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA, USA
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13
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Ethnohistorical analysis suggests that endurance running evolved with persistence hunting. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:1010-1011. [PMID: 38740985 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01877-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
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14
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Morin E, Winterhalder B. Ethnography and ethnohistory support the efficiency of hunting through endurance running in humans. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:1065-1075. [PMID: 38740986 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01876-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Humans have two features rare in mammals: our locomotor muscles are dominated by fatigue-resistant fibres and we effectively dissipate through sweating the metabolic heat generated through prolonged, elevated activity. A promising evolutionary explanation of these features is the endurance pursuit (EP) hypothesis, which argues that both traits evolved to facilitate running down game by persistence. However, this hypothesis has faced two challenges: running is energetically costly and accounts of EPs among late twentieth century foragers are rare. While both observations appear to suggest that EPs would be ineffective, we use foraging theory to demonstrate that EPs can be quite efficient. We likewise analyse an ethnohistoric and ethnographic database of nearly 400 EP cases representing 272 globally distributed locations. We provide estimates for return rates of EPs and argue that these are comparable to other pre-modern hunting methods in specified contexts. EP hunting as a method of food procurement would have probably been available and attractive to Plio/Pleistocene hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugène Morin
- Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
- PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France.
| | - Bruce Winterhalder
- Anthropology and Graduate Group in Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
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15
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Taubert M, Ziegler G, Lehmann N. Higher surface folding of the human premotor cortex is associated with better long-term learning capability. Commun Biol 2024; 7:635. [PMID: 38796622 PMCID: PMC11127997 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06309-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The capacity to learn enabled the human species to adapt to various challenging environmental conditions and pass important achievements on to the next generation. A growing body of research suggests links between neocortical folding properties and numerous aspects of human behavior, but their impact on enhanced human learning capacity remains unexplored. Here we leverage three training cohorts to demonstrate that higher levels of premotor cortical folding reliably predict individual long-term learning gains in a challenging new motor task, above and beyond initial performance differences. Individual folding-related predisposition to motor learning was found to be independent of cortical thickness and intracortical microstructure, but dependent on larger cortical surface area in premotor regions. We further show that learning-relevant features of cortical folding occurred in close spatial proximity to practice-induced structural brain plasticity. Our results suggest a link between neocortical surface folding and human behavioral adaptability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Taubert
- Department of Sport Science, Institute III, Faculty of Humanities, Otto von Guericke University, Zschokkestraße 32, 39104, Magdeburg, Germany.
- Center for Behavioral and Brain Science (CBBS), Otto von Guericke University, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany.
- Collaborative Research Center 1436 Neural Resources of Cognition, Otto von Guericke University, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany.
| | - Gabriel Ziegler
- Collaborative Research Center 1436 Neural Resources of Cognition, Otto von Guericke University, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany
- Germany German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Leipziger Straße 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany
- Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research, Otto von Guericke University, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Nico Lehmann
- Department of Sport Science, Institute III, Faculty of Humanities, Otto von Guericke University, Zschokkestraße 32, 39104, Magdeburg, Germany
- Collaborative Research Center 1436 Neural Resources of Cognition, Otto von Guericke University, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
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16
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Burden SA, Libby T, Jayaram K, Sponberg S, Donelan JM. Why animals can outrun robots. Sci Robot 2024; 9:eadi9754. [PMID: 38657092 DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adi9754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Animals are much better at running than robots. The difference in performance arises in the important dimensions of agility, range, and robustness. To understand the underlying causes for this performance gap, we compare natural and artificial technologies in the five subsystems critical for running: power, frame, actuation, sensing, and control. With few exceptions, engineering technologies meet or exceed the performance of their biological counterparts. We conclude that biology's advantage over engineering arises from better integration of subsystems, and we identify four fundamental obstacles that roboticists must overcome. Toward this goal, we highlight promising research directions that have outsized potential to help future running robots achieve animal-level performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel A Burden
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Thomas Libby
- Robotics Laboratory, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - Kaushik Jayaram
- Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, USA
| | - Simon Sponberg
- Schools of Physics and Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30317, USA
| | - J Maxwell Donelan
- Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
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17
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Luciano F, Ruggiero L, Minetti AE, Pavei G. The work to swing limbs in humans versus chimpanzees and its relation to the metabolic cost of walking. Sci Rep 2024; 14:8970. [PMID: 38637567 PMCID: PMC11026468 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59171-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Compared to their closest ape relatives, humans walk bipedally with lower metabolic cost (C) and less mechanical work to move their body center of mass (external mechanical work, WEXT). However, differences in WEXT are not large enough to explain the observed lower C: humans may also do less work to move limbs relative to their body center of mass (internal kinetic mechanical work, WINT,k). From published data, we estimated differences in WINT,k, total mechanical work (WTOT), and efficiency between humans and chimpanzees walking bipedally. Estimated WINT,k is ~ 60% lower in humans due to changes in limb mass distribution, lower stride frequency and duty factor. When summing WINT,k to WEXT, between-species differences in efficiency are smaller than those in C; variations in WTOT correlate with between-species, but not within-species, differences in C. These results partially support the hypothesis that the low cost of human walking is due to the concerted low WINT,k and WEXT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Luciano
- Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Luca Ruggiero
- Human Performance Research Centre, Department of Sports Science, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
| | - Alberto E Minetti
- Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Gaspare Pavei
- Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, 20133, Milan, Italy
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18
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Yoshihara T, Morimoto T, Tsukamoto M, Toda Y, Hirata H, Kobayashi T, Takashima S, Mawatari M. Analyzing lumbar vertebral shape and alignment in female patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis: Comparisons with spinal stenosis and risk factor exploration. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0301974. [PMID: 38626167 PMCID: PMC11020370 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/18/2024] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE This study aimed to examine the vertebral body shape characteristics and spondylopelvic alignment in L4 degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS) as well as the risk factors for the development of DS. METHODS This cross-sectional study compared vertebral morphology and sagittal spinopelvic alignment in female patients with lumbar DS and lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). The degree of lumbar lordosis (LL), pelvic incidence (PI), cross-sectional area (CSA), and vertebral body height ratio (ha/hp) of the lumbar spine were compared using full-length spine radiographs and computed tomography in 60 females with DS and in 60 women with LSS. RESULTS No significant differences in age or body mass index were observed between the two groups; however, the DS and LSS groups significantly differed in PI (mean, 58.9±10.8 vs. 47.2±11.6, P < 0.001), L4 CSA (mean, 1,166.2 m2 vs. 1,242.0 m2, P = 0.002) and ha/hp (mean, 1.134 vs. 1.007, P < 0.001). The L4 ha/hp was significantly higher in the DS group than in the LSS group. Additionally, LL values were negatively correlated with vertebral L5 CSA in the DS group (r = -0.28, P < 0.05). The LSS and DS groups demonstrated positive correlations between LL and L2, L3, and L4 ha/hp (r = 0.331, 0.267, and 0.317; P < 0.01, < 0.05, and < 0.05, respectively) and between LL and L4 and L5 ha/hp (r = 0.333, 0.331; P < 0.01, respectively). Multivariate regression analyses revealed that PI and ha/hp ratio may be independent predictors of DS development. CONCLUSION The DS group had significantly larger LL, PI, and L4 ha/hp and smaller L4 CSA than the LSS group. The lumbar vertebral body shape and sagittal spinopelvic alignment in females might be independent predictors of DS development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomohito Yoshihara
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Japan
| | - Tadatsugu Morimoto
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Japan
| | - Masatsugu Tsukamoto
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Japan
| | - Yu Toda
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Japan
| | - Hirohito Hirata
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Japan
| | - Takaomi Kobayashi
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Japan
| | - Satoshi Takashima
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Japan
| | - Masaaki Mawatari
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Japan
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19
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Słojewska K, Galbarczyk A, Klimek M, Tubek-Krokosz A, Krzych-Miłkowska K, Szklarczyk J, Mijas M, Ścibor M, Jasienska G. Higher number of steps is related to lower endogenous progesterone but not estradiol levels in women. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0299580. [PMID: 38573970 PMCID: PMC10994375 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Sex steroid hormones are important not only for reproduction but also for many aspects of women's health, including the risk of breast cancer. Physical activity has been shown to influence sex hormone levels in women. This study aimed to investigate a relationship between the average daily number of steps and the sex hormone (estradiol and progesterone) levels in premenopausal women. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data were collected from 85 healthy, urban women of reproductive age who performed at least 180 minutes/week of moderate physical activity for two complete menstrual cycles. Physical activity was measured using wrist bands. Estradiol and progesterone concentrations were measured in daily-collected saliva samples in the second menstrual cycle. RESULTS There was a significant negative association between the average number of steps taken daily and salivary progesterone levels after adjusting for potential confounding factors (age, BMI). Women who took more than 10,000 steps a day had significantly lower progesterone levels compared to women who took less than 10,000 steps. The association between physical activity and estradiol levels was statistically insignificant. DISCUSSION Our results indicate that taking at least 10,000 steps a day reduces progesterone levels, but this intensity of physical activity may not be high enough to affect estradiol levels. Daily step tracking is a valuable element of health promotion, but currently recommended levels of physical activity may not be high enough for healthy premenopausal women to significantly reduce both sex hormone levels and thus their risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kinga Słojewska
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
- Jagiellonian University Medical College, Doctoral School of Medical and Health Sciences, Krakow, Poland
| | - Andrzej Galbarczyk
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Magdalena Klimek
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
| | - Anna Tubek-Krokosz
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
- Jagiellonian University Medical College, Doctoral School of Medical and Health Sciences, Krakow, Poland
| | - Karolina Krzych-Miłkowska
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
| | - Joanna Szklarczyk
- Department of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
| | - Magdalena Mijas
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
| | - Monika Ścibor
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
| | - Grazyna Jasienska
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
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20
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Swinnen W, Lievens E, Hoogkamer W, De Groote F, Derave W, Vanwanseele B. Muscle fibre typology affects whole-body metabolic rate during isolated muscle contractions and human locomotion. J Physiol 2024; 602:1297-1311. [PMID: 38493355 DOI: 10.1113/jp285846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024] Open
Abstract
The wide variation in muscle fibre type distribution across individuals, along with the very different energy consumption rates in slow versus fast muscle fibres, suggests that muscle fibre typology contributes to inter-individual differences in metabolic rate during exercise. However, this has been hard to demonstrate due to the gap between a single muscle fibre and full-body exercises. We investigated the isolated effect of triceps surae muscle contraction velocity on whole-body metabolic rate during cyclic contractions in individuals a priori selected for their predominantly slow (n = 11) or fast (n = 10) muscle fibre typology by means of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Subsequently, we examined their whole-body metabolic rate during walking and running at 2 m/s, exercises with comparable metabolic rates but distinct triceps surae muscle force and velocity demands (walking: low force, high velocity; running: high force, low velocity). Increasing triceps surae contraction velocity during cyclic contractions elevated net whole-body metabolic rate for both typology groups. However, the slow group consumed substantially less net metabolic energy at the slowest contraction velocity, but the metabolic difference between groups diminished at faster velocities. Consistent with the more economic force production during slow contractions, the slow group exhibited lower metabolic rates than the fast group while running, whereas metabolic rates were similar during walking. These findings provide important insights into the influence of muscle fibre typology on whole-body metabolic rate and emphasize the importance of considering muscle mechanical demands to understand muscle fibre typology related differences in whole-body metabolic rates. KEY POINTS: Muscle fibre typology is often suggested to affect whole-body metabolic rate, yet convincing in vivo evidence is lacking. Using isolated plantar flexor muscle contractions in individuals a priori selected for their predominantly slow or fast muscle fibre typology, we demonstrated that having predominantly slow muscle fibres provides a metabolic advantage during slow muscle contractions, but this benefit disappeared at faster contractions. We extended these results to full-body exercises, where we demonstrated that higher proportions of slow fibres associated with better economy during running but not when walking. These findings provide important insights into the influence of muscle fibre typology on whole-body metabolic rate and emphasize the importance of considering muscle mechanical demands to understand muscle fibre typology related differences in whole-body metabolic rate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wannes Swinnen
- Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Eline Lievens
- Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Wouter Hoogkamer
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
| | | | - Wim Derave
- Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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21
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Berthaume M, Elton S. Biomechanics in anthropology. Evol Anthropol 2024; 33:e22019. [PMID: 38217465 DOI: 10.1002/evan.22019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2024]
Abstract
Biomechanics is the set of tools that explain organismal movement and mechanical behavior and links the organism to the physicality of the world. As such, biomechanics can relate behaviors and culture to the physicality of the organism. Scale is critical to biomechanical analyses, as the constitutive equations that matter differ depending on the scale of the question. Within anthropology, biomechanics has had a wide range of applications, from understanding how we and other primates evolved to understanding the effects of technologies, such as the atlatl, and the relationship between identity, society, culture, and medical interventions, such as prosthetics. Like any other model, there is great utility in biomechanical models, but models should be used primarily for hypothesis testing and not data generation except in the rare case where models can be robustly validated. The application of biomechanics within anthropology has been extensive, and holds great potential for the future.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sarah Elton
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, UK
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22
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Belinchón-deMiguel P, Navarro-Jiménez E, Laborde-Cárdenas CC, Clemente-Suárez VJ. Evolutionary Echoes: A Four-Day Fasting and Low-Caloric Intake Study on Autonomic Modulation and Physiological Adaptations in Humans. Life (Basel) 2024; 14:456. [PMID: 38672727 PMCID: PMC11051148 DOI: 10.3390/life14040456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2024] [Revised: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
This study evaluates the psychophysiological response to a simulated hunter-gatherer endurance task with restricted caloric intake over four days. It assesses changes in body composition, autonomic modulation, and physical and cognitive performance. Participants underwent daily 8 h fasted walks followed by a 150 kcal meal to replicate hunter-gatherer activity and dietary patterns. Measurements of metabolic, respiratory, and subjective well-being, along with heart rate variability (HRV) monitoring, were conducted pre- and post-activity to evaluate the impact of endurance activity under caloric restriction. We found weight loss, decreased body and visceral fat, and reduced skeletal muscle mass and water percentage. High sympathetic activation and stable urinary markers, except for increased proteinuria, indicated stress responses and muscular degradation. Elevated perceived exertion post-exercise with good adaptation to prolonged effort underlines the body's adaptability to ancestral lifestyle conditions, highlighting the connection among endurance, nutrition, and psychophysiological health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Belinchón-deMiguel
- Department of Nursing, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physiotherapy, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain;
| | - Eduardo Navarro-Jiménez
- Grupo de Investigacion en Microbiología y Biotecnología (IMB), Universidad Libre, Barranquilla 080003, Colombia;
| | | | - Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez
- Department of Nursing, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physiotherapy, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain;
- Grupo de Investigación en Cultura, Educación y Sociedad, Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla 080002, Colombia
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23
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Riga A, Profico A, Mori T, Frittitta R, Nava A, Mancini L, Dreossi D, Radovčić D, Rice H, Bondioli L, Marchi D. The Middle Pleistocene human metatarsal from Sedia del Diavolo (Rome, Italy). Sci Rep 2024; 14:6024. [PMID: 38472259 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55045-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
The peopling of Europe during the Middle Pleistocene is a debated topic among paleoanthropologists. Some authors suggest the coexistence of multiple human lineages in this period, while others propose a single evolving lineage from Homo heidelbergensis to Homo neanderthalensis. The recent reassessment of the stratigraphy at the Sedia del Diavolo (SdD) site (Latium, Italy), now dated to the beginning of marine isotope stage (MIS) 8, calls for a revision of the human fossils from the site. In this paper, we present the morphometric, biomechanical and palaeopathological study of the second right metatarsal SdD2, to both re-evaluate its taxonomical affinities and possibly determine the levels of physical activity experienced by the individual during lifetime. Results demonstrate the persistence of archaic features in SdD2 suggesting new insights into the technology and hunting strategies adopted by Homo between MIS 9 and MIS 8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Riga
- Department of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | | | - Tommaso Mori
- Department of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | | | - Alessia Nava
- Department of Odontostomatological and Maxillofacial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Lucia Mancini
- ZAG-Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, Ljubliana, Slovenia
| | - Diego Dreossi
- Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.P.A., Basovizza, Trieste, Italy
| | - Davorka Radovčić
- Department of Geology and Paleontology, Croatian Natural History Museum, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Hannah Rice
- Department of Physical Performance, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway
| | - Luca Bondioli
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Service of Bioarchaeology, Museum of Civilizations, Rome, Italy
| | - Damiano Marchi
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Centre for the Exploration of Deep Human Journey, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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24
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Gupta S, Bharatha A, Cohall D, Rahman S, Haque M, Azim Majumder MA. Aerobic Exercise and Endocannabinoids: A Narrative Review of Stress Regulation and Brain Reward Systems. Cureus 2024; 16:e55468. [PMID: 38440201 PMCID: PMC10910469 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.55468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Aerobic exercise is a widely adopted practice, not solely for enhancing fitness and reducing the risk of various diseases but also for its ability to uplift mood and aid in addressing depression and anxiety disorders. Within the scope of this narrative review, we seek to consolidate current insights into the endocannabinoid-mediated regulation of stress and the brain's reward mechanism resulting from engaging in aerobic exercise. A comprehensive search was conducted across Medline, SPORTDiscus, Pubmed, and Scopus, encompassing data available until November 30, 2023. This review indicates that a bout of aerobic exercise, particularly of moderate intensity, markedly augments circulating levels of endocannabinoids - N-arachidonoyl-ethanolamine (AEA) and 2-acylglycerol (2-AG), that significantly contributes to mood elevation and reducing stress in healthy individuals. The current understanding of how aerobic exercise impacts mental health and mood improvement is still unclear. Moderate and high-intensity aerobic exercise modulates stress through a negative feedback mechanism targeting both the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system, thereby facilitating stress regulation crucial role in endocannabinoid synthesis, ultimately culminating in the orchestration of negative feedback across multiple tiers of the HPA axis, coupled with its influence over cortical and subcortical brain structures. The endocannabinoid has been observed to govern the release of neurotransmitters from diverse neuronal populations, implying a universal mechanism that fine-tunes neuronal activity and consequently modulates both emotional and stress-related responses. Endocannabinoids further assume a pivotal function within brain reward mechanisms, primarily mediated by CB1 receptors distributed across diverse cerebral centers. Notably, these endocannabinoids partake in natural reward processes, as exemplified in aerobic exercise, by synergizing with the dopaminergic reward system. The genesis of this reward pathway can be traced to the ventral tegmental area, with dopamine neurons predominantly projecting to the nucleus accumbens, thereby inciting dopamine release in response to rewarding stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Subir Gupta
- Physiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Bridgetown, BRB
| | - Ambadasu Bharatha
- Pharmacology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Bridgetown, BRB
| | - Damian Cohall
- Pharmacology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Bridgetown, BRB
| | - Sayeeda Rahman
- Pharmacology, School of Medicine, American University of Integrative Sciences, Bridgetown, BRB
| | - Mainul Haque
- Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Karnavati Scientific Research Center (KSRC) School of Dentistry, Karnavati University, Gandhinagar, IND
- Pharmacology and Therapeutics, National Defence University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, MYS
| | - Md Anwarul Azim Majumder
- Medical Education, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Bridgetown, BRB
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Nalley TK, Scott JE, McGechie F, Grider-Potter N. Comparative ontogeny of functional aspects of human cervical vertebrae. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024; 183:e24788. [PMID: 37283367 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Differences between adult humans and great apes in cervical vertebral morphology are well documented, but the ontogeny of this variation is still largely unexplored. This study examines patterns of growth in functionally relevant features of C1, C2, C4, and C6 in extant humans and apes to understand the development of their disparate morphologies. MATERIALS AND METHODS Linear and angular measurements were taken from 530 cervical vertebrae representing 146 individual humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. Specimens were divided into three age-categories based on dental eruption: juvenile, adolescent, and adult. Inter- and intraspecific comparisons were evaluated using resampling methods. RESULTS Of the eighteen variables examined here, seven distinguish humans from apes at the adult stage. Human-ape differences in features related to atlantoaxial joint function tend to be established by the juvenile stage, whereas differences in features related to the nuchal musculature and movement of the subaxial elements do not fully emerge until adolescence or later. The orientation of the odontoid process-often cited as a feature that distinguishes humans from apes-is similar in adult humans and adult chimpanzees, but the developmental patterns are distinct, with human adultlike morphology being achieved much earlier. DISCUSSION The biomechanical consequences of the variation observed here is poorly understood. Whether the differences in growth patterns represent functional links to cranial development or postural changes, or both, requires additional investigation. Determining when humanlike ontogenetic patterns evolved in hominins may provide insight into the functional basis driving the morphological divergence between extant humans and apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thierra K Nalley
- Medical Anatomical Sciences Department, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California, USA
| | - Jeremiah E Scott
- Medical Anatomical Sciences Department, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California, USA
| | - Faye McGechie
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
| | - Neysa Grider-Potter
- Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA
- Southwest National Primate Research Center, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
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O'Neill MC, Nagano A, Umberger BR. A three-dimensional musculoskeletal model of the pelvis and lower limb of Australopithecus afarensis. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024; 183:e24845. [PMID: 37671481 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2022] [Revised: 07/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Musculoskeletal modeling is a powerful approach for studying the biomechanics and energetics of locomotion. Australopithecus (A.) afarensis is among the best represented fossil hominins and provides critical information about the evolution of musculoskeletal design and locomotion in the hominin lineage. Here, we develop and evaluate a three-dimensional (3-D) musculoskeletal model of the pelvis and lower limb of A. afarensis for predicting muscle-tendon moment arms and moment-generating capacities across lower limb joint positions encompassing a range of locomotor behaviors. MATERIALS AND METHODS A 3-D musculoskeletal model of an adult A. afarensis pelvis and lower limb was developed based primarily on the A.L. 288-1 partial skeleton. The model includes geometric representations of bones, joints and 35 muscle-tendon units represented using 43 Hill-type muscle models. Two muscle parameter datasets were created from human and chimpanzee sources. 3-D muscle-tendon moment arms and isometric joint moments were predicted over a wide range of joint positions. RESULTS Predicted muscle-tendon moment arms generally agreed with skeletal metrics, and corresponded with human and chimpanzee models. Human and chimpanzee-based muscle parameterizations were similar, with some differences in maximum isometric force-producing capabilities. The model is amenable to size scaling from A.L. 288-1 to the larger KSD-VP-1/1, which subsumes a wide range of size variation in A. afarensis. DISCUSSION This model represents an important tool for studying the integrated function of the neuromusculoskeletal systems in A. afarensis. It is similar to current human and chimpanzee models in musculoskeletal detail, and will permit direct, comparative 3-D simulation studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew C O'Neill
- Department of Anatomy, Midwestern University, Glendale, Arizona, USA
| | - Akinori Nagano
- Faculty of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Shiga, Japan
| | - Brian R Umberger
- School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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Qirko H. Pace setting as an adaptive precursor of rhythmic musicality. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2024; 1533:5-15. [PMID: 38412090 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
Human musicality (the capacity to make and appreciate music) is difficult to explain in evolutionary terms, though many theories attempt to do so. This paper focuses on musicality's potential adaptive precursors, particularly as related to rhythm. It suggests that pace setting for walking and running long distances over extended time periods (endurance locomotion, EL) is a good candidate for an adaptive building block of rhythmic musicality. The argument is as follows: (1) over time, our hominin lineage developed a host of adaptations for efficient EL; (2) the ability to set and maintain a regular pace was a crucial adaptation in the service of EL, providing proximate rewards for successful execution; (3) maintaining a pace in EL occasioned hearing, feeling, and attending to regular rhythmic patterns; (4) these rhythmic patterns, as well as proximate rewards for maintaining them, became disassociated from locomotion and entrained in new proto-musical contexts. Support for the model and possibilities for generating predictions to test it are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hector Qirko
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
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28
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Miller CK, DeSilva JM. A review of the distal femur in Australopithecus. Evol Anthropol 2024; 33:e22012. [PMID: 38009942 DOI: 10.1002/evan.22012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2023] [Revised: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
In 1938, the first distal femur of a fossil Australopithecus was discovered at Sterkfontein, South Africa. A decade later, another distal femur was discovered at the same locality. These two fossil femora were the subject of a foundational paper authored by Kingsbury Heiple and Owen Lovejoy in 1971. In this paper, the authors discussed functionally relevant anatomies of these two fossil femora and noted their strong affinity to the modern human condition. Here, we update this work by including eight more fossil Australopithecus distal femora, an expanded comparative dataset, as well as additional linear measurements. Just as Heiple and Lovejoy reported a half-century ago, we find strong overlap between modern humans and cercopithecoids, except for inferiorly flattened condyles and a high bicondylar angle, both of which characterize modern humans and Australopithecus and are directly related to striding bipedalism. All other measured aspects of the femora are by-products of these key morphological traits. Additional fossil material from the early Pliocene will help to inform the evolution of the hominin distal femur and its condition in the Pan-Homo common ancestor that preceded bipedal locomotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine K Miller
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Ecology, Evolution, Ecosystems, and Society Graduate Program, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Jeremy M DeSilva
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Fazzari C, Macchi R, Kunimasa Y, Ressam C, Casanova R, Chavet P, Nicol C. Muscle synergies inherent in simulated hypogravity running reveal flexible but not unconstrained locomotor control. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2707. [PMID: 38302569 PMCID: PMC10834966 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50076-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
With human space exploration back in the spotlight, recent studies have investigated the neuromuscular adjustments to simulated hypogravity running. They have examined the activity of individual muscles, whereas the central nervous system may rather activate groups of functionally related muscles, known as muscle synergies. To understand how locomotor control adjusts to simulated hypogravity, we examined the temporal (motor primitives) and spatial (motor modules) components of muscle synergies in participants running sequentially at 100%, 60%, and 100% body weight on a treadmill. Our results highlighted the paradoxical nature of simulated hypogravity running: The reduced mechanical constraints allowed for a more flexible locomotor control, which correlated with the degree of spatiotemporal adjustments. Yet, the increased temporal (shortened stance phase) and sensory (deteriorated proprioceptive feedback) constraints required wider motor primitives and a higher contribution of the hamstring muscles during the stance phase. These results are a first step towards improving astronaut training protocols.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Robin Macchi
- Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, ISM, Marseille, France
- French Institute of Sport (INSEP), Laboratory Sport, Expertise and Performance (EA 7370), Paris, France
| | | | - Camélia Ressam
- NeuroSpin, UMR CEA/CNRS 9027, Paris-Saclay University, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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van Boekholt B, Wilkinson R, Pika S. Bodies at play: the role of intercorporeality and bodily affordances in coordinating social play in chimpanzees in the wild. Front Psychol 2024; 14:1206497. [PMID: 38292528 PMCID: PMC10826840 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1206497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2024] Open
Abstract
The comparative approach is a crucial method to gain a better understanding of the behavior of living human and nonhuman animals to then draw informed inferences about the behavior of extinct ancestors. One focus has been on disentangling the puzzle of language evolution. Traditionally, studies have predominantly focused on intentionally produced signals in communicative interactions. However, in collaborative and highly dynamic interactions such as play, underlying intentionality is difficult to assess and often interactions are negotiated via body movements rather than signals. This "lack" of signals has led to this dynamic context being widely ignored in comparative studies. The aim of this paper is threefold: First, we will show how comparative research into communication can benefit from taking the intentionality-agnostic standpoint used in conversation analysis. Second, we will introduce the concepts of 'intercorporeality' and 'bodily affordance', and show how they can be applied to the analysis of communicative interactions of nonhuman animals. Third, we will use these concepts to investigate how chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) initiate, end, and maintain 'contact social play'. Our results showed that bodily affordances are able to capture elements of interactions that more traditional approaches failed to describe. Participants made use of bodily affordances to achieve coordinated engagement in contact social play. Additionally, these interactions could display a sequential organization by which one 'move' by a chimpanzee was responded to with an aligning 'move', which allowed for the co-construction of the activity underway. Overall, the present approach innovates on three fronts: First, it allows for the analysis of interactions that are often ignored because they do not fulfil criteria of intentionality, and/or consist of purely body movements. Second, adopting concepts from research on human interaction enables a better comparison of communicative interactions in other animal species without a too narrow focus on intentional signaling only. Third, adopting a stance from interaction research that highlights how practical action can also be communicative, our results show that chimpanzees can communicate through their embodied actions as well as through signaling. With this first step, we hope to inspire new research into dynamic day-to-day interactions involving both "traditional" signals and embodied actions, which, in turn, can provide insights into evolutionary precursors of human language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bas van Boekholt
- Comparative BioCognition, Institute of Cognitive Science, Osnabück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Ray Wilkinson
- Division of Human Communication Sciences, School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Simone Pika
- Comparative BioCognition, Institute of Cognitive Science, Osnabück University, Osnabrück, Germany
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31
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Schuster RW, Cresswell AG, Kelly LA. Human foot form and function: variable and versatile, yet sufficiently related to predict function from form. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232543. [PMID: 38196364 PMCID: PMC10777145 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024] Open
Abstract
The human foot is a complex structure that plays an important role in our capacity for upright locomotion. Comparisons of our feet with those of our closest extinct and extant relatives have linked shape features (e.g. the longitudinal and transverse arches, heel size and toe length) to specific mechanical functions. However, foot shape varies widely across the human population, so it remains unclear if and how specific shape variants are related to locomotor mechanics. Here we constructed a statistical shape-function model (SFM) from 100 healthy participants to directly explore the relationship between the shape and function of our feet. We also examined if we could predict the joint motion and moments occurring within a person's foot during locomotion based purely on shape features. The SFM revealed that the longitudinal and transverse arches, relative foot proportions and toe shape along with their associated joint mechanics were most variable. However, each of these only accounted for small proportions of the overall variation in shape, deformation and joint mechanics, most likely owing to the high structural complexity of the foot. Nevertheless, a leave-one-out analysis showed that the SFM can accurately predict joint mechanics of a novel foot, based on its shape and deformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert W. Schuster
- School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Queensland, 4067, Australia
- Griffith Centre of Biomedical and Rehabilitation Engineering, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, 4215, Australia
- School of Health Sciences and Social Work, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, 4215, Australia
| | - Andrew G. Cresswell
- School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Queensland, 4067, Australia
| | - Luke A. Kelly
- School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Queensland, 4067, Australia
- Griffith Centre of Biomedical and Rehabilitation Engineering, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, 4215, Australia
- School of Health Sciences and Social Work, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, 4215, Australia
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32
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Berger NJA, Best R, Best AW, Lane AM, Millet GY, Barwood M, Marcora S, Wilson P, Bearden S. Limits of Ultra: Towards an Interdisciplinary Understanding of Ultra-Endurance Running Performance. Sports Med 2024; 54:73-93. [PMID: 37751076 DOI: 10.1007/s40279-023-01936-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/27/2023]
Abstract
Ultra-endurance running (UER) poses extreme mental and physical challenges that present many barriers to completion, let alone performance. Despite these challenges, participation in UER events continues to increase. With the relative paucity of research into UER training and racing compared with traditional endurance running distance (e.g., marathon), it follows that there are sizable improvements still to be made in UER if the limitations of the sport are sufficiently understood. The purpose of this review is to summarise our current understanding of the major limitations in UER. We begin with an evolutionary perspective that provides the critical background for understanding how our capacities, abilities and limitations have come to be. Although we show that humans display evolutionary adaptations that may bestow an advantage for covering large distances on a daily basis, these often far exceed the levels of our ancestors, which exposes relative limitations. From that framework, we explore the physiological and psychological systems required for running UER events. In each system, the factors that limit performance are highlighted and some guidance for practitioners and future research are shared. Examined systems include thermoregulation, oxygen delivery and utilisation, running economy and biomechanics, fatigue, the digestive system, nutritional and psychological strategies. We show that minimising the cost of running, damage to lower limb tissue and muscle fatigability may become crucial in UER events. Maintaining a sustainable core body temperature is critical to performance, and an even pacing strategy, strategic heat acclimation and individually calculated hydration all contribute to sustained performance. Gastrointestinal issues affect almost every UER participant and can be due to a variety of factors. We present nutritional strategies for different event lengths and types, such as personalised and evidence-based approaches for varying types of carbohydrate, protein and fat intake in fluid or solid form, and how to avoid flavour fatigue. Psychology plays a vital role in UER performance, and we highlight the need to be able to cope with complex situations, and that specific long and short-term goal setting improves performance. Fatigue in UER is multi-factorial, both physical and mental, and the perceived effort or level of fatigue have a major impact on the ability to continue at a given pace. Understanding the complex interplay of these limitations will help prepare UER competitors for the different scenarios they are likely to face. Therefore, this review takes an interdisciplinary approach to synthesising and illuminating limitations in UER performance to assist practitioners and scientists in making informed decisions in practice and applicable research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas J A Berger
- School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK.
| | - Russ Best
- Centre for Sport Science and Human Performance, Wintec, Hamilton, New Zealand
| | - Andrew W Best
- Department of Biology, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA, USA
| | - Andrew M Lane
- Faculty of Education Health and Wellbeing, University of Wolverhampton, Walsall, UK
| | - Guillaume Y Millet
- Univ Lyon, UJM Saint-Etienne, Inter-University Laboratory of Human Movement Biology, Saint Etienne, France
- Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France
| | - Martin Barwood
- Department of Sport, Health and Nutrition, Leeds Trinity University Horsforth, Leeds, UK
| | - Samuele Marcora
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Patrick Wilson
- Department of Human Movement Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA
| | - Shawn Bearden
- Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, USA
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Notley SR, Mitchell D, Taylor NAS. A century of exercise physiology: concepts that ignited the study of human thermoregulation. Part 4: evolution, thermal adaptation and unsupported theories of thermoregulation. Eur J Appl Physiol 2024; 124:147-218. [PMID: 37796290 DOI: 10.1007/s00421-023-05262-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
This review is the final contribution to a four-part, historical series on human exercise physiology in thermally stressful conditions. The series opened with reminders of the principles governing heat exchange and an overview of our contemporary understanding of thermoregulation (Part 1). We then reviewed the development of physiological measurements (Part 2) used to reveal the autonomic processes at work during heat and cold stresses. Next, we re-examined thermal-stress tolerance and intolerance, and critiqued the indices of thermal stress and strain (Part 3). Herein, we describe the evolutionary steps that endowed humans with a unique potential to tolerate endurance activity in the heat, and we examine how those attributes can be enhanced during thermal adaptation. The first of our ancestors to qualify as an athlete was Homo erectus, who were hairless, sweating specialists with eccrine sweat glands covering almost their entire body surface. Homo sapiens were skilful behavioural thermoregulators, which preserved their resource-wasteful, autonomic thermoeffectors (shivering and sweating) for more stressful encounters. Following emigration, they regularly experienced heat and cold stress, to which they acclimatised and developed less powerful (habituated) effector responses when those stresses were re-encountered. We critique hypotheses that linked thermoregulatory differences to ancestry. By exploring short-term heat and cold acclimation, we reveal sweat hypersecretion and powerful shivering to be protective, transitional stages en route to more complete thermal adaptation (habituation). To conclude this historical series, we examine some of the concepts and hypotheses of thermoregulation during exercise that did not withstand the tests of time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean R Notley
- Defence Science and Technology Group, Department of Defence, Melbourne, Australia
- School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
| | - Duncan Mitchell
- Brain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
| | - Nigel A S Taylor
- Research Institute of Human Ecology, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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Brunner R, Frigo CA. Control of Tibial Advancement by the Plantar Flexors during the Stance Phase of Gait Depends on Knee Flexion with Respect to the Ground Reaction Force. Bioengineering (Basel) 2023; 11:41. [PMID: 38247918 PMCID: PMC10813783 DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering11010041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024] Open
Abstract
During the stance phase of a normal gait, the triceps surae muscle controls the advancement of the tibia, which contributes to knee extension. Plantar flexor weakness results in excessive dorsiflexion, and consequently, the knee loses this contribution. However, increasing knee flexion is also seen in patients with cerebral palsy who do not have plantar flexor weakness. We aimed to understand this mechanism through the use of a musculoskeletal dynamic model. The model consists of solid segments connected with rotatory joints and springs to represent individual muscles. It was positioned at different degrees of ankle plantarflexion, knee flexion, and hip flexion. The soleus muscle was activated concentrically to produce plantarflexion and push the foot against the ground. The resulting knee extension was analyzed. The principal determinant of knee flexion or extension associated with ankle plantarflexion was the position of the knee joint center. When this was anterior to the line of action of the ground reaction force (GRF), the soleus contraction resulted in increased knee flexion. The knee extension was obtained when the knee was flexed less than approximately 25°. The relation between joint angles, anthropometric parameters, and the position of the GRF was expressed in a mathematical formulation. The clinical relevance of this model is that it explains the failure of plantar flexor control on knee extension in patients with cerebral palsy, when increased knee flexion can occur even if there is a normal or plantarflexed foot position.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reinald Brunner
- Department of Orthopaedics, Children’s University Hospital Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland;
- Department of Bioengineering, Medical Faculty, University of Basel, 4001 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Carlo Albino Frigo
- Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
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Blazevich AJ, Fletcher JR. More than energy cost: multiple benefits of the long Achilles tendon in human walking and running. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:2210-2225. [PMID: 37525526 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/02/2023]
Abstract
Elastic strain energy that is stored and released from long, distal tendons such as the Achilles during locomotion allows for muscle power amplification as well as for reduction of the locomotor energy cost: as distal tendons perform mechanical work during recoil, plantar flexor muscle fibres can work over smaller length ranges, at slower shortening speeds, and at lower activation levels. Scant evidence exists that long distal tendons evolved in humans (or were retained from our more distant Hominoidea ancestors) primarily to allow high muscle-tendon power outputs, and indeed we remain relatively powerless compared to many other species. Instead, the majority of evidence suggests that such tendons evolved to reduce total locomotor energy cost. However, numerous additional, often unrecognised, advantages of long tendons may speculatively be of greater evolutionary advantage, including the reduced limb inertia afforded by shorter and lighter muscles (reducing proximal muscle force requirement), reduced energy dissipation during the foot-ground collisions, capacity to store and reuse the muscle work done to dampen the vibrations triggered by foot-ground collisions, reduced muscle heat production (and thus core temperature), and attenuation of work-induced muscle damage. Cumulatively, these effects should reduce both neuromotor fatigue and sense of locomotor effort, allowing humans to choose to move at faster speeds for longer. As these benefits are greater at faster locomotor speeds, they are consistent with the hypothesis that running gaits used by our ancestors may have exerted substantial evolutionary pressure on Achilles tendon length. The long Achilles tendon may therefore be a singular adaptation that provided numerous physiological, biomechanical, and psychological benefits and thus influenced behaviour across multiple tasks, both including and additional to locomotion. While energy cost may be a variable of interest in locomotor studies, future research should consider the broader range of factors influencing our movement capacity, including our decision to move over given distances at specific speeds, in order to understand more fully the effects of Achilles tendon function as well as changes in this function in response to physical activity, inactivity, disuse and disease, on movement performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony J Blazevich
- Centre for Human Performance, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Jared R Fletcher
- Department of Health and Physical Education, Mount Royal University, 4825 Mount Royal Gate SW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Lieberman DE, Worthington S, Schell LD, Parkent CM, Devinsky O, Carmody RN. Reply to RJ Klement. Am J Clin Nutr 2023; 118:1241-1242. [PMID: 38044026 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.09.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E Lieberman
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States.
| | - Steven Worthington
- Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Laura D Schell
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Christine M Parkent
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States; Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, Quinnipiac University, North Haven, CT, United States
| | - Orrin Devinsky
- Department of Neurology, Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Rachel N Carmody
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
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Buguet A, Radomski MW, Reis J, Spencer PS. Heatwaves and human sleep: Stress response versus adaptation. J Neurol Sci 2023; 454:120862. [PMID: 37922826 DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2023.120862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Revised: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
The World Meteorological Organization considers a heatwave as "a period of statistically unusual hot weather persisting for a number of days and nights". Accompanying the ongoing global climate change, sharp heatwave bouts occur worldwide, growing in frequency and intensity, and beginning earlier in the season. Heatwaves exacerbate the risk of heat-related illnesses, hence human morbidity and mortality, particularly in vulnerable elderly and children. Heat-related illnesses present a continuum from normothermic (prickly heat, heat edema, heat cramps, heat tetany) to hyperthermic syndromes (from heat syncope and heat exhaustion to lethal heat stroke). Heat stroke may occur through passive heating and/or exertional exercise. "Normal sleep", such as observed in temperate conditions, is altered during heatwaves. Brisk excessive heat bouts shorten and fragment human sleep. Particularly, deep N3 sleep (formerly slow-wave sleep) and REM sleep are depleted, such as in other stressful situations. The resultant sleep loss is deleterious to cognitive performance, emotional brain function, behavior, and susceptibility to chronic health conditions and infectious diseases. Our group has previously demonstrated that sleep constitutes an adaptive mechanism during climatic heat acclimatization. In parallel, artificial heat acclimation procedures have been proposed in sports and military activities, and for the elderly. Other preventive actions should be considered, such as education and urban heat island cooling (vegetation, white paint), thus avoiding energy-hungry air conditioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alain Buguet
- Invited Scientist, Malaria Research Unit, UMR 5246 CNRS, Claude-Bernard Lyon-1 University, 69622 Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Manny W Radomski
- Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, Apt n° 2501, 2010 Islington Avenue, Toronto, ON M9P3S8, Canada
| | - Jacques Reis
- University of Strasbourg, 67000 Strasbourg, France; Association RISE, 3 rue du Loir, 67205 Oberhausbergen, France
| | - Peter S Spencer
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
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Chevalier T, Colard T. Inferring the mobility of a middle Upper Paleolithic female skeleton from Caviglione (Liguria, Italy): Impact of trauma and mountainous terrain. J Hum Evol 2023; 184:103428. [PMID: 37741140 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/26/2023] [Indexed: 09/25/2023]
Abstract
Mobility and territory occupation, the participation of injured individuals in group activities, and the role of women in early human groups are crucial issues in human evolution. Previously, a biomechanical study showed evidence of several traumas to the upper limb of the well-preserved middle Upper Paleolithic (UP) female skeleton from Caviglione (Caviglione 1, Liguria, Italy) but did not characterize their impact on locomotor behavior. Furthermore, mobility in the European UP context is thoroughly documented in males but not in females. Therefore, we examined whether this trauma-affected female skeleton shows bone adaptation to high mobility, as expected in UP groups, and to frequent foot eversion and inversion, as expected, given the mountainous area in which it was discovered. This study investigated the structural properties of the femur, tibia, fibula, and first metatarsal to infer the mobility level and pattern of Caviglione 1. We analyzed the diaphyseal 'shape', robusticity, fibular cortical distribution, and relative robusticity (fibula versus tibia). No substantial findings were derived from the first metatarsal. The fibular cortical distribution can discriminate 'active' (nomadic or settled) and recent sedentary human groups; these findings indicated Caviglione 1 belonged to the former. Interestingly, compared with ancient and recent sedentary humans and some UP individuals, Caviglione 1 had femurs with strong relative anteroposterior rigidity and robust tibias and fibulas reflecting an adaptation to extremely high levels of mobility. The very high relative fibular robusticity of Caviglione 1, higher than that of Middle UP males, is consistent with bone adaptation to frequent travel through mountainous terrain. Such fibular robusticity may also be a consequence of imbalance, due to upper limb traumas, when traveling downhill. These findings indicate that injured individuals may have participated in subsistence activities in past populations and describe an UP female with bone adaptations to habitual high mobility, notably in mountainous terrain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tony Chevalier
- UMR 7194 HNHP, University of Perpignan via Domitia, EPCC-CERP de Tautavel, Avenue Léon Jean Grégory, Tautavel 66720, France.
| | - Thomas Colard
- UMR 5199 PACEA, University of Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC; Bâtiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, CS50023, Pessac F-33615, France; Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, University of Lille, CHU Lille, Lille F-59000, France
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Sorrentino R, Carlson KJ, Orr CM, Pietrobelli A, Figus C, Li S, Conconi M, Sancisi N, Belvedere C, Zhu M, Fiorenza L, Hublin JJ, Jashashvili T, Novak M, Patel BA, Prang TC, Williams SA, Saers JPP, Stock JT, Ryan T, Myerson M, Leardini A, DeSilva J, Marchi D, Belcastro MG, Benazzi S. Morphological and evolutionary insights into the keystone element of the human foot's medial longitudinal arch. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1061. [PMID: 37857853 PMCID: PMC10587292 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05431-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The evolution of the medial longitudinal arch (MLA) is one of the most impactful adaptations in the hominin foot that emerged with bipedalism. When and how it evolved in the human lineage is still unresolved. Complicating the issue, clinical definitions of flatfoot in living Homo sapiens have not reached a consensus. Here we digitally investigate the navicular morphology of H. sapiens (living, archaeological, and fossil), great apes, and fossil hominins and its correlation with the MLA. A distinctive navicular shape characterises living H. sapiens with adult acquired flexible flatfoot, while the congenital flexible flatfoot exhibits a 'normal' navicular shape. All H. sapiens groups differentiate from great apes independently from variations in the MLA, likely because of bipedalism. Most australopith, H. naledi, and H. floresiensis navicular shapes are closer to those of great apes, which is inconsistent with a human-like MLA and instead might suggest a certain degree of arboreality. Navicular shape of OH 8 and fossil H. sapiens falls within the normal living H. sapiens spectrum of variation of the MLA (including congenital flexible flatfoot and individuals with a well-developed MLA). At the same time, H. neanderthalensis seem to be characterised by a different expression of the MLA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rita Sorrentino
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, 40126, Italy.
| | - Kristian J Carlson
- Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90033, USA
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, WITS 2050, South Africa
| | - Caley M Orr
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, 80217, USA
| | - Annalisa Pietrobelli
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, 40126, Italy
| | - Carla Figus
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, 48121, Italy
| | - Shuyuan Li
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Michele Conconi
- Department of Industrial Engineering, Health Sciences and Technologies, Interdepartmental Centre for Industrial Research (HST-ICIR), University of Bologna, Bologna, 40136, Italy
| | - Nicola Sancisi
- Department of Industrial Engineering, Health Sciences and Technologies, Interdepartmental Centre for Industrial Research (HST-ICIR), University of Bologna, Bologna, 40136, Italy
| | - Claudio Belvedere
- Laboratory of Movement Analysis and Functional Evaluation of Prostheses, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy
| | - Mingjie Zhu
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Luca Fiorenza
- Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Chaire Internationale de Paléoanthropologie, CIRB (UMR 7241-U1050), Collège de France, Paris, France
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
| | - Tea Jashashvili
- Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90033, USA
- Department of Geology and Paleontology, Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi, 0105, Georgia
| | - Mario Novak
- Centre for Applied Bioanthropology, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, 10000, Croatia
| | - Biren A Patel
- Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90033, USA
- Human and Evolutionary Biology Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90089, USA
| | - Thomas C Prang
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA
| | - Scott A Williams
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, WITS 2050, South Africa
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, 10003, USA
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits, 2050, South Africa
| | - Jaap P P Saers
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, 2333, CR, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Jay T Stock
- Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, Ontario, N6A 3K7, Canada
| | - Timothy Ryan
- Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Mark Myerson
- Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Alberto Leardini
- Laboratory of Movement Analysis and Functional Evaluation of Prostheses, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy
| | - Jeremy DeSilva
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA
| | - Damiano Marchi
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Wits, 2050, South Africa
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, 56126, Italy
| | - Maria Giovanna Belcastro
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, 40126, Italy
| | - Stefano Benazzi
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, 48121, Italy
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40
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Areta JL. Physical performance during energy deficiency in humans: An evolutionary perspective. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2023; 284:111473. [PMID: 37406958 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.111473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Energy deficiency profoundly disrupts normal endocrinology, metabolism, and physiology, resulting in an orchestrated response for energy preservation. As such, despite energy deficit is typically thought as positive for weight-loss and treatment of cardiometabolic diseases during the current obesity pandemic, in the context of contemporary sports and exercise nutrition, chronic energy deficiency is associated to negative health and athletic performance consequences. However, the evidence of energy deficit negatively affecting physical capacity and sports performance is unclear. While severe energy deficiency can negatively affect physical capacity, humans can also improve aerobic fitness and strength while facing significant energy deficit. Many athletes, also, compete at an elite and world-class level despite showing clear signs of energy deficiency. Maintenance of high physical capacity despite the suppression of energetically demanding physiological traits seems paradoxical when an evolutionary viewpoint is not considered. Humans have evolved facing intermittent periods of food scarcity in their natural habitat and are able to thrive in it. In the current perspective it is argued that when facing limited energy availability, maintenance of locomotion and physical capacity are of high priority given that they are essential for food procurement for survival in the habitat where humans evolved. When energetic resources are limited, energy may be allocated to tasks essential for survival (e.g. locomotion) while minimising energy allocation to traits that are not (e.g. growth and reproduction). The current perspective provides a model of energy allocation during energy scarcity supported by observation of physiological and metabolic responses that are congruent with this paradigm.
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Affiliation(s)
- José L Areta
- Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, UK.
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41
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Yawar A, Lieberman DE. Biomechanical Tradeoffs in Foot Function From Variations in Shoe Design. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 2023; 51:128-139. [PMID: 37220782 DOI: 10.1249/jes.0000000000000322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
There is debate and confusion over how to evaluate the biomechanical effects of running shoe design. Here, we use an evolutionary perspective to analyze how key design features of running shoes alter the evolved biomechanics of the foot, creating a range of tradeoffs in force production and transmission that may affect performance and vulnerability to injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Yawar
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
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42
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Stingel JP, Hicks JL, Uhlrich SD, Delp SL. Simulating Muscle-Level Energetic Cost Savings When Humans Run with a Passive Assistive Device. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2023; 8:6267-6274. [PMID: 37745177 PMCID: PMC10512759 DOI: 10.1109/lra.2023.3303094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Connecting the legs with a spring attached to the shoelaces, called an exotendon, can reduce the energetic cost of running, but how the exotendon reduces the energetic burden of individual muscles remains unknown. We generated muscle-driven simulations of seven individuals running with and without the exotendon to discern whether savings occurred during the stance phase or the swing phase, and to identify which muscles contributed to energy savings. We computed differences in muscle-level energy consumption, muscle activations, and changes in muscle-fiber velocity and force between running with and without the exotendon. The seven of nine participants who reduced energy cost when running with the exotendon reduced their measured energy expenditure rate by 0.9 W/kg (8.3%). Simulations predicted a 1.4 W/kg (12.0%) reduction in the average rate of energy expenditure and correctly identified that the exotendon reduced rates of energy expenditure for all seven individuals. Simulations showed most of the savings occurred during stance (1.5 W/kg), though the rate of energy expenditure was also reduced during swing (0.3 W/kg). The energetic savings were distributed across the quadriceps, hip flexor, hip abductor, hamstring, hip adductor, and hip extensor muscle groups, whereas no changes were observed in the plantarflexor or dorsiflexor muscles. Energetic savings were facilitated by reductions in the rate of mechanical work performed by muscles and their estimated rate of heat production. By modeling muscle-level energetics, this simulation framework accurately captured measured changes in whole-body energetics when using an assistive device. This is a useful first step towards using simulation to accelerate device design by predicting how humans will interact with assistive devices that have yet to be built.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jon P Stingel
- Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Jennifer L Hicks
- Bioengineering Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Scott D Uhlrich
- Bioengineering Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Scott L Delp
- Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
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Zhang X, Deng L, Xiao S, Fu W. Morphological and viscoelastic properties of the Achilles tendon in the forefoot, rearfoot strike runners, and non-runners in vivo. Front Physiol 2023; 14:1256908. [PMID: 37745236 PMCID: PMC10513438 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1256908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in the morphological and viscoelastic properties of the Achilles tendon (AT) among different groups (rearfoot strikers vs. forefoot strikers vs. non-runners). Thirty healthy men were recruited, including habitual forefoot strike runners (n = 10), rearfoot strike runners (n = 10), and individuals with no running habits (n = 10). The AT morphological properties (cross-sectional area and length) were captured by using an ultrasound device. The real-time ultrasound video of displacement changes at the medial head of the gastrocnemius and the AT junction during maximal voluntary isometric contraction and the plantar flexion moment of the ankle was obtained simultaneously by connecting the ultrasound device and isokinetic dynamometer via an external synchronisation box. The results indicated that male runners who habitually forefoot strike exhibited significantly lower AT hysteresis than male non-runners (p < 0.05). Furthermore, a greater peak AT force during maximal voluntary contraction was observed in forefoot strike male runners compared to that in male individuals with no running habits (p < 0.05). However, foot strike patterns were not related to AT properties in recreational male runners (p > 0.05). The lower AT hysteresis in male FFS runners implied that long-term forefoot strike patterns could enhance male-specific AT's ability to store and release elastic energy efficiently during running, resulting in a more effective stretch-shortening cycle. The greater peak AT force in male FFS runners indicated a stronger Achilles tendon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xini Zhang
- Faculty of Sports Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
- Research Academy of Grand Health, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Liqin Deng
- Key Laboratory of Exercise and Health Sciences of Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
| | - Songlin Xiao
- Key Laboratory of Exercise and Health Sciences of Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
| | - Weijie Fu
- Key Laboratory of Exercise and Health Sciences of Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
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44
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MacLean KFE, Langenderfer JE, Dickerson CR. A comparative probabilistic analysis of human and chimpanzee rotator cuff functional capacity. J Anat 2023; 243:431-447. [PMID: 37186281 PMCID: PMC10439372 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Computational musculoskeletal modeling represents a valuable approach to examining biological systems in physical anthropology. Probabilistic modeling builds on computational musculoskeletal models by associating mathematical distributions of specific musculoskeletal features within known ranges of biological variability with functional outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine if overlap in rotator cuff muscle force predictions would occur between species during the performance of an evolutionarily relevant horizontal bimanual arm suspension task. This necessitated creating novel probabilistic models of the human and chimpanzee glenohumeral joint through augmentation of previously published deterministic models. Glenohumeral musculoskeletal features of anthropological interest were probabilistically modeled to produce distributions of predicted human and chimpanzee rotator cuff muscle force that were representative of the specific anatomical manipulations. Musculoskeletal features modeled probabilistically included rotator cuff origins and deltoid insertion, glenoid inclination, and joint stability. Predicted human rotator cuff muscle force distributions were mostly limited to alternating between infraspinatus and teres minor, with both 100% and 0% muscle force predicted for both muscles. The chimpanzee model predicted low-to-moderate muscle force across all rotator cuff muscles. Rotator cuff muscle force predictions were most sensitive to changes of muscle origins and insertions. Results indicate that functional rotator cuff overlap is unlikely between chimpanzees and humans without greater modifications of the glenohumeral musculoskeletal phenotypes. The results also highlight the low efficacy of the human upper extremity in overhead, weight-bearing tasks, and propensity for rotator cuff injury.
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Petersen BC. An economic model and evidence of the evolution of human intelligence in the Middle Pleistocene: Climate change and assortative mating. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0287964. [PMID: 37531351 PMCID: PMC10395973 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
Abstract
A main objective of this paper is to provide the first model of how climate change, working through sexual selection, could have led to dramatic increases in hominin brain size, and presumably intelligence, in the Middle Pleistocene. The model is built using core elements from the field of family economics, including assortative mating and specialization and complementarities between mates. The main assumptions are that family public goods (e.g., conversation, shelter, fire) were particularly cognitively intensive to produce and became increasingly important for child survival during glacial phases. Intermediate climates (e.g., not the depths of severe glacial phases) create the largest gains from specialization, encouraging negative assortative mating. In contrast, severe glacial phases encourage positive assortative mating because of the rising importance of family public goods. One testable hypothesis is that absence of severe glacial phases should have led to stasis in brain size. Two other testable hypotheses are that severe glacial phases should have led to speciation events, as well as increases in brain size. The evidence shows that there was a million-year stasis in cranial size prior to the start of the severe glacial phases. This stasis is broken by a speciation event (Homo heidelbergensis), with the oldest fossil evidence dated near the close of the first severe glacial phase. In the next 300 kyr, there are two additional severe glacial phases, accompanied by considerable increases in cranial capacity. The last speciation event is Homo sapiens, with the earliest fossils dated near the end of the last of these two glacial phases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce C Petersen
- Department of Economics, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
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Tauraginskii RA, Lurie F, Simakov S, Agalarov R, Borsuk D, Khramtsov P. Calf muscle pump pressure-flow cycle during ambulation. J Vasc Surg Venous Lymphat Disord 2023; 11:783-792.e7. [PMID: 37068709 DOI: 10.1016/j.jvsv.2023.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2022] [Revised: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Calf muscle pump (CMP) failure contributes to the severity and progression of chronic venous disease. Attempts to improve CMP function through resistance exercise have failed to improve chronic venous disease severity or quality of life, partially because the selection of the type of exercise was based on the assumption that the CMP ejects blood from the intramuscular venous sinuses (VSs), which has never been tested in humans. In the present study, we investigated the real-time changes in the pressure and size of the VS during the entire gait cycle of ambulation. METHODS We studied 12 lower extremities of nine healthy volunteers at rest and while walking on a treadmill at three different speeds (60, 90, and 120 steps/min). The changes in the VS cross-sectional area (CSA) and pressure were measured. Myography of the gastrocnemius muscle (GCM) and anterior tibial muscle (ATM) was used to register muscle activity. The relationship between the phases of the gait cycle and the measured parameters was analyzed using video records of all experiments. RESULTS The observed timing of events was consistent among all limbs studied. At rest, with the participants standing still, the VS pressure and CSA was 70.3 ± 4.2 mm Hg and 23.3 ± 14.6 mm2, respectively. During ambulation, at the first half of the stance, the GCM and ATM eccentrically contract, and the pressure is low (17 ± 8 mm Hg, 20 ± 12 mm Hg, and 29 ± 13 mm Hg at 1, 1.5, and 2 Hz, respectively), and the VS is collapsed. When the heel starts rising (the second half of the stance), the GCM concentrically contracts, the pressure increases, reaching its maximum value (143 ± 37, 134 ± 46, and 128 ± 41 mm Hg), and the VS opens, reaching its maximal size (1.8 ± 1.4 and 2.3 ± 2.2 mm2 at 1 and 1.5 Hz, respectively), followed by collapse of the VS. During the swing phase, the GCM relaxes, and the ATM concentrically contracts, resulting in a rapid decrease in pressure (2.6 ± 4.7, 1.1 ± 6.2, and -4.7 ± 3.2 mm Hg). The VS CSA remained negligible. CONCLUSIONS The GCM concentric contraction was associated with a simultaneous increase in VS pressure and CSA. GCM relaxation with ATM concentric contraction coincided with a decrease in VS pressure to negative values. The VSs do not fill but remain empty during the swing phase of ambulation, acting, not as a reservoir, but as a conduit, transferring blood from the network of intramuscular veins to the axial deep veins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman A Tauraginskii
- Research Laboratory of Venous Hemodynamics, Phlebocenter LLC, Kaliningrad, Russia.
| | - Fedor Lurie
- Department of Vascular Surgery, Jobst Vascular Institute, Toledo, OH; Division of Vascular Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | | | | | - Denis Borsuk
- Clinic of Phlebology and Laser Surgery, VenoClinica, Yekaterinburg, Russia
| | - Pavel Khramtsov
- Research Laboratory of Venous Hemodynamics, Phlebocenter LLC, Kaliningrad, Russia
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Malyarchuk BA. The role of Beringia in human adaptation to Arctic conditions based on results of genomic studies of modern and ancient populations. Vavilovskii Zhurnal Genet Selektsii 2023; 27:373-382. [PMID: 37465192 PMCID: PMC10350865 DOI: 10.18699/vjgb-23-45] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Revised: 10/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/15/2022] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The results of studies in Quaternary geology, archeology, paleoanthropology and human genetics demonstrate that the ancestors of Native Americans arrived in mid-latitude North America mainly along the Pacific Northwest Coast, but had previously inhabited the Arctic and during the last glacial maximum were in a refugium in Beringia, a land bridge connecting Eurasia and North America. The gene pool of Native Americans is represented by unique haplogroups of mitochondrial DNA and the Y chromosome, the evolutionary age of which ranges from 13 to 22 thousand years. The results of a paleogenomic analysis also show that during the last glacial maximum Beringia was populated by human groups that had arisen as a result of interaction between the most ancient Upper Paleolithic populations of Northern Eurasia and newcomer groups from East Asia. Approximately 20 thousand years ago the Beringian populations began to form, and the duration of their existence in relative isolation is estimated at about 5 thousand years. Thus, the adaptation of the Beringians to the Arctic conditions could have taken several millennia. The adaptation of Amerindian ancestors to high latitudes and cold climates is supported by genomic data showing that adaptive genetic variants in Native Americans are associated with various metabolic pathways: melanin production processes in the skin, hair and eyes, the functioning of the cardiovascular system, energy metabolism and immune response characteristics. Meanwhile, the analysis of the existing hypotheses about the selection of some genetic variants in the Beringian ancestors of the Amerindians in connection with adaptation to the Arctic conditions (for example, in the FADS, ACTN3, EDAR genes) shows the ambiguity of the testing results, which may be due to the loss of some traces of the "Beringian" adaptation in the gene pools of modern Native Americans. The most optimal strategy for further research seems to be the search for adaptive variant.
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Affiliation(s)
- B A Malyarchuk
- Institute of Biological Problems of the North, Far-East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Magadan, Russia N.A. Shilo North-East Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Institute, Far-East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Magadan, Russia
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Archer E, Hill JO. Body and Fat mass are not Regulated, Controlled, or Defended: An introduction to the Invisible Hand' and 'Competition' Models of Metabolism. Prog Cardiovasc Dis 2023; 79:56-64. [PMID: 36283496 DOI: 10.1016/j.pcad.2022.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
This paper presents two inter-dependent frameworks for understanding the etiology of obesity and the regain of body and fat mass after weight loss. The 'Invisible Hand of Metabolism' illustrates how physiologic states such as body and fat mass and blood glucose levels arise from the unregulated, uncontrolled, yet competitive behavior of trillions of semi-autonomous cells. The 'Competition Model of Metabolism' is an explanatory (mechanistic) framework that details how organismal and cell-specific behaviors generate the apparent stability of physiologic states despite metabolic perturbations (e.g., weight-loss and exercise). Together, these frameworks show that body and fat mass and blood glucose levels are not regulated, controlled, or defended but emerge from the complexity and functional plasticity of competitive cellular relations. Therefore, we argue that the use of abstract constructs such as 'regulation', 'control', 'glucostats', 'adipostats', and 'set-/settling-points' hinders the understanding of obesity and cardiometabolic diseases in human and nonhuman mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - James O Hill
- University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
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Vaill M, Kawanishi K, Varki N, Gagneux P, Varki A. Comparative physiological anthropogeny: exploring molecular underpinnings of distinctly human phenotypes. Physiol Rev 2023; 103:2171-2229. [PMID: 36603157 PMCID: PMC10151058 DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00040.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Revised: 12/26/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Anthropogeny is a classic term encompassing transdisciplinary investigations of the origins of the human species. Comparative anthropogeny is a systematic comparison of humans and other living nonhuman hominids (so-called "great apes"), aiming to identify distinctly human features in health and disease, with the overall goal of explaining human origins. We begin with a historical perspective, briefly describing how the field progressed from the earliest evolutionary insights to the current emphasis on in-depth molecular and genomic investigations of "human-specific" biology and an increased appreciation for cultural impacts on human biology. While many such genetic differences between humans and other hominids have been revealed over the last two decades, this information remains insufficient to explain the most distinctive phenotypic traits distinguishing humans from other living hominids. Here we undertake a complementary approach of "comparative physiological anthropogeny," along the lines of the preclinical medical curriculum, i.e., beginning with anatomy and considering each physiological system and in each case considering genetic and molecular components that are relevant. What is ultimately needed is a systematic comparative approach at all levels from molecular to physiological to sociocultural, building networks of related information, drawing inferences, and generating testable hypotheses. The concluding section will touch on distinctive considerations in the study of human evolution, including the importance of gene-culture interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Vaill
- Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Glycobiology Research and Training Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Kunio Kawanishi
- Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Department of Experimental Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Nissi Varki
- Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Glycobiology Research and Training Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Department of Pathology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Pascal Gagneux
- Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Glycobiology Research and Training Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Department of Pathology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Ajit Varki
- Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Glycobiology Research and Training Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
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Zech A. [The influence of footwear on the human gait]. ORTHOPADIE (HEIDELBERG, GERMANY) 2023:10.1007/s00132-023-04407-0. [PMID: 37369874 DOI: 10.1007/s00132-023-04407-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
The development of individual gait and running patterns is influenced by internal (anatomical, anthropometric) and external (activity-related, environmental) factors. The predominantly used rearfoot running style is mainly attributed to the use of cushioned shoes, although from an anthropological perspective running barefoot, and thus running forefoot, is considered to be more natural. Numerous studies have shown a long-term influence of habitual footwear use on foot morphology, running biomechanics and basic motor skills. It has further been shown that an acute change in footwear, e.g. by running barefoot, immediately changes kinematics and vertical load parameters. However, to date, there is no strong evidence for an influence of habitual footwear use or footstrike patterns on the prevalence of injuries or physical complaints.
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Affiliation(s)
- Astrid Zech
- Institut für Sportwissenschaft, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Seidelstr. 20, 07749, Jena, Deutschland.
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