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Thalén A, Ledberg A. Parental age at death is associated with age at first birth in offspring. Exp Gerontol 2024; 189:112396. [PMID: 38479685 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2024.112396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2024] [Revised: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE People age at different rates and the available evidence suggests that the rate of aging is partly inherited from previous generations. This heterogeneity in aging is evident already in midlife, but to what extent aging is associated with the timing of events earlier in life is not fully known. Here we aim to shed light on this topic by investigating the trade-off between reproduction and aging postulated by evolutionary theories of aging. METHODS Drawing on the inheritance of aging we use parental age at death as a proxy for aging-rates in the offspring, and study how age at first birth depends on this variable. We use data from an almost complete Swedish birth cohort comprising 92,359 individuals. Accelerated failure time models are used to estimate the association between parental age at death and age at first birth while adjusting for parental occupational class, educational attainment, and income. RESULTS Longer parental lifespans were consistently associated with older age at first births, both in men and women. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that aging-related processes may be interrelated with the processes underlying the timing of reproduction and are in general agreement with evolutionary theories of aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Thalén
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anders Ledberg
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.
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2
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Fearon K. Infertility, reproductive timing and 'cure' in families affected by Turner Syndrome. Soc Sci Med 2023; 328:116005. [PMID: 37295207 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 05/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
This article discusses the influence of a chromosome condition affecting women's reproductive capacity, Turner Syndrome (TS), on affected women's social timing, examining the strategic decisions that are made within families in relation to reproduction, to navigate these disruptions. Based on photo elicitation interviews with 19 women with TS and 11 mothers of girls with TS in the UK, it presents findings from an under-researched topic, TS and reproductive choices. In a social context where motherhood is not only desirable, but expected (Suppes, 2020), the social imaginary of infertility anticipates a future of unhappiness and rejection, an undesirable condition that should be avoided. Accordingly, mothers of girls with TS often expect that their daughter will want to have children. Infertility diagnosed in childhood has a distinctive impact on reproductive timing, as future options may be anticipated for years. This article uses the concept of 'crip time' (Kafer, 2013) to explore how women with TS and mothers of girls with TS experience temporal misfitting based on a childhood diagnosis of infertility, and manage, resist and re-frame this to minimise stigma. The 'curative imaginary' (Kafer, 2013), a social norm where disabled people are expected to desire a cure for their condition, is used as an analogy for infertility, describing how mothers of girls with TS respond to social pressure to plan for their daughter's reproductive future. These findings may be useful both for families navigating childhood infertility and practitioners who support them. This article demonstrates the cross-disciplinary potential of applying disability studies concepts to the context of infertility and chronic illness, where concepts shed new light on the dimensions of timing and anticipation in this context, improving our understanding of the lived experience of women with TS, and how they view and use reproductive technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kriss Fearon
- Centre for Reproduction Research, De Montfort University, 0.23 Edith Murphy House, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH, UK.
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3
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Jacobson H. The ART clock: Temporal limits to assisted reproduction. Reprod Biomed Soc Online 2022; 14:144-155. [PMID: 35024471 PMCID: PMC8728316 DOI: 10.1016/j.rbms.2021.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Conceptualizations of the 'biological clock' in popular imaginary in the USA centre on the temporal limits of fertility, with assisted reproductive technology (ART) an increasingly proposed answer to these constraints (at least in the public imaginary). In this study, I analyse how surrogates in the USA understand their own bioavailability for others' reproductive needs in the commercial ART market vis-à-vis their own reproductive trajectories. Based on interview data with gestational surrogates, I propose a new concept of the 'ART clock' to capture how time shapes the experiences of reproductive workers in the US fertility clinic. My findings point to four important ART time-related issues: (i) women desiring to extend their own 'biological clocks' via surrogacy; (ii) significant time being needed to achieve and sustain third-party pregnancy; (iii) women extending their total reproductive time via repeat surrogacy 'journeys'; and (iv) temporal constraints to surrogacy reproduction regarding time of year, the day-to-day time effort, the number of surrogacy journeys, the total number of pregnancies, and surrogates' age and the ages of their children. Each of these aspects point to important ways that reproductive desire and time shape the labour of reproductive workers, highlighting temporal constraints to assisted reproduction and limits to ART as a solution to delayed reproduction and the biological clock.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather Jacobson
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA
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4
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Pink KE, Willführ KP, Voland E, Puschmann P. Effects of Individual Mortality Experience on Out-of-Wedlock Fertility in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Krummhörn, Germany. Hum Nat 2020; 31:141-154. [PMID: 32548757 PMCID: PMC7381461 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-020-09368-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Life history theory predicts that exposure to high mortality in early childhood leads to faster and riskier reproductive strategies. Individuals who grew up in a high mortality regime will not overly wait until they find a suitable partner and form a stable union because premature death would prevent them from reproducing. Cox proportional hazard models were used to determine whether women who experienced sibling death during early childhood (0–5 years) reproduced earlier and were at an increased risk of giving birth to an illegitimate child, with illegitimacy serving as a proxy for risky sexual behavior. Furthermore, we investigate whether giving birth out of wedlock is influenced by individual mortality experience or by more promiscuous sexual behavior that is clustered in certain families. Models are fitted on pedigree data from the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Krummhörn population in Germany. The results show a relationship between sibling death in early childhood and the risk of reproducing out of wedlock, and reproductive timing. The risk of giving birth out of wedlock is linked to individual mortality experience rather than to family-level effects. In contrast, adjustments in connubial reproductive timing are influenced more by family-level effects than by individual mortality experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina E Pink
- Family and Population Studies, Centre of Sociological Research, KU Leuven, Parkstraat 45, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Kai P Willführ
- Department I Educational- and Social Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Postfach 2503, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Eckart Voland
- Institute of Philosophy, Justus Liebig University Gießen, Rathenaustraße 8, 35390, Gießen, Germany
| | - Paul Puschmann
- Radboud Group for Historical Demography and Family History, Radboud University, Erasmusplein 1, 6525, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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5
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Martin RJ, Kruger MC, MacDougall-Shackleton SA, Sherry DF. Black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) use temperature as a cue for reproductive timing. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2020; 287:113348. [PMID: 31786139 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2019.113348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2019] [Revised: 11/26/2019] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Reliable environmental cues, such as photoperiod, act as initial predictive cues that allow birds to time reproduction to match peak food abundance for their offspring. More variable local cues, like temperature, may, however, provide more precise information about the timing of food abundance. Non-migratory birds, in particular, should be sensitive to temperature cues and use them to modulate their reproductive timing. We conducted two experiments to examine the effect of temperature on reproductive condition (gonad size and circulating androgen levels) in non-migratory black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus). First, we exposed groups of birds in outdoor aviaries to three different over-winter temperature treatments and assessed gonad size in the spring. Second, we manipulated temperature in environmental chambers under photostimulatory and non-photostimulatory photoperiodic conditions and assessed gonad size and circulating testosterone levels. Temperature had no independent effect on gonad size or testosterone levels, but when photostimulated birds exposed to warmer conditions became reproductively ready earlier than birds experiencing cooler conditions. We conclude that temperature acts as a supplementary cue that modulates the photoperiod-driven timing of reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Jeffrey Martin
- Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, Canada; Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, Canada.
| | - M Charlotte Kruger
- Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, Canada; Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, Canada
| | - Scott A MacDougall-Shackleton
- Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, Canada; Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, Canada
| | - David F Sherry
- Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, Canada; Advanced Facility for Avian Research, University of Western Ontario, Canada
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Verhagen I, Laine VN, Mateman AC, Pijl A, de Wit R, van Lith B, Kamphuis W, Viitaniemi HM, Williams TD, Caro SP, Meddle SL, Gienapp P, van Oers K, Visser ME. Fine-tuning of seasonal timing of breeding is regulated downstream in the underlying neuro-endocrine system in a small songbird. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 222:jeb.202481. [PMID: 31371403 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.202481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2019] [Accepted: 07/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The timing of breeding is under selection in wild populations as a result of climate change, and understanding the underlying physiological processes mediating this timing provides insight into the potential rate of adaptation. Current knowledge on this variation in physiology is, however, mostly limited to males. We assessed whether individual differences in the timing of breeding in females are reflected in differences in candidate gene expression and, if so, whether these differences occur in the upstream (hypothalamus) or downstream (ovary and liver) parts of the neuroendocrine system. We used 72 female great tits from two generations of lines artificially selected for early and late egg laying, which were housed in climate-controlled aviaries and went through two breeding cycles within 1 year. In the first breeding season we obtained individual egg-laying dates, while in the second breeding season, using the same individuals, we sampled several tissues at three time points based on the timing of the first breeding attempt. For each tissue, mRNA expression levels were measured using qPCR for a set of candidate genes associated with the timing of reproduction and subsequently analysed for differences between generations, time points and individual timing of breeding. We found differences in gene expression between generations in all tissues, with the most pronounced differences in the hypothalamus. Differences between time points, and early- and late-laying females, were found exclusively in the ovary and liver. Altogether, we show that fine-tuning of the seasonal timing of breeding, and thereby the opportunity for adaptation in the neuroendocrine system, is regulated mostly downstream in the neuro-endocrine system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Verhagen
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Veronika N Laine
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - A Christa Mateman
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Agata Pijl
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ruben de Wit
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Bart van Lith
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Willem Kamphuis
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN-KNAW), 1105 BA Amsterdam-Zuidoost, The Netherlands
| | - Heidi M Viitaniemi
- Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tony D Williams
- Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada, V5A 1S6
| | - Samuel P Caro
- Departement d'Ecologie Evolutive, Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle & Evolutive, 34293 Montpellier 5, France
| | - Simone L Meddle
- Department of Behavioural Neuroendocrinology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UK
| | - Phillip Gienapp
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Kees van Oers
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Marcel E Visser
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
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7
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Gaydosh L, Belsky DW, Domingue BW, Boardman JD, Harris KM. Father Absence and Accelerated Reproductive Development in Non-Hispanic White Women in the United States. Demography 2018; 55:1245-67. [PMID: 29978338 DOI: 10.1007/s13524-018-0696-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Girls who experience father absence in childhood also experience accelerated reproductive development in comparison with peers with present fathers. One hypothesis advanced to explain this empirical pattern is genetic confounding, wherein gene-environment correlation (rGE) causes a spurious relationship between father absence and reproductive timing. We test this hypothesis by constructing polygenic scores for age at menarche and first birth using recently available genome-wide association study results and molecular genetic data on a sample of non-Hispanic white females from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. We find that young women's accelerated menarche polygenic scores are unrelated to their exposure to father absence. In contrast, polygenic scores for earlier age at first birth tend to be higher in young women raised in homes with absent fathers. Nevertheless, father absence and the polygenic scores independently and additively predict reproductive timing. We find no evidence in support of the rGE hypothesis for accelerated menarche and only limited evidence in support of the rGE hypothesis for earlier age at first birth.
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8
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Bauer CM, Needham KB, Le CN, Stewart EC, Graham JL, Ketterson ED, Greives TJ. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity is not elevated in a songbird (Junco hyemalis) preparing for migration. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2016; 232:60-6. [PMID: 26718082 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2015.12.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2015] [Revised: 12/01/2015] [Accepted: 12/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
During spring, increasing daylengths stimulate gonadal development in migratory birds. However, late-stage reproductive development is typically postponed until migration has been completed. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulates the secretion of glucocorticoids, which have been associated with pre-migratory hyperphagia and fattening. The HPA-axis is also known to suppress the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis, suggesting the possibility that final transition into the breeding life history stage may be slowed by glucocorticoids. We hypothesized that greater HPA-axis activity in individuals preparing for migration may foster preparation for migration while simultaneously acting as a "brake" on the development of the HPG-axis. To test this hypothesis, we sampled baseline corticosterone (CORT), stress-induced CORT, and negative feedback efficacy of Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis) in an overwintering population that included both migratory (J.h. hyemalis) and resident (J.h. carolinensis) individuals. We predicted that compared to residents, migrants would have higher baseline CORT, higher stress-induced CORT, and weaker negative feedback. Juncos were sampled in western Virginia in early March, which was about 2-4wk before migratory departure for migrants and 4-5wk before first clutch initiation for residents. Contrary to our predictions, we found that migrants had lower baseline and stress-induced CORT and similar negative feedback efficacy compared with residents, which suggests that delayed breeding in migrants is influenced by other physiological mechanisms. Our findings also suggest that baseline CORT is not elevated during pre-migratory fattening, as migrants had lower baseline CORT and were fatter than residents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn M Bauer
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA.
| | - Katie B Needham
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA
| | - Chuong N Le
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA
| | - Emily C Stewart
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA
| | - Jessica L Graham
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA
| | | | - Timothy J Greives
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA
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9
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Watts HE, Edley B, Hahn TP. A potential mate influences reproductive development in female, but not male, pine siskins. Horm Behav 2016; 80:39-46. [PMID: 26836771 PMCID: PMC4818704 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2015] [Revised: 12/29/2015] [Accepted: 01/29/2016] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
The role of photoperiod in avian reproductive timing has been well studied, and we are increasingly recognizing the roles of other environmental cues such as social cues. However, few studies have evaluated the extent to which males and females of the same species respond similarly to the same type of cue. Moreover, previous studies have rarely examined how variation in the quality or nature of a given social cue might modulate its effect. Here, we examine the sensitivity of male and female pine siskins (Spinus pinus) to a potential mate as a stimulatory cue for gonadal recrudescence, and we investigate whether variation in the relationship between a bird and its potential mate modulates the effect of that potential mate. Birds were initially housed without opposite sex birds on a 12L:12D photoperiod with ad libitum food. After gonadal recrudescence had begun males and females were randomly paired with an opposite sex bird or housed alone. An additional group of males was paired with estradiol-implanted females. In males, these social treatments had no effect on testis length, cloacal protuberance length, luteinizing hormone (LH) levels, or testosterone levels. In females, presence of a potential mate had a significant and positive effect on ovary score, defeathering of the brood patch, and LH levels. Among paired birds, the degree of affiliation within a pair corresponded to the extent of reproductive development in females, but not males. Thus, reproductive timing in females appears to be sensitive to both the presence of a potential mate and her relationship with him.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather E Watts
- Department of Biology, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA.
| | - Bruce Edley
- Department of Biology, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA
| | - Thomas P Hahn
- Department of Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior, University of California, Davis 95616, USA
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Mariette MM, Buchanan KL, Buttemer WA, Careau V. Tough decisions: Reproductive timing and output vary with individuals' physiology, behavior and past success in a social opportunistic breeder. Horm Behav 2015; 76:23-33. [PMID: 25917863 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2014] [Revised: 03/05/2015] [Accepted: 03/19/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
This article is part of a Special Issue "SBN 2014". Photoperiod and the hormonal response it triggers are key determinants of reproductive timing in birds. However, other cues and physiological traits may permit flexibility in the timing of breeding and perhaps facilitate adaptation to global change. Opportunistic breeders are excellent models to study the adaptive significance of this flexibility, especially at the individual level. Here, we sought to quantify whether particular male physiological and behavioral traits were linked to reproductive timing and output in wild-derived zebra finches. We repeatedly assessed male stress-induced corticosterone levels (CORT), basal metabolic rate (BMR), and activity before releasing them into outdoor aviaries and quantifying each pair's breeding timing, investment, and output over a seven-month period. Despite unlimited access to food and water, the colony breeding activity occurred in waves, probably due to interpair social stimulations. Pairs adjusted their inter-clutch interval and clutch size to social and temperature cues, respectively, but only after successful breeding attempts, suggesting a facultative response to external cues. When these effects were controlled for statistically or experimentally, breeding intervals were repeatable within individuals across reproductive attempts. In addition, males' first laying date and total offspring production varied with complex interactions between pre-breeding CORT, BMR and activity levels. These results suggest that no one trait is under selection but that, instead, correlational selection acts on hormone levels, metabolism, and behavior. Together our results suggest that studying inter-individual variation in breeding strategy and their multiple physiological and behavioral underpinnings may greatly improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the evolution of breeding decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mylene M Mariette
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia.
| | - Katherine L Buchanan
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia
| | - William A Buttemer
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia
| | - Vincent Careau
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3216, Australia
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