2009/06/19 by Christopher W. Kuzawa, Elizabeth A. Quinn · 223 citations
Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · #Biology #Birth, Development, and Health #Child Nutrition and Water Access #Developmental plasticity #Developmental psychology #Diet and metabolism studies #Disease #Ecology #Evolutionary biology #Function (biology) #Genetics #Life history #Life history theory #Natural selection #Offspring #Phenotypic plasticity #Plasticity #Pregnancy #Psychology #Selection (genetic algorithm)
paper · doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-091908-164350
published in Annual Review of Anthropology 38(1), 131-147 (Annual Reviews)
openalex publication_date 2009/06/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Many biological systems have critical periods that overlap with the age of maternal provisioning via placenta or lactation. As such, they serve as conduits for phenotypic information transfer between generations and link maternal experience with offspring biology and disease outcomes. This review critically evaluates proposals for an adaptive function of these responses in humans. Although most models assume an adult function for the metabolic responses to nutritional stress, these specific traits have more likely been tailored for effects during fetal life and infancy. Other biological functions are under stronger evolutionary selection later in life and thus are better candidates for predictive plasticity. Given the long human life cycle and environmental changes that are unpredictable on decadal timescales, plastic responses that evolved to confer benefits in adolescence or adulthood likely rely on cues that integrate matrilineal experiences prior to gestation. We conclude with strategies for testing the timescale and adaptive significance of developmental responses to early environments.