Energetic and nutritional constraints on infant brain development: Implications for brain expansion during human evolution

Cunnane, Stephen C.; Crawford, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.05.001

Cited by 108 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Furthermore, expansion of hominin brain in an environment providing a pre-formed source of DHA is consistent with the developmental requirements in modern humans (Brenna and Carlson, 2014). This is the basis of the shore-based hypothesis of human brain evolution, which proposes that sustained access by certain groups of early Homo to aquatic food sources were key to human brain development (Cunnane and Crawford, 2014). In the absence of dietary EPA and DHA, controlled feeding studies have shown that carnivorous marine fish fed a formulated diet without EPA and DHA show up-regulation of the genes responsible for EPA and DHA synthesis; while those fish fed a diet containing sufficient content of EPA and DHA do not upregulate these genes (Xue et al 2014;Xue et al 2015).…”

Section: Epa and Dha Requirements And Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Production, distribution, and abundance of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: a fundamental dichotomy between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems

et al. 2015

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Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) are critical for the health of aquatic and terrestrial organisms; therefore, understanding the production, distribution, and abundance of these compounds is very important. Although the dynamics of LC-PUFA production and distribution in aquatic environments has been well documented, a systematic and comprehensive comparison to LC-PUFA in terrestrial environments has not been rigorously investigated. Here we use a data synthesis approach to compare and contrast fatty acid profiles of 369 aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Habitat and trophic level were interacting factors that determined the proportion of individual omega-3 (n-3) or omega-6 (n-6) PUFA in aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Higher total n-3 content compared with n-6 PUFA and a strong prevalence of the n-3 PUFA eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) characterized aquatic versus terrestrial organisms. Conversely, terrestrial organisms had higher linoleic acid (LNA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) contents than aquatic organisms; however, the ratio of ALA:LNA was higher in aquatic organisms. The EPA + DHA content was higher in aquatic animals than terrestrial organisms, and increased from algae to invertebrates to vertebrates in the aquatic environment. An analysis of covariance revealed that fatty acid composition was highly dependent on the interaction between habitat and trophic level. We conclude that freshwater ecosystems provide an essential service through the production of n-3 LC-PUFA that are required to maintain the health of terrestrial organisms including humans.

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Section: Epa and Dha Requirements And Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Production, distribution, and abundance of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: a fundamental dichotomy between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems

et al. 2015

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“…These FA have been considered a prerequisite for encephalization [23, 26, 114–116] and essential for prenatal and postnatal brain development [116–118] and retinal function [119–120]. However, Carlson and Kingston [121] argued that while conversion to DHA from alpha linoleic acid (ALA) remains insufficient in adult males (0 to 4%), conversion in women of reproductive age could reach 9%, increasing during the sixth week of gestation, hence providing enough DHA for normal foetal brain development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Insights into the Evolution of the Human Diet from Faecal Biomarker Analysis in Wild Chimpanzee and Gorilla Faeces

et al. 2015

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Our understanding of early human diets is based on reconstructed biomechanics of hominin jaws, bone and teeth isotopic data, tooth wear patterns, lithic, taphonomic and zooarchaeological data, which do not provide information about the relative amounts of different types of foods that contributed most to early human diets. Faecal biomarkers are proving to be a valuable tool in identifying relative proportions of plant and animal tissues in Palaeolithic diets. A limiting factor in the application of the faecal biomarker approach is the striking absence of data related to the occurrence of faecal biomarkers in non-human primate faeces. In this study we explored the nature and proportions of sterols and stanols excreted by our closest living relatives. This investigation reports the first faecal biomarker data for wild chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei). Our results suggest that the chemometric analysis of faecal biomarkers is a useful tool for distinguishing between NHP and human faecal matter, and hence, it could provide information for palaeodietary research and early human diets.

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“…Marine fish and molluscs are among the best sources of iodine, another brain-selective nutrient required in large amounts by pregnant and lactating women; wild terrestrial foods are depleted in this micronutrient. The consumption of marine foods by early modern humans may have helped provide an adequate supply of iodine in addition to iron and longerchain PUFAs (Cunnane and Crawford, 2014).…”

Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are currently two sets of hypotheses regarding the diets and subsistence strategies likely to have supported the earliest members of our species: those that emphasise the selective consumption of fat-rich portions of terrestrial animals (Speth, 2010), and others that regard the contribution of marine resources as highly advantageous or even essential (Broadhurst et al, 2002;Parkington, 2003;Cunnane et al, 2007;Crawford, 2010;Erlandson, 2010;Cunnane and Crawford, 2014). Debates surrounding the importance of marine resources are part of the wider narrative concerning the evolution of anatomically and cognitively modern H. sapiens in southern Africa during the Middle Stone Age (MSA).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine and terrestrial foods as a source of brain-selective nutrients for early modern humans in the southwestern Cape, South Africa

Kyriacou

Blackhurst

Parkington

et al. 2016

Journal of Human Evolution

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Energetic and nutritional constraints on infant brain development: Implications for brain expansion during human evolution

Cited by 108 publications

References 43 publications

Production, distribution, and abundance of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: a fundamental dichotomy between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems

Production, distribution, and abundance of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: a fundamental dichotomy between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems

New Insights into the Evolution of the Human Diet from Faecal Biomarker Analysis in Wild Chimpanzee and Gorilla Faeces

Marine and terrestrial foods as a source of brain-selective nutrients for early modern humans in the southwestern Cape, South Africa

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