Environmental influences during development and their later consequences for health and disease: implications for the interpretation of empirical studies

Although variation in individual lifestyle and genotype are important factors in explaining individual variation in the risk of developing obesity in an obesogenic environment, there is growing evidence that developmentally plastic processes also contribute. These effects are mediated at least in part through epigenetic processes. These developmental pathways do not directly cause obesity but rather alter the risk of an individual developing obesity later in life. At least two classes of developmental pathway are involved. The mismatch pathway involves the evolved adaptive responses of the developing organism to anticipated future adverse environments, which have maladaptive consequences if the environment is mismatched to that predicted. This pathway can be cued by prenatal undernutrition or stresses that lead the organism to forecast an adverse future environment and change its developmental trajectory accordingly. As a result, individuals develop with central and peripheral changes that increase their sensitivity to an obesogenic environment. It provides a model for how obesity emerges in populations in rapid transition, but also operates in developed countries. There is growing experimental evidence that this pathway can be manipulated by, for example, postnatal leptin exposure. Secondly, maternal diabetes, maternal obesity and infant overfeeding are associated with a greater risk of later obesity. Early life offers a potential point for preventative intervention.

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“…8 Some stimuli such as infections and toxins are non-physiological and disrupt the developmental programme. The consequences may be teratogenic.…”

Section: Developmental Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental and epigenetic pathways to obesity: an evolutionary-developmental perspective

2008

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“…Others would choose differently. See Ellison [13] on the evolution and ecology of human reproductive endocrinology, Nesse [14,15] and Keller & Nesse [16] on mental illness, Gluckman et al [5,17] and Kuzawa [18] on the developmental origins of adult health and disease, Litman & Cooper [19] and Cooper & Herrin [20] on the evolution of the immune system, and Trevathan et al on obstetrics, McKenna et al on breast-feeding and cosleeping, Smith [21] on addiction and Eaton et al [22] on nutrition and exercise in [3], and Leonard [23] on nutrition and exercise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary medicine: its scope, interest and potential

2012

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This review is aimed at readers seeking an introductory overview, teaching courses and interested in visionary ideas. It first describes the range of topics covered by evolutionary medicine, which include human genetic variation, mismatches to modernity, reproductive medicine, degenerative disease, hostpathogen interactions and insights from comparisons with other species. It then discusses priorities for translational research, basic research and health management. Its conclusions are that evolutionary thinking should not displace other approaches to medical science, such as molecular medicine and cell and developmental biology, but that evolutionary insights can combine with and complement established approaches to reduce suffering and save lives. Because we are on the cusp of so much new research and innovative insights, it is hard to estimate how much impact evolutionary thinking will have on medicine, but it is already clear that its potential is enormous.

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“…Apart from the generally adaptive consequences of developmental plasticity, the experience of the young individual may be such that the normal course of development is disrupted (Gluckman et al, 2005). The individual may not die and, as West-Eberhard (2003) has emphasized, it may be able to accommodate to its disabilities.…”

Section: The Acquired: Experience Learning and Plasticitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The innate and the acquired: Useful clusters or a residual distinction from folk biology?

Bateson

Mameli

2007

Developmental Psychobiology

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The idea of the innate and the acquired is a part of folk-biology but is also used by biologists, psychologists and cognitive scientists in their disciplines. Are they right to do so? Innateness is often defined by appealing to the role of genes in development, to the role of Darwinian evolution in shaping developmental processes, to the non-involvement of learning during development, to developmental robustness, and to modularity. We argue that all such definitions are unsatisfactory. Some are unsatisfactory because they are based on simplistic and empirically outmoded views of development. Others are empirically defensible but are unsatisfactory because they do not capture the full breadth of the use of the term ''innate'' and, due to this restriction, they can easily lead to inferential mistakes. The definition of acquired behavior has been used with greater sophistication and is generally regarded as being heterogeneous. Nevertheless, in as much as the overall category has been seen in opposition to the innate, it has been an obstacle to a thorough investigation of how behavior develops. We suggest that a useful way forward is to examine whether or not the empirically well-established properties often associated with the concept of innate and the concept of acquired form theoretically useful clusters. This path leads to a much fuller appreciation of the view favored by Gilbert Gottlieb, according to which development involves the continuous interplay of the organism (and its genes) with its environment. ß 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 49: 818-831, 2007.

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Environmental influences during development and their later consequences for health and disease: implications for the interpretation of empirical studies

Cited by 395 publications

References 69 publications

Developmental and epigenetic pathways to obesity: an evolutionary-developmental perspective

Developmental and epigenetic pathways to obesity: an evolutionary-developmental perspective

Evolutionary medicine: its scope, interest and potential

The innate and the acquired: Useful clusters or a residual distinction from folk biology?

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