Doctoral Dissertation Research: Weaning practices, subsistence strategies, and skeletal growth and development

人类骨骼能够对生物力学压力做出可塑性反应，包括与咀嚼有关的压力。本博士论文项目通过分析具有不同断奶和生存习惯的工业化前人口，研究饮食模式和骨骼特征之间的关系。这项研究进一步深入了解了可能影响人类骨骼生长和发育的生物文化因素，包括影响牙齿排列和功能的因素。该项目促进女科学家的研究生培训、研究成果的传播（包括向临床受众）、学生的科学教育和课程开发以及通过大众科学渠道的公众科学传播。虽然研究人员发现，不同的生存策略会导致面部和下颌形状的差异，但断奶实践的影响和哺乳的生物力学效应还没有得到很好的理解。此外，现代婴儿的行为，如吮拇指、奶瓶喂养和过早终止母乳喂养，都与牙齿错咬合的增加有关，这表明随着农业的出现而发生的断奶习惯的改变可能是现代牙齿咬合问题增加的部分原因。本项目研究面部形态、断奶实践和生存策略之间的关系，使用颅骨和下颌3D扫描数据。该项目还试图通过使用现代正畸标准量化牙齿咬合来评估断奶/生存行为与牙齿咬合模式之间的关系。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The human skeleton is capable of plastic responses to biomechanical pressures, including those associated with chewing. This doctoral dissertation project examines relationships between dietary patterns and skeletal characteristics through analysis of pre-industrial populations with various weaning and subsistence practices. The research advances insights about biocultural factors that may influence skeletal growth and development in our species, including factors affecting dental alignment and function. The project fosters graduate student training of a female scientist, dissemination of findings including to clinical audiences, science education and curriculum development for students, and public science communication through popular science outlets. While researchers have found differences in face and jaw shape with differing subsistence strategies, the effects of weaning practices and the biomechanical effects of suckling are not well understood. Additionally, modern infant behavior such as thumb-sucking, bottle-feeding and early termination of breastfeeding are implicated in the rise of dental malocclusions, suggesting that shifts in weaning practices that are thought to have occurred with the advent of farming may be partially responsible for the increase in modern dental occlusion problems. This project investigates associations between facial morphology, weaning practices, and subsistence strategies, using cranial and mandibular 3D scan data. The project also seeks to assess the association between weaning/subsistence behavior and dental occlusion patterns by quantifying dental occlusion using modern orthodontic criteria.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.