Doctoral Dissertation Research: Maternal predictors of infant developmental trajectories in olive baboons

早期生活经历可以对发育和成人结果产生重大影响，母亲是人类和其他灵长类动物早期生活环境的关键组成部分。最近，研究人员开始研究母体信号的复杂性，婴儿如何使用这些信号来进行发育权衡，以及权衡决定的影响。这项博士论文项目将调查不同生态条件下生活的几组野生橄榄狒狒母体激素和行为信号对婴儿发育的影响。研究人员将记录母体信号的变化，以开发婴儿发育的全面模型，并为人类健康和发育的演变提供见解。该项目为当地社区外展计划做出贡献，并为本科生、应届毕业生和当地员工提供指导和研究机会。研究小组通过积极参与边缘化身份的专业组织，并通过举办研讨会解决STEM中的性骚扰问题，促进STEM的多样性和包容性。该项目将解决三个问题：什么预测母体信号的变化，婴儿如何对母体信号做出反应，以及婴儿如何进行发育权衡？这项研究将利用橄榄狒狒的长期生态和人口统计数据，并提供详细的行为、生理和生长数据。这项研究将使用摄影测量学来测量身体尺寸和生长轨迹，使用粪便样本来测量母亲和婴儿的糖皮质激素水平，并使用焦点样本来获得有关哺乳行为、婴儿活动水平和母亲反应的详细信息。这项研究将在14个月的时间里检查40对母婴。肯尼亚莱基皮亚的研究地点提供了机会，将严重依赖入侵的严格仙人掌水果的动物与获得这些水果的机会有限的动物进行比较。仙人掌水果可获得性的变化将提供关于高糖饮食和可预测食物可获得性的洞察--这些特征是最近人类饮食变化的特征--如何影响母亲的信号和婴儿的反应。这些结果可能会通过指示干预措施何时最有效以及需要干预多长时间来潜在地为以婴儿健康为目标的医疗干预做法提供信息。

Early life experiences can have substantial influence on development and adult outcomes, and the mother is a crucial component of the early life environment for humans and other primates. Recently, researchers have begun to examine the complexities of maternal signals, how infants use these signals to navigate developmental trade-offs, and the impact of trade-off decisions. This doctoral dissertation project will investigate the influence of maternal hormonal and behavioral signals on infant development in several groups of wild olive baboons living under different ecological conditions. The researcher will document variation in maternal signals, to develop a comprehensive model of infant development and provide insights into the evolution of human health and development. The project contributes to local community outreach programs and provides mentorship and research opportunities to undergraduate students, recent graduates, and local employees. The research team promotes diversity and inclusion in STEM through active involvement with professional organizations for marginalized identities and through workshops that address issues of sexual harassment in STEM.The project will address three questions: What predicts variation in maternal signals, how do infants respond to maternal signals, and how do infants navigate developmental trade-offs? The study will capitalize on long-term ecological and demographic data for olive baboons and provide detailed behavioral, physiological, and growth data. The study will use photogrammetry to measure body size and growth trajectories, fecal samples to measure glucocorticoid levels in mothers and infants, and focal samples to obtain detailed information about nursing behavior, infant activity levels, and maternal responsiveness. The study will examine 40 mother-infant pairs over a 14-month period. The study site in Laikipia, Kenya provides the opportunity to compare animals that rely heavily on invasive Opuntia stricta fruits with animals that have limited access to these fruits. Variation in the availability of Opuntia fruit will provide insight into how high-sugar diets and predictable food availability -- traits that characterize recent changes in human diet -- influence maternal signals and infant responses. These results could potentially inform medical intervention practices that target infant health by indicating when interventions will be most effective and how long interventions are needed.