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Do Bigger Brains Mean Better Milk?

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Building Babies

Part of the book series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects ((DIPR,volume 37))

Abstract

Life history theory proposes that individuals have a finite amount of energy that can be spent on either growth or reproduction, leading to a trade-off between fecundity and survival to maturity (Charnov 1993; Purvis et al. 2003; Stearns 1992). The subsequent pace of a species’ life history reflects the trade-off between the potential gains for continuing to grow larger and the risk of dying before reproducing (Charnov 1993). The variation in the pace of life history strategies across mammals reflects the myriad ways in which energy can be partitioned to maximize fitness over the lifetime. On one end of the continuum of life history variation are primates who have been described as living “life in the slow lane” (Charnov and Berrigan 1993). As a result of their protracted life history strategy, primate mothers invest more heavily in each offspring during gestation and lactation compared to non-primate mammals (Dufour and Sauther 2002; Martin and MacLarnon 1990). However, because this investment is paid out over a longer period of time, the daily energetic burden of primate reproduction on the mother is relatively low (Dufour and Sauther 2002; Martin and MacLarnon 1990).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    n-6 or n-3 refers to the location of the first double-bonded carbon from the omega end of the fatty acid molecule.

  2. 2.

    As indicated in Fig. 10.1, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid: 20:5n-3) is also an n-3 LCPUFA metabolite of ALA. EPA is not highlighted in this chapter (nor in most research/discussions of human brain function) as its concentration in the brain is significantly less than that of AA or DHA.

  3. 3.

    With the following changes: S. sciureus values used for S. boliviensis and G. gorilla values for G. beringei.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Katie Hinde, Kate Clancy, and two anonymous reviewers for thoughtful comments on earlier versions of this chapter and Richard Bazinet for his continued assistance in understanding the world of nutritional biochemistry.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA

    Lauren A. Milligan

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  1. Lauren A. Milligan
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Correspondence to Lauren A. Milligan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, 109 Davenport Hall, M/C 148, Urbana, 61801, Illinois, USA

    Kathryn B.H. Clancy

  2. , Department of HUman Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    Katie Hinde

  3. , Comparative Primate Biology Laboratory, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, 60612, Illinois, USA

    Julienne N. Rutherford

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Milligan, L.A. (2013). Do Bigger Brains Mean Better Milk?. In: Clancy, K., Hinde, K., Rutherford, J. (eds) Building Babies. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects, vol 37. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4060-4_10

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