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Social and early life determinants of survival from cradle to grave: A case study in wild baboons.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Tung, J; Lange, EC; Alberts, SC; Archie, EA
Published in: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews
September 2023

Field studies of natural mammal populations present powerful opportunities to investigate the determinants of health and aging using fine-grained observations of known individuals across the life course. Here, we synthesize five decades of findings from one such study: the wild baboons of the Amboseli ecosystem in Kenya. First, we discuss the profound associations between early life adversity, adult social conditions, and key aging outcomes in this population, especially survival. Second, we review potential mediators of the relationship between early life adversity and survival in our population. Notably, our tests of two leading candidate mediators-social isolation and glucocorticoid levels-fail to identify a single, strong mediator of early life effects on adult survival. Instead, early adversity, social isolation, and glucocorticoids are independently linked to adult lifespans, suggesting considerable scope for mitigating the negative consequences of early life adversity. Third, we review our work on the evolutionary rationale for early life effects on mortality, which currently argues against clear predictive adaptive responses. Finally, we end by highlighting major themes emerging from the study of sociality, development, and aging in the Amboseli baboons, as well as important open questions for future work.

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Published In

Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews

DOI

EISSN

1873-7528

ISSN

0149-7634

Publication Date

September 2023

Volume

152

Start / End Page

105282

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Behavior
  • Papio
  • Mammals
  • Longevity
  • Humans
  • Ecosystem
  • Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
  • Animals
  • Aging
  • 42 Health sciences
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Tung, J., Lange, E. C., Alberts, S. C., & Archie, E. A. (2023). Social and early life determinants of survival from cradle to grave: A case study in wild baboons. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 152, 105282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105282
Tung, Jenny, Elizabeth C. Lange, Susan C. Alberts, and Elizabeth A. Archie. “Social and early life determinants of survival from cradle to grave: A case study in wild baboons.Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 152 (September 2023): 105282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105282.
Tung J, Lange EC, Alberts SC, Archie EA. Social and early life determinants of survival from cradle to grave: A case study in wild baboons. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews. 2023 Sep;152:105282.
Tung, Jenny, et al. “Social and early life determinants of survival from cradle to grave: A case study in wild baboons.Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, vol. 152, Sept. 2023, p. 105282. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105282.
Tung J, Lange EC, Alberts SC, Archie EA. Social and early life determinants of survival from cradle to grave: A case study in wild baboons. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews. 2023 Sep;152:105282.
Journal cover image

Published In

Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews

DOI

EISSN

1873-7528

ISSN

0149-7634

Publication Date

September 2023

Volume

152

Start / End Page

105282

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Behavior
  • Papio
  • Mammals
  • Longevity
  • Humans
  • Ecosystem
  • Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
  • Animals
  • Aging
  • 42 Health sciences