title: Brains versus brawn: an empirical test of Barker's brain sparing model.
abstract: The Barker model of the in utero origins of diminished muscle mass in those born small invokes the adaptive "sparing" of brain tissue development at the expense of muscle. Though compelling, to date this model has not been directly tested. This article develops an allometric framework for testing the principal prediction of the Barker model-that among those born small muscle mass is sacrificed to spare brain growth-then evaluates this hypothesis using data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). The results indicate clear support for a negative relationship between the allometric development of the two tissues; however, a further consideration of conserved mammalian fetal circulatory patterns suggests the possibility that system-constrained patterns of developmental damage and "bet-hedging" responses in affected tissues may provide a more adequate explanation of the results. Far from signaling the end of studies of adaptive developmental programming, this perspective may open a promising new avenue of inquiry within the fields of human biology and the developmental origins of health and disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Bureau of Business and Economic Research, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA. kali@unm.edu
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Workman
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bedrick
authors.forename: M Anderson
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Frey
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hurtado
authors.forename: Osbjorn
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pearson
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development*; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight / Q000254:growth & development*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development*; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009929:Organ Size; D021041:Placental Circulation; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D039401:Prenatal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D044465:White People