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Facial Width-To-Height Ratio (fWHR) Is Not Associated with Adolescent Testosterone Levels

Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) has been proposed as a sexually dimorphic signal in humans that develops under the influence of pubertal testosterone (T); however, no studies have examined the association between fWHR and T during the phase in which facial growth is canalized—adolescence. In a s...

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Autores principales: Hodges-Simeon, Carolyn R., Hanson Sobraske, Katherine N., Samore, Theodore, Gurven, Michael, Gaulin, Steven J. C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4831733/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27078636
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153083
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author Hodges-Simeon, Carolyn R.
Hanson Sobraske, Katherine N.
Samore, Theodore
Gurven, Michael
Gaulin, Steven J. C.
author_facet Hodges-Simeon, Carolyn R.
Hanson Sobraske, Katherine N.
Samore, Theodore
Gurven, Michael
Gaulin, Steven J. C.
author_sort Hodges-Simeon, Carolyn R.
collection PubMed
description Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) has been proposed as a sexually dimorphic signal in humans that develops under the influence of pubertal testosterone (T); however, no studies have examined the association between fWHR and T during the phase in which facial growth is canalized—adolescence. In a sample of adolescent Tsimane males, we evaluate the relationship between T, known T-derived traits (i.e. strength and voice pitch), and craniofacial measurements. If fWHR variation derives from T’s effect on craniofacial growth during adolescence, several predictions should be supported: 1) fWHR should increase with age as T increases, 2) fWHR should reflect adolescent T (rather than adult T per se), 3) fWHR should exhibit velocity changes during adolescence in parallel with the pubertal spurt in T, 4) fWHR should correlate with T after controlling for age and other potential confounds, and 5) fWHR should show strong associations with other T-derived traits. Only prediction 4 was observed. Additionally, we examined three alternative facial masculinity ratios: facial width/lower face height, cheekbone prominence, and facial width/full face height. In contrast to fWHR, all three alternative measures show a strong age-related trend and are associated with both T and T-dependent traits. Overall, our results question the status of fWHR as a sexually-selected signal of pubertal T and T-linked traits.
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spelling pubmed-48317332016-04-22 Facial Width-To-Height Ratio (fWHR) Is Not Associated with Adolescent Testosterone Levels Hodges-Simeon, Carolyn R. Hanson Sobraske, Katherine N. Samore, Theodore Gurven, Michael Gaulin, Steven J. C. PLoS One Research Article Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) has been proposed as a sexually dimorphic signal in humans that develops under the influence of pubertal testosterone (T); however, no studies have examined the association between fWHR and T during the phase in which facial growth is canalized—adolescence. In a sample of adolescent Tsimane males, we evaluate the relationship between T, known T-derived traits (i.e. strength and voice pitch), and craniofacial measurements. If fWHR variation derives from T’s effect on craniofacial growth during adolescence, several predictions should be supported: 1) fWHR should increase with age as T increases, 2) fWHR should reflect adolescent T (rather than adult T per se), 3) fWHR should exhibit velocity changes during adolescence in parallel with the pubertal spurt in T, 4) fWHR should correlate with T after controlling for age and other potential confounds, and 5) fWHR should show strong associations with other T-derived traits. Only prediction 4 was observed. Additionally, we examined three alternative facial masculinity ratios: facial width/lower face height, cheekbone prominence, and facial width/full face height. In contrast to fWHR, all three alternative measures show a strong age-related trend and are associated with both T and T-dependent traits. Overall, our results question the status of fWHR as a sexually-selected signal of pubertal T and T-linked traits. Public Library of Science 2016-04-14 /pmc/articles/PMC4831733/ /pubmed/27078636 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153083 Text en © 2016 Hodges-Simeon et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Hodges-Simeon, Carolyn R.
Hanson Sobraske, Katherine N.
Samore, Theodore
Gurven, Michael
Gaulin, Steven J. C.
Facial Width-To-Height Ratio (fWHR) Is Not Associated with Adolescent Testosterone Levels
title Facial Width-To-Height Ratio (fWHR) Is Not Associated with Adolescent Testosterone Levels
title_full Facial Width-To-Height Ratio (fWHR) Is Not Associated with Adolescent Testosterone Levels
title_fullStr Facial Width-To-Height Ratio (fWHR) Is Not Associated with Adolescent Testosterone Levels
title_full_unstemmed Facial Width-To-Height Ratio (fWHR) Is Not Associated with Adolescent Testosterone Levels
title_short Facial Width-To-Height Ratio (fWHR) Is Not Associated with Adolescent Testosterone Levels
title_sort facial width-to-height ratio (fwhr) is not associated with adolescent testosterone levels
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4831733/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27078636
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153083
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