Asymmetry and the menstrual cycle in women |
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| Institution: | 1. Population Biology Research Group, Department of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom;2. Population Biology Research Group, Department of Diagnostic Radiography, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom;3. Population Biology Research Group, Department of Radiodiagnosis, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom;4. Population Biology Research Group, Department of Surgery, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom;1. Department of Clinical Studies, College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Resources, King Faisal University, Al-Hufof, PO Box 400, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia;2. Department of Reproduction and Obstetrics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan;1. Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, OH 44325-0301, United States;2. Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand;3. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Summa Health System, Akron, OH 44304, United States;1. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos and Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (FCEFyN), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), Argentina;2. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA), FCEFyN, UNC and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina;3. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas (IIByT), FCEFyN, UNC and CONICET, Argentina;4. Jardín Zoológico Córdoba, Argentina;1. Nephrology Clinic, Grenoble University Hospital, Grenoble F-38043, France;2. TIMC/Therex Laboratory, UMR 5525 (CNRS-UJF) Faculty of Medicine, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble F-38041, France;3. Chronic Granulomatous Disease Diagnosis and Research Centre (CDiReC), Pôle Biologie, CHU de Grenoble, Grenoble F-38043, France;4. Department of Endocrinology, Grenoble University Hospital, Grenoble F-38043, France;1. Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands;2. Laboratory for Diagnostic Genome Analysis (LDGA), Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is small random deviations from perfect bilateral symmetry that are thought to accumulate during development. FA is therefore a measure of one component of fitness, that is, developmental stability. This work is not concerned with permanent between-individual differences in asymmetries but rather with temporary within-individual changes in asymmetry that are related to the menstrual cycle (cyclical asymmetry, CA). We present evidence from studies of non-sexually selected traits (ear and digit size) and a sexually selected trait (breast size) that, in characters made up wholly or in part of soft tissue, CA varies across the menstrual cycle in women. It is highest at the beginning and end of the cycle, when women are generally infertile, and low in mid-cycle, when fertility is highest. Furthermore in mid-cycle there is an indication of a transitory (24-hour) increase in CA followed by a substantial decrease, which may indicate ovulation. Temporal changes in CA could therefore be used by males to indicate a female's position in the cycle. We discuss these findings in relation to (1) our understanding of the evolution of human mating systems, (2) the practical implications of these data in the treatment of infertility and to facilitate contraception, and (3) their relevance to exercise and dieting as a means to minimize across-cycle increases in asymmetry. |
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