Stephanie Blumenthal Levy

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at City University of New York - Hunter College

Objectives This study investigates the energetic costs associated with Oldowan‐style flake production and how skill differences influence these costs. Materials and Methods Nine adult participants, including novice and expert toolmakers, underwent a 2‐h experimental session where we measured energy expenditure and flaking outcomes. We measured bod...

The evolution of human life history characteristics required dramatic shifts in energy allocation mechanisms compared with our primate ancestors. Thyroid hormones, such as thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), are sensitive to energy balance, and are significant determinants for both tissue-specific and whole-body metabolic rate. Thus, thyroid...

The fields of biological anthropology and exercise physiology are closely related and can provide mutually beneficial insights into human performance. These fields often use similar methods and are both interested in how humans function, perform, and respond in extreme environments. However, these two fields have different perspectives, ask differe...

Objectives: Recent research suggests that brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a functional role in non-shivering thermogenesis; however, few studies have examined population variation in BAT or its relationship with other mechanisms of adaptation to cold stress. This study characterized BAT thermogenesis and other adaptive responses to low temperatur...

While human adaptability is regarded as a classical topic in anthropology, recent work provides new insight into metabolic adaptations to cold climates and the role of phenotypic plasticity in human evolution. A growing body of literature demonstrates that adults retain brown adipose tissue (BAT) which may play a role in non-shivering thermogenesis...

Background Recent studies in adults indicate that cold-induced temperature change of supraclavicular skin corresponds with brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis. Aim This study examined the feasibility of using thermography to assess temperature changes in infants aged 18–25 months after mild cooling. Further, this study sought to evaluate whet...

Objectives Evolutionary theorists have debated the adaptive significance of developmental plasticity in organisms with long lifespans such as humans. This debate in part stems from uncertainty regarding the timing of sensitive periods. Does sensitivity to environmental signals fluctuate across development or does it steadily decline? We investigate...

Objectives Increasing obesity rates and accelerating climate change represent two global health challenges shaped by lifestyle change and human environmental modifications. Yet, few studies have considered how these issues may interact to exacerbate disease risk. Methods In this theory article, we explore evidence that obesity‐related disease and...

Recent work proposes that a regimen of repeated mild cold exposure may have protective effects against the development of type II diabetes mellitus (T2D) by activating brown adipose tissue (BAT) metabolism. BAT may protect against by increasing whole-body energy expenditure and insulin sensitivity. An evolutionary perspective, however, highlights s...

Non‐shivering thermogenesis (NST) is a metabolic response to acute cold exposure that involves the liberation of chemical energy through physiological mechanisms that are separate from muscle shivering. Recent research suggests that the metabolic and endocrine action of brown adipose tissue (BAT) may play an important role in adult human NST. Thus,...

Objectives This study provides the first investigation of non‐shivering thermogenesis (NST) and brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity among an indigenous circumpolar population, the Yakut of northeastern Siberia. The study also examines the health significance of BAT activity in this population by testing the relationships between BAT thermogenesis a...

Objectives: Among indigenous circumpolar populations, extreme seasonality influences food availability and energy metabolism. Furthermore, subsistence patterns and wage labor opportunities shift with season. Thus, health measures among circumpolar populations likely exhibit seasonal changes that are influenced by lifestyle factors. This study exam...

Objectives: Previous research has shown that indigenous circumpolar populations have elevated basal metabolic rates (BMRs), yet few studies have explored whether metabolic rates increase during the winter. This study addresses this gap by examining seasonal variation in BMR and its associations with thyroid function and lifestyle factors among the...

Previous research has shown that the extreme cold and short day lengths of polar winters promote increased production and uptake of thyroid hormones, resulting in marked declines in free triiodothyronine (fT3). However, this "polar T3 syndrome" has been documented almost exclusively on small samples of male sojourners and little is known about seas...

Regulatory pathways in solitary species provide the raw materials for the evolution of sociality. Therefore, comparing the mechanisms that mediate reproductive plasticity in social species and their solitary ancestors can provide insight into the evolutionary origin of sociality. In many solitary insects, the effect of juvenile hormone (JH) on fert...

Many animals use signals to assess the fighting ability of rivals and reduce the cost of aggressive competition. However, little is known about how an individual's own quality influences their signal assessment decisions. Polistes dominulus wasps have visual signals of fighting ability that provide a good model for testing the dynamics of rival cho...

Undergraduate Research Exper. Hybridization may play an important role in the formation of invasive species (Ellstrand and Schierenbeck 2000). Throughout North American wetlands the native cattail species Typha latifolia is hybridizing with the introduced species Typha angustifolia. It has been suggested that the hybrid cattail species Typha x glau...