Rühli
Fakultäten » Medizinische Fakultät » Anatomisches Institut » Prof. Dr. Peter Groscurth (emeritiert) » Rühli
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | Osteometric Variation and Microevolutionary Trends of Spinal Dimensions | ||||||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||||||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | For most parts of the human body, the morphometry and its variation with regard to secular trends, sex dimorphism and individual aging are well known. Surprisingly, research focusing on the vertebral column has so far primarily used either a macroevolutionary, or clinically orientated focus. The aim of this study is to address the osteometry and variation of the human spine not only in relation to sex and individual age, but also from an additional perspective of possible microevolutionary alterations. The selected historic and recent osseous samples show so far a microevolutionary increase for most of the spinal dimensions, with both mean values and standard deviations rising. One may explain this finding of higher intra-group variability in modern times as a result of relaxed natural selection. The detected relative smaller size and decrease with age, of the bony outline of the neural pathways in males, postulates their higher vulnerability to modern low back pathologies. More osteometric studies on the spine are needed to gain better insight into the physiological variability of this crucial, and from a microevolutionary perspective widely neglected, part of the human body. | ||||||
| Publications / Publikationen | Rühli F.J. Osteometric Variation of the Human Spine in Central Europe by Historic Time Period and Its Microevolutionary Implications. PhD Thesis, The University of Adelaide, Australia, 2003, ISBN 0-49364745-7Rühli F. J., Müntener M., Henneberg M. The human osseous intervertebral foramen width Am J Phys Anthropol, in pressRühli F.J., Henneberg M. Clinical perspectives on secular trends of intervertebral foramen diameters in an industrialized European society Eur Spine J, 13: 733-739, 2004 |
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| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | Anatomy, bone, evolution, spine | ||||||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
Others |
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| In collaboration with / In Zusammenarbeit mit |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Jan 2000 to Dec 2006 |