Doctoral Dissertation Research: The skeletal biology of porous cranial lesions

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

Skeletal remains are important sources of information on temporal trends in human health. Porous cranial lesions (PCLs) are interpreted as indicators of nutrient deficiencies and chronic infections and are among the most common pathological findings in human skeletal remains. This doctoral dissertation project uses methods previously applied primarily in archaeological contexts to investigating the causes of PCLs and the health of individuals who live with them. Specifically, the researchers will use an archaeological reference sample to develop computed tomography (CT) criteria for identifying PCLs in living individuals. They will then link measures of individual health to PCL findings from existing CT scans of a living population. Protocols and tools developed for PCL analysis will be made freely available online. The project will strengthen institutional capacity for future research collaborations and support STEM student training at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Because PCLs are developed during childhood, the methods developed in this proposal will have implications for public health across the lifespan. PCLs in archaeological samples have been interpreted as evidence of both stress and resilience. This project attempts to resolve this ambiguity by leveraging existing data drawn from a living population to test the association of PCLs in the orbits (cribra orbitalia) and the cranial vault (porotic hyperostosis) with known health profiles. First, the researchers will develop a protocol to extend archaeological methods to determining the prevalence of PCLs in a living population. Specifically, investigators will employ both visual assessments of CT scans and machine learning to reliably identify the presence and extent of PCLs on cranial CT scans using a reference sample of archaeological crania (n = 600). Once developed, investigators will apply the protocol to identify PCLs on existing cranial CTs of 1,310 living adults with known health profiles. This will link childhood development of PCLs to measures of later life health, including biological markers, medical diagnoses, and self-reported wellness. Finally, this project tests the common interpretation of PCLs as indicators of childhood anemia. Using biological markers from dried blood spot samples from children in the same population of living individuals (n = 480), investigators will identify the underlying causes of individual anemia cases and test their association with a biological marker of active bone remodeling. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.