Journal of Physiological Anthropology

Impact of energy availability and physical activity on variation in fertility across human populations

Vol. 41 Article number: 1 (2023)
Srishti Sadhir & Herman Pontzer 

In this review, the authors discuss how the energetic cost of physical activity affects human reproduction. They explain that high levels of physical activity can lead to trade-offs between activity and reproduction, resulting in variation in fertility, age at first reproduction, and interbirth intervals. Even in industrialized populations, where cultural and economic factors are dominant, energetic factors play a significant role in shaping reproductive outcomes. The authors suggest that future research should focus on measuring energy intake, expenditure, and physical activity in a broad sample of populations to further understand the role of energetics in reproductive health.

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Circadian phase advances in children during camping life according to the natural light-dark cycle

Vol. 41, Article number: 42 (2022)
Taisuke Eto, Shingo Kitamura, Kana Nishimura, Kota Takeoka, Yuki Nishimura, Sang-il Lee, Michihiro Ohashi, Akiko Shikano, Shingo Noi & Shigekazu Higuchi

It is known that the circadian rhythm phase in adults can be advanced in a natural light-dark cycle without electrical lighting. However, the effect of advanced sleep-wake timing according to the natural light-dark cycle on children’s circadian phase is unclear. Authors investigated the effects of approximately 2 weeks of camping life with little access to artificial lighting on children’s circadian phasesm and  conducted an exploratory examination on the effects of wake time according to natural sunrise time on the manner of the advance of their circadian phases.

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Journal of Physiological Anthropology Best Reviewer Award 2021 is awarded to:

・ Hiromitsu Kobayashi (Ishikawa Prefectural Nursing University, Japan)
・ Kazuhiko Arima (Nagasaki University, Japan)

For more information, please visit the award page.

In 2023, Article Processing Charge (APC) to publish Journal of Physiological Anthropology is £1040.00/$1490.00/€1240.00. 

Journal of Physiological Anthropology is the official journal of the Japanese Society of Physiological Anthropology.
The Society offers partial sponsorship of Journal’s APC for its members publishing papers in this journal as the first author. 

Member authors are able to request this support during the post-acceptance process. There is no need to submit institution code at the time of manuscript submission.  During submission please 'agree to pay APC list price' to proceed, and request for discount afterwards.

See below for further information
-changes in manuscript submission (in Japanese) 
-post acceptance process (to request discount)

Please contact the Administration Office or visit the Society website for further information. 

*those authors who were offered full APC coverage by the editor (for invited/solicited papers) should follow instruction from the editor on how to request the coverage.

Special Issue: Sleep and Circadian rhythm: Adaptation to environment

Collection Editors
Shigekazu Higuchi Kyushu University, Japan
Monique K Lebourgeois  University of Colorado Boulder, USA

Physiological anthropology is the study of human adaptability to the environment and its diversity. This collection focuses on sleep and biological rhythms across the lifespan. Although sleep is one of the basic physiological needs of humans, many people in modern society have various problems with sleep. Sleep deprivation not only causes daytime sleepiness and reduced work efficiency but also leads to various long-term health problems. These sleep problems are also caused by circadian rhythm disturbances. Humans have circadian rhythms adapted to the natural light-dark cycle, but artificial lighting at night is known to adversely affect sleep and circadian rhythms. In addition, although humans are a diurnal species, night shifts and shift work, which are essential in modern society, have a significant impact on circadian rhythms and sleep. There are also effects from the use of the Internet and media devices. Behavioral restrictions due to unexpected spread of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, can also affect sleep. Thermal and noise environments also affect sleep. Furthermore, there are individual differences not only in the effects of the environments but also in sleep and circadian rhythms themselves such as evening and morning preferences. Mechanisms underlying individual differences in sleep and circadian rhythms include various factors such as growth, aging, photoperiod, and genetics. Cultural differences also exist. These characteristics have been clarified through both laboratory experiments and field studies.

This collection includes the following topics:

• Light environment and sleep/circadian rhythms
• Thermal environment and sleep/circadian rhythms
• Night and shift work and sleep/circadian rhythms
• COVID-19 and sleep/circadian rhythms
• Individual differences in sleep/circadian rhythms
• Genetic factors and sleep/circadian rhythms
• Sleep/circadian rhythms and health
• Submission is open from 1 February through 30th June 2023. 

All submissions will be thoroughly peer-reviewed. Please refer to the Submission Guidelines section for detailed information on preparation of manuscripts, or contact editorial office for questions. 
State on the cover letter that the paper is for the Special issue, "Sleep and Circadian rhythm: Adaptation to environment" and select relevant issue topic when making submission.

Article Processing Charge (APC): Special discounted APC price (approximaterly half the list price) will be applied to the papers accepted for this collection. 

In order to securely identify the submisison for this issue, authors are requested to contact in advance to: sleep-and-rhythm@jpa-eb.net

Journal of Physiological Anthropology (JPA) is the official journal of the Japan Society of Physiological Anthropology. JPA is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that publishes research on the physiological functions of modern mankind, with an emphasis on the physical and bio-cultural effects on human adaptability to the current environment.
Click here to read full Aims and Scope of JPA

Journal of Physiological Anthropology publishes special issues and collection of papers on the select topics of recent interest within the scope of the journal. See the list of article collections and special issues here. 

Legacy content

Articles published in Journal of Physiological Anthropology since 1996 (volume 15) are open access and fully accessible from the following link.