Altered cortical beta‐band oscillations reflect motor system degeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

PubMed Central

Proudfoot, Malcolm; Rohenkohl, Gustavo; Quinn, Andrew; Colclough, Giles L.; Wuu, Joanne; Talbot, Kevin; Woolrich, Mark W.; Benatar, Michael

2016-01-01

Abstract Continuous rhythmic neuronal oscillations underpin local and regional cortical communication. The impact of the motor system neurodegenerative syndrome amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) on the neuronal oscillations subserving movement might therefore serve as a sensitive marker of disease activity. Movement preparation and execution are consistently associated with modulations to neuronal oscillation beta (15–30 Hz) power. Cortical beta‐band oscillations were measured using magnetoencephalography (MEG) during preparation for, execution, and completion of a visually cued, lateralized motor task that included movement inhibition trials. Eleven “classical” ALS patients, 9 with the primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) phenotype, and 12 asymptomatic carriers of ALS‐associated gene mutations were compared with age‐similar healthy control groups. Augmented beta desynchronization was observed in both contra‐ and ipsilateral motor cortices of ALS patients during motor preparation. Movement execution coincided with excess beta desynchronization in asymptomatic mutation carriers. Movement completion was followed by a slowed rebound of beta power in all symptomatic patients, further reflected in delayed hemispheric lateralization for beta rebound in the PLS group. This may correspond to the particular involvement of interhemispheric fibers of the corpus callosum previously demonstrated in diffusion tensor imaging studies. We conclude that the ALS spectrum is characterized by intensified cortical beta desynchronization followed by delayed rebound, concordant with a broader concept of cortical hyperexcitability, possibly through loss of inhibitory interneuronal influences. MEG may potentially detect cortical dysfunction prior to the development of overt symptoms, and thus be able to contribute to the assessment of future neuroprotective strategies. Hum Brain Mapp 38:237–254, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:27623516

Insight Into Illness and Cognition in Schizophrenia in Earlier and Later Life.

PubMed

Gerretsen, Philip; Voineskos, Aristotle N; Graff-Guerrero, Ariel; Menon, Mahesh; Pollock, Bruce G; Mamo, David C; Mulsant, Benoit H; Rajji, Tarek K

2017-04-01

Impaired insight into illness in schizophrenia is associated with illness severity and deficits in premorbid intellectual function, executive function, and memory. A previous study of patients aged 60 years and older found that illness severity and premorbid intellectual function accounted for variance in insight impairment. As such, we aimed to test whether similar relationships would be observed in earlier life. A retrospective analysis was performed on 1 large sample of participants (n = 171) with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of schizophrenia aged 19 to 79 years acquired from 2 studies: (1) a psychosocial intervention trial for older persons with schizophrenia (June 2008 to May 2014) and (2) a diffusion tensor imaging and genetics study of psychosis across the life span (February 2007 to December 2013). We assessed insight into illness using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) item G12 and explored its relationship to illness severity (PANSS total modified), premorbid intellectual function (Wechsler Test of Adult Reading [WTAR]), and cognition. Insight impairment was more severe in later life (≥ 60 years) than in earlier years (t = -3.75, P < .001). Across the whole sample, the variance of impaired insight was explained by PANSS total modified (Exp[B] = 1.070, P < .001) and WTAR scores (Exp[B] = 0.970, P = .028). Although age and cognition were correlated with impaired insight, they did not independently contribute to its variance. However, the relationships between impaired insight and illness severity and between impaired insight and cognition, particularly working memory, were stronger in later life than in earlier life. These results suggest an opportunity for intervention may exist with cognitive-enhancing neurostimulation or medications to improve insight into illness in schizophrenia across the life span. Original study registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT00832845). © Copyright 2017 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Early life urban exposure as a risk factor for developing obesity and impaired fasting glucose in later adulthood: results from two cohorts in Thailand.

PubMed

Angkurawaranon, Chaisiri; Wisetborisut, Anawat; Rerkasem, Kittipan; Seubsman, Sam-Ang; Sleigh, Adrian; Doyle, Pat; Nitsch, Dorothea

2015-09-16

Obesity and obesity related conditions, driven by processes such as urbanization and globalization, are contributing to pronounced cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in developing countries. There is limited evidence on the influence of living in an urban environment in early life on obesity and obesity related conditions later in life in developing countries such as Thailand. We used data from two cohort studies conducted in Thailand, the Thai Cohort Study (TCS) and the Chiang Mai University (CMU) Health Worker Study, to investigate the association between early life urban (vs rural) exposure and the later development of obesity. We additionally explored the association between early life urban exposure and impaired fasting glucose in adulthood using data from the CMU Health Worker Study. Among 48,490 adults from the TCS, 9.1 % developed obesity within 4 years of follow-up. Among 1,804 initially non-obese adults from CMU Health worker study, 13.6 % developed obesity within 5 years of follow-up. Early life urban exposure was associated with increased risk of developing obesity in adulthood in both cohorts. Adjusting for age and sex, those who spent their early lives in urban areas were 1.21 times more likely to develop obesity in the TCS (OR 1.21, 95 % CI 1.12 to 1.31) and 1.65 times more likely in the CMU Health Worker study (OR 1.65, 95 % CI 1.23 to 2.20). These associations remained significant despite adjustment for later life urban exposure and current household income. No evidence for an association was found for impaired fasting glucose. Early life urban exposure was associated with increased risk of developing obesity in adulthood. These findings support public health intervention programs to prevent obesity starting from early ages.

Early life influences on cognitive impairment among oldest old Chinese.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhenmei; Gu, Danan; Hayward, Mark D

2008-01-01

This article examines the effects of early life socioeconomic conditions on the risk of cognitive impairment among oldest old persons in China. We also examine whether adult socioeconomic status mediates the association between early life socioeconomic status and cognitive impairment in old age. Data derived from two waves (1998-2000) of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. We estimated logistic and multinomial regression models of cognitive impairment for a nationwide sample of people aged 80 to 105 (N = 8,444). Among both men and women, urban residence in early life as well as education was associated with lower odds of cognitive impairment at baseline. We found modest support for a protective effect of advantaged childhood background on the odds of cognitive impairment onset during the 2-year follow-up, especially among women. Our findings suggest that socioeconomic environment throughout the life course, early life in particular, can influence the risk of cognitive impairment in old age. Not only can public policy that targets illiteracy, hunger, and poverty improve the lives of tens of thousands of children, but ultimately such investments will pay significant dividends many decades later in enhancing the cognitive well-being of older persons.

Left hemispheric dominance of vestibular processing indicates lateralization of cortical functions in rats.

PubMed

Best, Christoph; Lange, Elena; Buchholz, Hans-Georg; Schreckenberger, Mathias; Reuss, Stefan; Dieterich, Marianne

2014-11-01

Lateralization of cortical functions such as speech dominance, handedness and processing of vestibular information are present not only in humans but also in ontogenetic older species, e.g. rats. In human functional imaging studies, the processing of vestibular information was found to be correlated with the hemispherical dominance as determined by the handedness. It is located mainly within the right hemisphere in right handers and within the left hemisphere in left handers. Since dominance of vestibular processing is unknown in animals, our aim was to study the lateralization of cortical processing in a functional imaging study applying small-animal positron emission tomography (microPET) and galvanic vestibular stimulation in an in vivo rat model. The cortical and subcortical network processing vestibular information could be demonstrated and correlated with data from other animal studies. By calculating a lateralization index as well as flipped region of interest analyses, we found that the vestibular processing in rats follows a strong left hemispheric dominance independent from the "handedness" of the animals. These findings support the idea of an early hemispheric specialization of vestibular cortical functions in ontogenetic older species.

Reduced Cortical Thickness in Mental Retardation

PubMed Central

Wang, Chao; Wang, Jiaojian; Zhang, Yun; Yu, Chunshui; Jiang, Tianzi

2011-01-01

Mental retardation is a developmental disorder associated with impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in adaptive behaviors. Many studies have addressed white matter abnormalities in patients with mental retardation, while the changes of the cerebral cortex have been studied to a lesser extent. Quantitative analysis of cortical integrity using cortical thickness measurement may provide new insights into the gray matter pathology. In this study, cortical thickness was compared between 13 patients with mental retardation and 26 demographically matched healthy controls. We found that patients with mental retardation had significantly reduced cortical thickness in multiple brain regions compared with healthy controls. These regions include the bilateral lingual gyrus, the bilateral fusiform gyrus, the bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, the bilateral temporal pole, the left inferior temporal gyrus, the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the right precentral gyrus. The observed cortical thickness reductions might be the anatomical substrates for the impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in adaptive behaviors in patients with mental retardation. Cortical thickness measurement might provide a sensitive prospective surrogate marker for clinical trials of neuroprotective medications. PMID:22216343

Disentangling How the Brain is "Wired" in Cortical (Cerebral) Visual Impairment.

PubMed

Merabet, Lotfi B; Mayer, D Luisa; Bauer, Corinna M; Wright, Darick; Kran, Barry S

2017-05-01

Cortical (cerebral) visual impairment (CVI) results from perinatal injury to visual processing structures and pathways of the brain and is the most common cause of severe visual impairment or blindness in children in developed countries. Children with CVI display a wide range of visual deficits including decreased visual acuity, impaired visual field function, as well as impairments in higher-order visual processing and attention. Together, these visual impairments can dramatically influence a child's development and well-being. Given the complex neurologic underpinnings of this condition, CVI is often undiagnosed by eye care practitioners. Furthermore, the neurophysiological basis of CVI in relation to observed visual processing deficits remains poorly understood. Here, we present some of the challenges associated with the clinical assessment and management of individuals with CVI. We discuss how advances in brain imaging are likely to help uncover the underlying neurophysiology of this condition. In particular, we demonstrate how structural and functional neuroimaging approaches can help gain insight into abnormalities of white matter connectivity and cortical activation patterns, respectively. Establishing a connection between how changes within the brain relate to visual impairments in CVI will be important for developing effective rehabilitative and education strategies for individuals living with this condition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comorbid depression and anxiety in later life: patterns of association, subjective well-being, and impairment.

PubMed

Cairney, John; Corna, Laurie M; Veldhuizen, Scott; Herrmann, Nathan; Streiner, David L

2008-03-01

Very little epidemiological work has examined comorbidity between depression and anxiety disorders in community-dwelling older adults, despite the fact these disorders are known to co-occur in younger adults and that this co-occurrence is associated with greater clinical severity. In this study, the authors examine psychiatric comorbidity and associated impairment of four disorders (major depression, panic disorder, social phobia, and agoraphobia) in a community-based sample of adults aged 55 and older. Population-based sample of older adults (N=12,792) from the Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health and Well-Being (CCHS 1.2). The World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to identify cases of 12-month disorder. Descriptive analysis and regression analysis is used to examine patterns of association between disorders and related impairment. Among adults aged 55 years and older, 4.4% met the criteria for at least one disorder and 0.8% had two or more. Social phobia was the most common comorbid disorder among respondents with depression, and depression was the most common comorbid disorder among respondents with any of the anxiety disorders. Respondents who report comorbid disorders reported significantly lower well-being and greater impairment. Although comorbidity between physical health conditions and depression, and between dementias and depression, are well documented among older adults, these results suggest that comorbid depression and anxiety are also prevalent in later life. The significant impact of comorbidity on function and well-being underlines the need to screen for comorbid disorders in this population.

Early life adversity potentiates the effects of later life stress on cumulative physiological dysregulation.

PubMed

Dich, Nadya; Hansen, Åse Marie; Avlund, Kirsten; Lund, Rikke; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Bruunsgaard, Helle; Rod, Naja Hulvej

2015-01-01

Previous research indicates that early life adversity may heighten stress reactivity and impair mechanisms for adaptive coping, suggesting that experience of stress in early life may also potentiate adults' physiological vulnerability to stress in later life. The study tested this hypothesis by investigating whether the experience of stressful events and circumstances (SEC) in childhood or adolescence amplified the effect of adulthood SEC on physiological dysregulation (allostatic load, AL) in later midlife. Observational data were used in the present study. Physiological functioning was measured in later midlife (participants' age ranged from 49 to 63 years). Both childhood/adolescence and adulthood SEC were reported retrospectively on the same occasion. Participants were 5309 Danish men and women from Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank (CAMB). SEC included socioeconomic and family factors. The AL index was based on nine cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune biomarkers. Experience of SEC in both early life and adulthood independently predicted higher AL. In men, experience of SEC in early life also potentiated the effect of SEC in adulthood on AL. The results provide further insight into the mechanisms behind the "biological embedding" of childhood stress.

Predicting Later-Life Outcomes of Early-Life Exposures

EPA Science Inventory

Background: In utero exposure of the fetus to a stressor can lead to disease in later life. Epigenetic mechanisms are likely mediators of later-life expression of early-life events.Objectives: We examined the current state of understanding of later-life diseases resulting from ea...

Community environment, cognitive impairment and dementia in later life: results from the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study

PubMed Central

Wu, Yu-Tzu; Prina, A. Matthew; Jones, Andrew P.; Barnes, Linda E.; Matthews, Fiona E.; Brayne, Carol

2015-01-01

Background: few studies have investigated the impact of the community environment, as distinct from area deprivation, on cognition in later life. This study explores cross-sectional associations between cognitive impairment and dementia and environmental features at the community level in older people. Method: the postcodes of the 2,424 participants in the year-10 interview of the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study in England were mapped into small area level geographical units (Lower-layer Super Output Areas) and linked to environmental data in government statistics. Multilevel logistic regression was conducted to investigate associations between cognitive impairment (defined as MMSE ≤ 25), dementia (organicity level ≥3 in GMS-AGECAT) and community level measurements including area deprivation, natural environment, land use mix and crime. Sensitivity analyses tested the impact of people moving residence within the last two years. Results: higher levels of area deprivation and crime were not significantly associated with cognitive impairment and dementia after accounting for individual level factors. Living in areas with high land use mix was significantly associated with a nearly 60% reduced odds of dementia (OR: 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2, 0.8) after adjusting for individual level factors and area deprivation, but there was no linear trend for cognitive impairment. Increased odds of dementia (OR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.2, 4.2) and cognitive impairment (OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.0, 2.0) were found in the highest quartile of natural environment availability. Findings were robust to exclusion of the recently relocated. Conclusion: features of land use have complex associations with cognitive impairment and dementia. Further investigations should focus on environmental influences on cognition to inform health and social policies. PMID:26464419

Community environment, cognitive impairment and dementia in later life: results from the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study.

PubMed

Wu, Yu-Tzu; Prina, A Matthew; Jones, Andrew P; Barnes, Linda E; Matthews, Fiona E; Brayne, Carol

2015-11-01

Few studies have investigated the impact of the community environment, as distinct from area deprivation, on cognition in later life. This study explores cross-sectional associations between cognitive impairment and dementia and environmental features at the community level in older people. The postcodes of the 2,424 participants in the year-10 interview of the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study in England were mapped into small area level geographical units (Lower-layer Super Output Areas) and linked to environmental data in government statistics. Multilevel logistic regression was conducted to investigate associations between cognitive impairment (defined as MMSE ≤ 25), dementia (organicity level ≥3 in GMS-AGECAT) and community level measurements including area deprivation, natural environment, land use mix and crime. Sensitivity analyses tested the impact of people moving residence within the last two years. Higher levels of area deprivation and crime were not significantly associated with cognitive impairment and dementia after accounting for individual level factors. Living in areas with high land use mix was significantly associated with a nearly 60% reduced odds of dementia (OR: 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2, 0.8) after adjusting for individual level factors and area deprivation, but there was no linear trend for cognitive impairment. Increased odds of dementia (OR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.2, 4.2) and cognitive impairment (OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.0, 2.0) were found in the highest quartile of natural environment availability. Findings were robust to exclusion of the recently relocated. Features of land use have complex associations with cognitive impairment and dementia. Further investigations should focus on environmental influences on cognition to inform health and social policies. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society.

Life-time drinking course of driving-while-impaired offenders.

PubMed

Lapham, Sandra C; Skipper, Betty J; Russell, Marcia

2012-11-01

This retrospective study compared drinking histories of 283 men and 413 women convicted of driving while impaired (DWI) in New Mexico and interviewed 15 years following a first conviction and screening referral. We characterized drinking course and plotted drinking status (stable abstainers, abstainers, moderate or risky drinkers) from age 15 to 60 years. Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Community sample of previously convicted DWI offenders. Psychiatric disorders from the Comprehensive International Diagnostic Interview; drinking histories from the Cognitive Lifetime Drinking History. Risky drinking was prevalent at all ages for both genders. Almost half the population reported either a life-time drinking course of risky drinking (19%) or resumed risky drinking after at least one interval of abstinence or moderate drinking (25%), while about one-fifth followed a never risky or risky to moderate drinking course. Offenders with a life-time diagnosis of substance dependence more often transitioned to risky drinking, and those with life-time alcohol dependence were more prone to transition to abstinence. Across time, those who began risky drinking at age 15 years or later quit at double the rate of those who began before age 15 years. Women's and men's drinking courses were similar, but women began risky drinking at a later age and moved to abstinence more often. Among people convicted of driving while impaired in the United States, younger age of initiation of drinking and co-occurrence of psychiatric and substance use appear to be associated with a poorer trajectory of subsequent risky drinking behaviour. Women who are convicted of driving while impaired appear to start drinking later in life and be more likely to subsequently become abstainers. © 2012 The Authors, Addiction © 2012 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Left-Lateralized Contributions of Saccades to Cortical Activity During a One-Back Word Recognition Task.

PubMed

Chang, Yu-Cherng C; Khan, Sheraz; Taulu, Samu; Kuperberg, Gina; Brown, Emery N; Hämäläinen, Matti S; Temereanca, Simona

2018-01-01

Saccadic eye movements are an inherent component of natural reading, yet their contribution to information processing at subsequent fixation remains elusive. Here we use anatomically-constrained magnetoencephalography (MEG) to examine cortical activity following saccades as healthy human subjects engaged in a one-back word recognition task. This activity was compared with activity following external visual stimulation that mimicked saccades. A combination of procedures was employed to eliminate saccadic ocular artifacts from the MEG signal. Both saccades and saccade-like external visual stimulation produced early-latency responses beginning ~70 ms after onset in occipital cortex and spreading through the ventral and dorsal visual streams to temporal, parietal and frontal cortices. Robust differential activity following the onset of saccades vs. similar external visual stimulation emerged during 150-350 ms in a left-lateralized cortical network. This network included: (i) left lateral occipitotemporal (LOT) and nearby inferotemporal (IT) cortex; (ii) left posterior Sylvian fissure (PSF) and nearby multimodal cortex; and (iii) medial parietooccipital (PO), posterior cingulate and retrosplenial cortices. Moreover, this left-lateralized network colocalized with word repetition priming effects. Together, results suggest that central saccadic mechanisms influence a left-lateralized language network in occipitotemporal and temporal cortex above and beyond saccadic influences at preceding stages of information processing during visual word recognition.

Left-Lateralized Contributions of Saccades to Cortical Activity During a One-Back Word Recognition Task

PubMed Central

Chang, Yu-Cherng C.; Khan, Sheraz; Taulu, Samu; Kuperberg, Gina; Brown, Emery N.; Hämäläinen, Matti S.; Temereanca, Simona

2018-01-01

Saccadic eye movements are an inherent component of natural reading, yet their contribution to information processing at subsequent fixation remains elusive. Here we use anatomically-constrained magnetoencephalography (MEG) to examine cortical activity following saccades as healthy human subjects engaged in a one-back word recognition task. This activity was compared with activity following external visual stimulation that mimicked saccades. A combination of procedures was employed to eliminate saccadic ocular artifacts from the MEG signal. Both saccades and saccade-like external visual stimulation produced early-latency responses beginning ~70 ms after onset in occipital cortex and spreading through the ventral and dorsal visual streams to temporal, parietal and frontal cortices. Robust differential activity following the onset of saccades vs. similar external visual stimulation emerged during 150–350 ms in a left-lateralized cortical network. This network included: (i) left lateral occipitotemporal (LOT) and nearby inferotemporal (IT) cortex; (ii) left posterior Sylvian fissure (PSF) and nearby multimodal cortex; and (iii) medial parietooccipital (PO), posterior cingulate and retrosplenial cortices. Moreover, this left-lateralized network colocalized with word repetition priming effects. Together, results suggest that central saccadic mechanisms influence a left-lateralized language network in occipitotemporal and temporal cortex above and beyond saccadic influences at preceding stages of information processing during visual word recognition. PMID:29867372

Intensity of recreational physical activity throughout life and later life cognitive functioning in women.

PubMed

Tierney, Mary C; Moineddin, Rahim; Morra, Angela; Manson, Judith; Blake, Jennifer

2010-01-01

Long-term physical activity may affect risk of cognitive impairment but few studies have examined later life cognition in relation to intensity of life-long physical activity. We examined the associations between the intensity of long-term recreational physical activity and neuropsychological functioning in 90 healthy postmenopausal women on tests found to be useful in the early identification of dementia. Information was collected about their participation in strenuous and moderate activities between high school and menopause. Summary measures of long-term strenuous and moderate activity were constructed for each participant. All analyses were adjusted for relevant covariates. The six linear regression analyses showed significant positive associations between moderate activity and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Revised (WAIS-R), Digit Span backward, WAIS-R Digit Symbol, and Trail Making Test Part B. Significant negative relationships were found between strenuous activity and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test delayed verbal recall, Complex Figure Test delayed visual memory, WAIS-R Digit Span backward, category fluency, and WAIS-R Digit Symbol. The associations found in the present study suggest that while moderate activity may be protective, long-term strenuous activity before menopause may lower cognitive performance later in life. These results support further investigation of the effects of life-long exercise intensity on cognition in later life.

Longitudinal course of cortical thickness decline in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Schuster, Christina; Kasper, Elisabeth; Machts, Judith; Bittner, Daniel; Kaufmann, Jörn; Benecke, Reiner; Teipel, Stefan; Vielhaber, Stefan; Prudlo, Johannes

2014-10-01

To determine longitudinal rates of cortical atrophy in classical Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and ALS variants. Rates of cortical thinning were determined between 2 scans, 3-15 months apart, in 77 ALS patients: 51 classical, 12 upper motor neuron (UMN), and 14 lower motor neuron (LMN) ALS variants. Cortical thickness at the first assessment was compared with 60 healthy controls matched by age and gender. Atrophy rates were compared between patient sub-groups and correlated with disease duration, progression, and severity. Using a cross-sectional analysis, we found a significant difference in cortical thickness between ALS patients and controls in the motor and extra-motor areas (left medial orbito frontal gyrus, left inferior parietal gyrus, bilateral insular cortex, right fusiform gyrus, bilateral precuneus). Using a longitudinal analysis, we found a significant decline of cortical thickness in frontal, temporal, and parietal regions over the course of the study in ALS patients. Effects were independent of the clinical subtype, with exception of the precentral gyrus (p < 0.001). The LMN ALS variants demonstrated the highest rates of cortical thinning in the precentral gyrus, the UMN-dominant subjects exhibited intermediate rates of atrophy, and the classical ALS patients exhibited no such change. Atrophy of the precentral gyrus in classical ALS indicates a floor effect at the first assessment, resulting in a lack of further atrophy over time. Structural loss of the precentral gyrus appears to be an early sign of classical ALS. Over time, patterns of cortical thinning in extra-motor areas can be identified in ALS, regardless of the phenotype.

Cortical thickness abnormalities associated with dyslexia, independent of remediation status.

PubMed

Ma, Yizhou; Koyama, Maki S; Milham, Michael P; Castellanos, F Xavier; Quinn, Brian T; Pardoe, Heath; Wang, Xiuyuan; Kuzniecky, Ruben; Devinsky, Orrin; Thesen, Thomas; Blackmon, Karen

2015-01-01

Abnormalities in cortical structure are commonly observed in children with dyslexia in key regions of the "reading network." Whether alteration in cortical features reflects pathology inherent to dyslexia or environmental influence (e.g., impoverished reading experience) remains unclear. To address this question, we compared MRI-derived metrics of cortical thickness (CT), surface area (SA), gray matter volume (GMV), and their lateralization across three different groups of children with a historical diagnosis of dyslexia, who varied in current reading level. We compared three dyslexia subgroups with: (1) persistent reading and spelling impairment; (2) remediated reading impairment (normal reading scores), and (3) remediated reading and spelling impairments (normal reading and spelling scores); and a control group of (4) typically developing children. All groups were matched for age, gender, handedness, and IQ. We hypothesized that the dyslexia group would show cortical abnormalities in regions of the reading network relative to controls, irrespective of remediation status. Such a finding would support that cortical abnormalities are inherent to dyslexia and are not a consequence of abnormal reading experience. Results revealed increased CT of the left fusiform gyrus in the dyslexia group relative to controls. Similarly, the dyslexia group showed CT increase of the right superior temporal gyrus, extending into the planum temporale, which resulted in a rightward CT asymmetry on lateralization indices. There were no group differences in SA, GMV, or their lateralization. These findings held true regardless of remediation status. Each reading level group showed the same "double hit" of atypically increased left fusiform CT and rightward superior temporal CT asymmetry. Thus, findings provide evidence that a developmental history of dyslexia is associated with CT abnormalities, independent of remediation status.

Signs of impaired selective attention in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Pinkhardt, Elmar H; Jürgens, Reinhart; Becker, Wolfgang; Mölle, Matthias; Born, Jan; Ludolph, Albert C; Schreiber, Herbert

2008-04-01

The evidence for involvement of extramotor cortical areas in non-demented patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been provided by recent neuropsychological and functional brain imaging studies. The aim of this study was to investigate possible alterations in selective attention, as an important constituent part of frontal brain function in ALS patients. A classical dichotic listening task paradigm was employed to assess event-related EEG potential (ERPs) indicators of selective attention as well as preattentive processing of mismatch, without interference by motor impairment.A total of 20 patients with sporadic ALS according to the revised El Escorial criteria and 20 healthy controls were studied. Additionally a neuropsychological test battery of frontotemporal functions was applied. Compared with the controls, the ALS patients showed a distinct decrease of the fronto-precentral negative difference wave (Nd), i.e., the main ERP indicator of selective attention. Analysis of the P3 component of the ERPs indicated an increased processing of non-relevant stimuli in ALS patients confirming a reduced focus of attention. We conclude impaired selective attention reflects a subtle variant of frontotemporal dementia frequently observed in ALS patients at a relatively early stage of the disease.

Cortical GABAergic neurons are more severely impaired by alkalosis than acidosis

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Acid–base imbalance in various metabolic disturbances leads to human brain dysfunction. Compared with acidosis, the patients suffered from alkalosis demonstrate more severe neurological signs that are difficultly corrected. We hypothesize a causative process that the nerve cells in the brain are more vulnerable to alkalosis than acidosis. Methods The vulnerability of GABAergic neurons to alkalosis versus acidosis was compared by analyzing their functional changes in response to the extracellular high pH and low pH. The neuronal and synaptic functions were recorded by whole-cell recordings in the cortical slices. Results The elevation or attenuation of extracellular pH impaired these GABAergic neurons in terms of their capability to produce spikes, their responsiveness to excitatory synaptic inputs and their outputs via inhibitory synapses. Importantly, the dysfunction of these active properties appeared severer in alkalosis than acidosis. Conclusions The severer impairment of cortical GABAergic neurons in alkalosis patients leads to more critical neural excitotoxicity, so that alkalosis-induced brain dysfunction is difficultly corrected, compared to acidosis. The vulnerability of cortical GABAergic neurons to high pH is likely a basis of severe clinical outcomes in alkalosis versus acidosis. PMID:24314112

Postnatal Erythropoietin Mitigates Impaired Cerebral Cortical Development Following Subplate Loss from Prenatal Hypoxia–Ischemia

PubMed Central

Jantzie, Lauren L.; Corbett, Christopher J.; Firl, Daniel J.; Robinson, Shenandoah

2015-01-01

Preterm birth impacts brain development and leads to chronic deficits including cognitive delay, behavioral problems, and epilepsy. Premature loss of the subplate, a transient subcortical layer that guides development of the cerebral cortex and axonal refinement, has been implicated in these neurological disorders. Subplate neurons influence postnatal upregulation of the potassium chloride co-transporter KCC2 and maturation of γ-amino-butyric acid A receptor (GABAAR) subunits. We hypothesized that prenatal transient systemic hypoxia–ischemia (TSHI) in Sprague–Dawley rats that mimic brain injury from extreme prematurity in humans would cause premature subplate loss and affect cortical layer IV development. Further, we predicted that the neuroprotective agent erythropoietin (EPO) could attenuate the injury. Prenatal TSHI induced subplate neuronal loss via apoptosis. TSHI impaired cortical layer IV postnatal upregulation of KCC2 and GABAAR subunits, and postnatal EPO treatment mitigated the loss (n ≥ 8). To specifically address how subplate loss affects cortical development, we used in vitro mechanical subplate ablation in slice cultures (n ≥ 3) and found EPO treatment attenuates KCC2 loss. Together, these results show that subplate loss contributes to impaired cerebral development, and EPO treatment diminishes the damage. Limitation of premature subplate loss and the resultant impaired cortical development may minimize cerebral deficits suffered by extremely preterm infants. PMID:24722771

Differential microstructural and morphological abnormalities in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: Evidence from cortical and deep gray matter.

PubMed

Gong, Nan-Jie; Chan, Chun-Chung; Leung, Lam-Ming; Wong, Chun-Sing; Dibb, Russell; Liu, Chunlei

2017-05-01

One aim of this study is to use non-Gaussian diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) for capturing microstructural abnormalities in gray matter of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The other aim is to compare DKI metrics against thickness of cortical gray matter and volume of deep gray matter, respectively. A cohort of 18 patients with AD, 18 patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 18 normal controls underwent morphological and DKI MR imaging. Images were investigated using regions-of-interest-based analyses for deep gray matter and vertex-wise analyses for cortical gray matter. In deep gray matter, more regions showed DKI parametric abnormalities than atrophies at the early MCI stage. Mean kurtosis (MK) exhibited the largest number of significant abnormalities among all DKI metrics. At the later AD stage, diffusional abnormalities were observed in fewer regions than atrophies. In cortical gray matter, abnormalities in thickness were mainly in the medial and lateral temporal lobes, which fit the locations of known early pathological changes. Microstructural abnormalities were predominantly in the parietal and even frontal lobes, which fit the locations of known late pathological changes. In conclusion, MK can complement conventional diffusion metrics for detecting microstructural changes, especially in deep gray matter. This study also provides evidence supporting the notion that microstructural changes predate morphological changes. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2495-2508, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The association of cognitive impairment with gray matter atrophy and cortical lesion load in clinically isolated syndrome.

PubMed

Diker, Sevda; Has, Arzu Ceylan; Kurne, Aslı; Göçmen, Rahşan; Oğuz, Kader Karlı; Karabudak, Rana

2016-11-01

Multiple sclerosis can impair cognition from the early stages and has been shown to be associated with gray matter damage in addition to white matter pathology. To investigate the profile of cognitive impairment in clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), and the contribution of cortical inflammation, cortical and deep gray matter atrophy, and white matter lesions to cognitive decline. Thirty patients with clinically isolated syndrome and twenty demographically- matched healthy controls underwent neuropsychologic assessment through the Rao Brief Repeatable Battery, and brain magnetic resonance imaging with double inversion recovery using a 3T scanner. Patients with clinically isolated syndrome performed significantly worse than healthy controls on tests that evaluated verbal memory, visuospatial learning and memory, and verbal fluency. Significant deep gray matter atrophy was found in the patients but cortical volume was not lower than the controls. Visual memory tests correlated with the volume of the hippocampus, cerebral white matter and deep gray matter structures and with cerebellar cortical atrophy. Cortical or white matter lesion load did not affect cognitive test results. In our patients with CIS, it was shown that cognitive impairment was mainly related to cerebral white matter, cerebellar cortical and deep gray matter atrophy, but not with cortical inflammation, at least in the early stage of disease. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cortical Spreading Depression Closes Paravascular Space and Impairs Glymphatic Flow: Implications for Migraine Headache

PubMed Central

Melo-Carrillo, Agustin; Strassman, Andrew M.

2017-01-01

Functioning of the glymphatic system, a network of paravascular tunnels through which cortical interstitial solutes are cleared from the brain, has recently been linked to sleep and traumatic brain injury, both of which can affect the progression of migraine. This led us to investigate the connection between migraine and the glymphatic system. Taking advantage of a novel in vivo method we developed using two-photon microscopy to visualize the paravascular space (PVS) in naive uninjected mice, we show that a single wave of cortical spreading depression (CSD), an animal model of migraine aura, induces a rapid and nearly complete closure of the PVS around surface as well as penetrating cortical arteries and veins lasting several minutes, and gradually recovering over 30 min. A temporal mismatch between the constriction or dilation of the blood vessel lumen and the closure of the PVS suggests that this closure is not likely to result from changes in vessel diameter. We also show that CSD impairs glymphatic flow, as indicated by the reduced rate at which intraparenchymally injected dye was cleared from the cortex to the PVS. This is the first observation of a PVS closure in connection with an abnormal cortical event that underlies a neurological disorder. More specifically, the findings demonstrate a link between the glymphatic system and migraine, and suggest a novel mechanism for regulation of glymphatic flow. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Impairment of brain solute clearance through the recently described glymphatic system has been linked with traumatic brain injury, prolonged wakefulness, and aging. This paper shows that cortical spreading depression, the neural correlate of migraine aura, closes the paravascular space and impairs glymphatic flow. This closure holds the potential to define a novel mechanism for regulation of glymphatic flow. It also implicates the glymphatic system in the altered cortical and endothelial functioning of the migraine brain. PMID:28193695

Disentangling How the Brain is “Wired” in Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI)

PubMed Central

Merabet, Lotfi B.; Mayer, D. Luisa; Bauer, Corinna M.; Wright, Darick; Kran, Barry S.

2017-01-01

Cortical/cerebral visual impairment (CVI) results from perinatal injury to visual processing structures and pathways of the brain and is the most common cause of severe visual impairment/blindness in children in developed countries. Children with CVI display a wide range of visual deficits including decreased visual acuity, impaired visual field function, as well as impairments in higher order visual processing and attention. Together, these visual impairments can dramatically impact upon a child’s development and well-being. Given the complex neurological underpinnings of this condition, CVI is often undiagnosed by eye care practitioners. Furthermore, the neurophysiological basis of CVI in relation to observed visual processing deficits remains poorly understood. Here, we present some of the challenges associated with the clinical assessment and management of individuals with CVI. We discuss how advances in brain imaging are likely to help uncover the underlying neurophysiology of this condition. In particular, we demonstrate how structural and functional neuroimaging approaches can help gain insight into abnormalities of white matter connectivity and cortical activation patterns respectively. Establishing a connection between how changes within the brain relate to visual impairments in CVI will be important for developing effective rehabilitative and education strategies for individuals living with this condition. PMID:28941531

Impaired inhibitory control of cortical synchronization in fragile X syndrome.

PubMed

Paluszkiewicz, Scott M; Olmos-Serrano, Jose Luis; Corbin, Joshua G; Huntsman, Molly M

2011-11-01

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by severe cognitive impairments, sensory hypersensitivity, and comorbidities with autism and epilepsy. Fmr1 knockout (KO) mouse models of FXS exhibit alterations in excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission, but it is largely unknown how aberrant function of specific neuronal subtypes contributes to these deficits. In this study we show specific inhibitory circuit dysfunction in layer II/III of somatosensory cortex of Fmr1 KO mice. We demonstrate reduced activation of somatostatin-expressing low-threshold-spiking (LTS) interneurons in response to the group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) agonist 3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG) in Fmr1 KO mice, resulting in impaired synaptic inhibition. Paired recordings from pyramidal neurons revealed reductions in synchronized synaptic inhibition and coordinated spike synchrony in response to DHPG, indicating a weakened LTS interneuron network in Fmr1 KO mice. Together, these findings reveal a functional defect in a single subtype of cortical interneuron in Fmr1 KO mice. This defect is linked to altered activity of the cortical network in line with the FXS phenotype.

Cortical thickness abnormalities associated with dyslexia, independent of remediation status

PubMed Central

Ma, Yizhou; Koyama, Maki S.; Milham, Michael P.; Castellanos, F. Xavier; Quinn, Brian T.; Pardoe, Heath; Wang, Xiuyuan; Kuzniecky, Ruben; Devinsky, Orrin; Thesen, Thomas; Blackmon, Karen

2014-01-01

Abnormalities in cortical structure are commonly observed in children with dyslexia in key regions of the “reading network.” Whether alteration in cortical features reflects pathology inherent to dyslexia or environmental influence (e.g., impoverished reading experience) remains unclear. To address this question, we compared MRI-derived metrics of cortical thickness (CT), surface area (SA), gray matter volume (GMV), and their lateralization across three different groups of children with a historical diagnosis of dyslexia, who varied in current reading level. We compared three dyslexia subgroups with: (1) persistent reading and spelling impairment; (2) remediated reading impairment (normal reading scores), and (3) remediated reading and spelling impairments (normal reading and spelling scores); and a control group of (4) typically developing children. All groups were matched for age, gender, handedness, and IQ. We hypothesized that the dyslexia group would show cortical abnormalities in regions of the reading network relative to controls, irrespective of remediation status. Such a finding would support that cortical abnormalities are inherent to dyslexia and are not a consequence of abnormal reading experience. Results revealed increased CT of the left fusiform gyrus in the dyslexia group relative to controls. Similarly, the dyslexia group showed CT increase of the right superior temporal gyrus, extending into the planum temporale, which resulted in a rightward CT asymmetry on lateralization indices. There were no group differences in SA, GMV, or their lateralization. These findings held true regardless of remediation status. Each reading level group showed the same “double hit” of atypically increased left fusiform CT and rightward superior temporal CT asymmetry. Thus, findings provide evidence that a developmental history of dyslexia is associated with CT abnormalities, independent of remediation status. PMID:25610779

A Surface-based Analysis of Language Lateralization and Cortical Asymmetry

PubMed Central

Greve, Douglas N.; Van der Haegen, Lise; Cai, Qing; Stufflebeam, Steven; Sabuncu, Mert R.; Fischl, Bruce; Bysbaert, Marc

2013-01-01

Among brain functions, language is one of the most lateralized. Cortical language areas are also some of the most asymmetrical in the brain. An open question is whether the asymmetry in function is linked to the asymmetry in anatomy. To address this question, we measured anatomical asymmetry in 34 participants shown with fMRI to have language dominance of the left hemisphere (LLD) and 21 participants shown to have atypical right hemisphere dominance (RLD). All participants were healthy and left-handed, and most (80%) were female. Gray matter (GM) volume asymmetry was measured using an automated surface-based technique in both ROIs and exploratory analyses. In the ROI analysis, a significant difference between LLD and RLD was found in the insula. No differences were found in planum temporale (PT), pars opercularis (POp), pars triangularis (PTr), or Heschl’s gyrus (HG). The PT, POp, insula, and HG were all significantly left lateralized in both LLD and RLD participants. Both the positive and negative ROI findings replicate a previous study using manually labeled ROIs in a different cohort [Keller, S. S., Roberts, N., Garcia-Finana, M., Mohammadi, S., Ringelstein, E. B., Knecht, S., et al. Can the language-dominant hemisphere be predicted by brain anatomy? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23, 2013–2029, 2011]. The exploratory analysis was accomplished using a new surface-based registration that aligns cortical folding patterns across both subject and hemisphere. A small but significant cluster was found in the superior temporal gyrus that overlapped with the PT. A cluster was also found in the ventral occipitotemporal cortex corresponding to the visual word recognition area. The surface-based analysis also makes it possible to disentangle the effects of GM volume, thickness, and surface area while removing the effects of curvature. For both the ROI and exploratory analyses, the difference between LLD and RLD volume laterality was most strongly driven by

An autopsy case of cortical superficial siderosis with persistent abnormal behavior.

PubMed

Torii, Youta; Iritani, Shuji; Fujishiro, Hiroshige; Sekiguchi, Hirotaka; Habuchi, Chikako; Umeda, Kentaro; Matsunaga, Shinji; Mimuro, Maya; Ozaki, Norio; Yoshida, Mari; Fujita, Kiyoshi

2016-12-01

In recent years, MRI has revealed cortical superficial siderosis (cSS), which exhibits hemosiderin deposition in only the cortical surface. However, the associations between the histological findings and clinical symptoms of cSS remain unclear. We herein report an autopsy case of a 75-year-old Japanese man with cSS with persistent abnormal behavior according to cognitive impairment, hallucination and delusion. At 73 years of age, the patient presented with unusual behavior that indicated auditory hallucination and delusion. One year later, he was admitted to the hospital for malignant lymphoma. On admission, cognitive impairment was detected by a screening test. Soon after hospitalization, he presented with active delirium including visual hallucination and delusion. The patient's excited behavior was improved by the administration of a major tranquilizer. However, the abnormal behavior and cognitive impairment persisted. At 75 years of age, he died of heart failure. A neuropathological investigation revealed hemosiderin depositions in the superficial layer of the cortex in the medial and lateral frontal lobe, the lateral temporal lobe, the parietal lobe, and the medial and lateral occipital lobe. Neuritic plaques and diffuse plaques were extensively observed, which corresponded to Braak stage C and CERAD B, although NFTs were observed that corresponded to Braak stage II. Cortical amyloid angiopathy was not observed in any regions. Ischemic change of brain was also mild. Our report suggests that localized deposition of hemosiderin in the cortex might affect the manifestation of cognitive impairments and hallucination. Further clinicopathological studies are needed to clarify the clinical manifestations of patients with cSS. © 2016 Japanese Society of Neuropathology.

Cholinergic systems are essential for late-stage maturation and refinement of motor cortical circuits

PubMed Central

Ramanathan, Dhakshin S.; Conner, James M.; Anilkumar, Arjun A.

2014-01-01

Previous studies reported that early postnatal cholinergic lesions severely perturb early cortical development, impairing neuronal cortical migration and the formation of cortical dendrites and synapses. These severe effects of early postnatal cholinergic lesions preclude our ability to understand the contribution of cholinergic systems to the later-stage maturation of topographic cortical representations. To study cholinergic mechanisms contributing to the later maturation of motor cortical circuits, we first characterized the temporal course of cortical motor map development and maturation in rats. In this study, we focused our attention on the maturation of cortical motor representations after postnatal day 25 (PND 25), a time after neuronal migration has been accomplished and cortical volume has reached adult size. We found significant maturation of cortical motor representations after this time, including both an expansion of forelimb representations in motor cortex and a shift from proximal to distal forelimb representations to an extent unexplainable by simple volume enlargement of the neocortex. Specific cholinergic lesions placed at PND 24 impaired enlargement of distal forelimb representations in particular and markedly reduced the ability to learn skilled motor tasks as adults. These results identify a novel and essential role for cholinergic systems in the late refinement and maturation of cortical circuits. Dysfunctions in this system may constitute a mechanism of late-onset neurodevelopmental disorders such as Rett syndrome and schizophrenia. PMID:25505106

Cumulative Head Impact Exposure Predicts Later-Life Depression, Apathy, Executive Dysfunction, and Cognitive Impairment in Former High School and College Football Players.

PubMed

Montenigro, Philip H; Alosco, Michael L; Martin, Brett M; Daneshvar, Daniel H; Mez, Jesse; Chaisson, Christine E; Nowinski, Christopher J; Au, Rhoda; McKee, Ann C; Cantu, Robert C; McClean, Michael D; Stern, Robert A; Tripodis, Yorghos

2017-01-15

The term "repetitive head impacts" (RHI) refers to the cumulative exposure to concussive and subconcussive events. Although RHI are believed to increase risk for later-life neurological consequences (including chronic traumatic encephalopathy), quantitative analysis of this relationship has not yet been examined because of the lack of validated tools to quantify lifetime RHI exposure. The objectives of this study were: 1) to develop a metric to quantify cumulative RHI exposure from football, which we term the "cumulative head impact index" (CHII); 2) to use the CHII to examine the association between RHI exposure and long-term clinical outcomes; and 3) to evaluate its predictive properties relative to other exposure metrics (i.e., duration of play, age of first exposure, concussion history). Participants included 93 former high school and collegiate football players who completed objective cognitive and self-reported behavioral/mood tests as part of a larger ongoing longitudinal study. Using established cutoff scores, we transformed continuous outcomes into dichotomous variables (normal vs. impaired). The CHII was computed for each participant and derived from a combination of self-reported athletic history (i.e., number of seasons, position[s], levels played), and impact frequencies reported in helmet accelerometer studies. A bivariate probit, instrumental variable model revealed a threshold dose-response relationship between the CHII and risk for later-life cognitive impairment (p < 0.0001), self-reported executive dysfunction (p < 0.0001), depression (p < 0.0001), apathy (p = 0.0161), and behavioral dysregulation (p < 0.0001). Ultimately, the CHII demonstrated greater predictive validity than other individual exposure metrics.

Discontinuity of cortical gradients reflects sensory impairment

PubMed Central

Saadon-Grosman, Noam; Tal, Zohar; Itshayek, Eyal; Amedi, Amir; Arzy, Shahar

2015-01-01

Topographic maps and their continuity constitute a fundamental principle of brain organization. In the somatosensory system, whole-body sensory impairment may be reflected either in cortical signal reduction or disorganization of the somatotopic map, such as disturbed continuity. Here we investigated the role of continuity in pathological states. We studied whole-body cortical representations in response to continuous sensory stimulation under functional MRI (fMRI) in two unique patient populations—patients with cervical sensory Brown-Séquard syndrome (injury to one side of the spinal cord) and patients before and after surgical repair of cervical disk protrusion—enabling us to compare whole-body representations in the same study subjects. We quantified the spatial gradient of cortical activation and evaluated the divergence from a continuous pattern. Gradient continuity was found to be disturbed at the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and the supplementary motor area (SMA), in both patient populations: contralateral to the disturbed body side in the Brown-Séquard group and before repair in the surgical group, which was further improved after intervention. Results corresponding to the nondisturbed body side and after surgical repair were comparable with control subjects. No difference was found in the fMRI signal power between the different conditions in the two groups, as well as with respect to control subjects. These results suggest that decreased sensation in our patients is related to gradient discontinuity rather than signal reduction. Gradient continuity may be crucial for somatotopic and other topographical organization, and its disruption may characterize pathological processing. PMID:26655739

Outcomes and Opportunities: A Study of Children with Cortical Visual Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roman Lantzy, Christine A.; Lantzy, Alan

2010-01-01

Pediatric View is an evaluation project that began in 1999 and is located at Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh. The purpose of Pediatric View is to provide developmental and functional vision evaluations to children who have ocular or cortical visual impairments. The evaluations are generally two hours in length, and a detailed report…

Cortical Spreading Depression Closes Paravascular Space and Impairs Glymphatic Flow: Implications for Migraine Headache.

PubMed

Schain, Aaron J; Melo-Carrillo, Agustin; Strassman, Andrew M; Burstein, Rami

2017-03-15

Functioning of the glymphatic system, a network of paravascular tunnels through which cortical interstitial solutes are cleared from the brain, has recently been linked to sleep and traumatic brain injury, both of which can affect the progression of migraine. This led us to investigate the connection between migraine and the glymphatic system. Taking advantage of a novel in vivo method we developed using two-photon microscopy to visualize the paravascular space (PVS) in naive uninjected mice, we show that a single wave of cortical spreading depression (CSD), an animal model of migraine aura, induces a rapid and nearly complete closure of the PVS around surface as well as penetrating cortical arteries and veins lasting several minutes, and gradually recovering over 30 min. A temporal mismatch between the constriction or dilation of the blood vessel lumen and the closure of the PVS suggests that this closure is not likely to result from changes in vessel diameter. We also show that CSD impairs glymphatic flow, as indicated by the reduced rate at which intraparenchymally injected dye was cleared from the cortex to the PVS. This is the first observation of a PVS closure in connection with an abnormal cortical event that underlies a neurological disorder. More specifically, the findings demonstrate a link between the glymphatic system and migraine, and suggest a novel mechanism for regulation of glymphatic flow. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Impairment of brain solute clearance through the recently described glymphatic system has been linked with traumatic brain injury, prolonged wakefulness, and aging. This paper shows that cortical spreading depression, the neural correlate of migraine aura, closes the paravascular space and impairs glymphatic flow. This closure holds the potential to define a novel mechanism for regulation of glymphatic flow. It also implicates the glymphatic system in the altered cortical and endothelial functioning of the migraine brain. Copyright © 2017

The Reliability of the CVI Range: A Functional Vision Assessment for Children with Cortical Visual Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Newcomb, Sandra

2010-01-01

Children who are identified as visually impaired frequently have a functional vision assessment as one way to determine how their visual impairment affects their educational performance. The CVI Range is a functional vision assessment for children with cortical visual impairment. The purpose of the study presented here was to examine the…

Atypicalities in cortical structure, handedness, and functional lateralization for language in autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Lindell, Annukka K; Hudry, Kristelle

2013-09-01

Language is typically a highly lateralized function, with atypically reduced or reversed lateralization linked to language impairments. Given the diagnostic and prognostic role of impaired language for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), this paper reviews the growing body of literature that examines patterns of lateralization in individuals with ASDs. Including research from structural and functional imaging paradigms, and behavioral evidence from investigations of handedness, the review confirms that atypical lateralization is common in people with ASDs. The evidence indicates reduced structural asymmetry in fronto-temporal language regions, attenuated functional activation in response to language and pre-linguistic stimuli, and more ambiguous (mixed) hand preferences, in individuals with ASDs. Critically, the evidence emphasizes an intimate relationship between atypical lateralization and language impairment, with more atypical asymmetries linked to more substantive language impairment. Such evidence highlights opportunities for the identification of structural and functional biomarkers of ASDs, affording the potential for earlier diagnosis and intervention implementation.

Regional reduction in cortical blood flow among cognitively impaired adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients

PubMed Central

Hojjat, Seyed-Parsa; Cantrell, Charles Grady; Vitorino, Rita; Feinstein, Anthony; Shirzadi, Zahra; MacIntosh, Bradley J.; Crane, David E.; Zhang, Lying; Morrow, Sarah A; Lee, Liesly; O’Connor, Paul; Carroll, Timothy J.; Aviv, Richard I.

2015-01-01

Purpose Detection of cortical abnormalities in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) remains elusive. Structural MRI measures of cortical integrity are limited, although functional techniques such as pseudocontinuous Arterial Spin Labeling (pCASL) show promise as a surrogate marker of disease severity. We sought to determine the utility of pCASL to assess cortical cerebral blood flow (CBF) in RRMS patients with (RRMS-I) and without (RRMS-NI) cognitive impairment. Methods 19 age-matched healthy controls and 39 RRMS patients were prospectively recruited. Cognition was assessed using the MACFIMS battery. Cortical CBF was compared between groups using a mass univariate voxel-based morphometric analysis accounting for demographic and structural variable covariates. Results Cognitive impairment was present in 51.3% of patients. Significant CBF reduction was present in the RRMS-I compared to other groups in left frontal and right superior frontal cortex. Compared to healthy controls, RRMS-I displayed reduced CBF in the frontal, limbic, parietal and temporal cortex and putamen/thalamus. RRMS-I demonstrated reduced left superior frontal lobe cortical CBF compared to RRMS-NI. No significant cortical CBF differences were present between healthy controls and RRMS-NI. Conclusion Significant cortical CBF reduction occurs in RRMS-I compared to healthy controls and RRMS-NI in anatomically significant regions after controlling for structural and demographic differences. PMID:26754799

Dominant hemisphere lateralization of cortical parasympathetic control as revealed by frontotemporal dementia

PubMed Central

Guo, Christine C.; Sturm, Virginia E.; Zhou, Juan; Gennatas, Efstathios D.; Trujillo, Andrew J.; Hua, Alice Y.; Crawford, Richard; Stables, Lara; Kramer, Joel H.; Rankin, Katherine; Levenson, Robert W.; Rosen, Howard J.; Miller, Bruce L.; Seeley, William W.

2016-01-01

The brain continuously influences and perceives the physiological condition of the body. Related cortical representations have been proposed to shape emotional experience and guide behavior. Although previous studies have identified brain regions recruited during autonomic processing, neurological lesion studies have yet to delineate the regions critical for maintaining autonomic outflow. Even greater controversy surrounds hemispheric lateralization along the parasympathetic–sympathetic axis. The behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), featuring progressive and often asymmetric degeneration that includes the frontoinsular and cingulate cortices, provides a unique lesion model for elucidating brain structures that control autonomic tone. Here, we show that bvFTD is associated with reduced baseline cardiac vagal tone and that this reduction correlates with left-lateralized functional and structural frontoinsular and cingulate cortex deficits and with reduced agreeableness. Our results suggest that networked brain regions in the dominant hemisphere are critical for maintaining an adaptive level of baseline parasympathetic outflow. PMID:27071080

Left dorso-lateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation affects cortical excitability and functional connectivity, but does not impair cognition in major depression.

PubMed

Shajahan, Polash M; Glabus, Mike F; Steele, J Douglas; Doris, Alan B; Anderson, Kay; Jenkins, Jenny A; Gooding, Patricia A; Ebmeier, Klaus P

2002-06-01

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been used for over a decade to investigate cortical function. More recently, it has been employed to treat conditions such as major depression. This study was designed to explore the effects of differential treatment parameters, such as stimulation frequency. In addition, the data were examined to determine whether a change in connectivity occurred following TMS. Fifteen patients with major depression were entered into a combined imaging and treatment experiment with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over left dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Brain perfusion during a verbal fluency task was compared between pre- and poststimulation conditions. Patients were then treated with 80% of motor threshold for a total of 10 days, using 5000 stimuli at 5, 10 or 20 Hz. Tests of cortical excitability and neuropsychological tests were done throughout the trial. Patients generally improved with treatment. There was no perceptible difference between stimulation frequencies, which may have reflected low study power. An increase in rostral anterior cingulate activation after the treatment day was associated with increased functional connectivity in the dorso-lateral frontal loop on the left and the limbic loop on both sides. No noticeable deterioration in neuropsychological function was observed. TMS at the stimulation frequencies used seems to be safe over a course of 5000 stimuli. It appears to have an activating effect in anterior limbic structures and increase functional connectivity in the neuroanatomical networks under the stimulation coil within an hour of stimulation.

Cortical influences drive amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Eisen, Andrew; Braak, Heiko; Del Tredici, Kelly; Lemon, Roger; Ludolph, Albert C; Kiernan, Matthew C

2017-11-01

The early motor manifestations of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), while rarely documented, reflect failure of adaptive complex motor skills. The development of these skills correlates with progressive evolution of a direct corticomotoneuronal system that is unique to primates and markedly enhanced in humans. The failure of this system in ALS may translate into the split hand presentation, gait disturbance, split leg syndrome and bulbar symptomatology related to vocalisation and breathing, and possibly diffuse fasciculation, characteristic of ALS. Clinical neurophysiology of the brain employing transcranial magnetic stimulation has convincingly demonstrated a presymptomatic reduction or absence of short interval intracortical inhibition, accompanied by increased intracortical facilitation, indicating cortical hyperexcitability. The hallmark of the TDP-43 pathological signature of sporadic ALS is restricted to cortical areas as well as to subcortical nuclei that are under the direct control of corticofugal projections. This provides anatomical support that the origins of the TDP-43 pathology reside in the cerebral cortex itself, secondarily in corticofugal fibres and the subcortical targets with which they make monosynaptic connections. The latter feature explains the multisystem degeneration that characterises ALS. Consideration of ALS as a primary neurodegenerative disorder of the human brain may incorporate concepts of prion-like spread at synaptic terminals of corticofugal axons. Further, such a concept could explain the recognised widespread imaging abnormalities of the ALS neocortex and the accepted relationship between ALS and frontotemporal dementia. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Visual Behaviors and Adaptations Associated with Cortical and Ocular Impairment in Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jan, J. E.; Groenveld, M.

1993-01-01

This article shows the usefulness of understanding visual behaviors in the diagnosis of various types of visual impairments that are due to ocular and cortical disorders. Behaviors discussed include nystagmus, ocular motor dyspraxia, head position, close viewing, field loss adaptations, mannerisms, photophobia, and abnormal color perception. (JDD)

Early-Life Stress, HPA Axis Adaptation, and Mechanisms Contributing to Later Health Outcomes

PubMed Central

Maniam, Jayanthi; Antoniadis, Christopher; Morris, Margaret J.

2014-01-01

Stress activates the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, which then modulates the degree of adaptation and response to a later stressor. It is known that early-life stress can impact on later health but less is known about how early-life stress impairs HPA axis activity, contributing to maladaptation of the stress–response system. Early-life stress exposure (either prenatally or in the early postnatal period) can impact developmental pathways resulting in lasting structural and regulatory changes that predispose to adulthood disease. Epidemiological, clinical, and experimental studies have demonstrated that early-life stress produces long term hyper-responsiveness to stress with exaggerated circulating glucocorticoids, and enhanced anxiety and depression-like behaviors. Recently, evidence has emerged on early-life stress-induced metabolic derangements, for example hyperinsulinemia and altered insulin sensitivity on exposure to a high energy diet later in life. This draws our attention to the contribution of later environment to disease vulnerability. Early-life stress can alter the expression of genes in peripheral tissues, such as the glucocorticoid receptor and 11-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD1). We propose that interactions between altered HPA axis activity and liver 11β-HSD1 modulates both tissue and circulating glucocorticoid availability, with adverse metabolic consequences. This review discusses the potential mechanisms underlying early-life stress-induced maladaptation of the HPA axis, and its subsequent effects on energy utilization and expenditure. The effects of positive later environments as a means of ameliorating early-life stress-induced health deficits, and proposed mechanisms underpinning the interaction between early-life stress and subsequent detrimental environmental exposures on metabolic risk will be outlined. Limitations in current methodology linking early-life stress and later health outcomes will also be

Relationship between cortical state and spiking activity in the lateral geniculate nucleus of marmosets

PubMed Central

Pietersen, Alexander N.J.; Cheong, Soon Keen; Munn, Brandon; Gong, Pulin; Solomon, Samuel G.

2017-01-01

Key points How parallel are the primate visual pathways? In the present study, we demonstrate that parallel visual pathways in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) show distinct patterns of interaction with rhythmic activity in the primary visual cortex (V1).In the V1 of anaesthetized marmosets, the EEG frequency spectrum undergoes transient changes that are characterized by fluctuations in delta‐band EEG power.We show that, on multisecond timescales, spiking activity in an evolutionary primitive (koniocellular) LGN pathway is specifically linked to these slow EEG spectrum changes. By contrast, on subsecond (delta frequency) timescales, cortical oscillations can entrain spiking activity throughout the entire LGN.Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that, in waking animals, the koniocellular pathway selectively participates in brain circuits controlling vigilance and attention. Abstract The major afferent cortical pathway in the visual system passes through the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), where nerve signals originating in the eye can first interact with brain circuits regulating visual processing, vigilance and attention. In the present study, we investigated how ongoing and visually driven activity in magnocellular (M), parvocellular (P) and koniocellular (K) layers of the LGN are related to cortical state. We recorded extracellular spiking activity in the LGN simultaneously with local field potentials (LFP) in primary visual cortex, in sufentanil‐anaesthetized marmoset monkeys. We found that asynchronous cortical states (marked by low power in delta‐band LFPs) are linked to high spike rates in K cells (but not P cells or M cells), on multisecond timescales. Cortical asynchrony precedes the increases in K cell spike rates by 1–3 s, implying causality. At subsecond timescales, the spiking activity in many cells of all (M, P and K) classes is phase‐locked to delta waves in the cortical LFP, and more cells are phase�

Cortical Visual Impairment in Children: Presentation Intervention, and Prognosis in Educational Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swift, Suzanne H.; Davidson, Roseanna C.; Weems, Linda J.

2008-01-01

Children with cortical visual impairment (CVI) exhibit distinct visual behaviors which are often misinterpreted. As the incidence of CVI is on the rise, this has subsequently caused an increased need for identification and intervention with these children from teaching and therapy service providers. Distinguishing children with CVI from children…

Cumulative Head Impact Exposure Predicts Later-Life Depression, Apathy, Executive Dysfunction, and Cognitive Impairment in Former High School and College Football Players

PubMed Central

Montenigro, Philip H.; Alosco, Michael L.; Martin, Brett M.; Daneshvar, Daniel H.; Mez, Jesse; Chaisson, Christine E.; Nowinski, Christopher J.; Au, Rhoda; McKee, Ann C.; Cantu, Robert C.; McClean, Michael D.; Tripodis, Yorghos

2017-01-01

Abstract The term “repetitive head impacts” (RHI) refers to the cumulative exposure to concussive and subconcussive events. Although RHI are believed to increase risk for later-life neurological consequences (including chronic traumatic encephalopathy), quantitative analysis of this relationship has not yet been examined because of the lack of validated tools to quantify lifetime RHI exposure. The objectives of this study were: 1) to develop a metric to quantify cumulative RHI exposure from football, which we term the “cumulative head impact index” (CHII); 2) to use the CHII to examine the association between RHI exposure and long-term clinical outcomes; and 3) to evaluate its predictive properties relative to other exposure metrics (i.e., duration of play, age of first exposure, concussion history). Participants included 93 former high school and collegiate football players who completed objective cognitive and self-reported behavioral/mood tests as part of a larger ongoing longitudinal study. Using established cutoff scores, we transformed continuous outcomes into dichotomous variables (normal vs. impaired). The CHII was computed for each participant and derived from a combination of self-reported athletic history (i.e., number of seasons, position[s], levels played), and impact frequencies reported in helmet accelerometer studies. A bivariate probit, instrumental variable model revealed a threshold dose-response relationship between the CHII and risk for later-life cognitive impairment (p < 0.0001), self-reported executive dysfunction (p < 0.0001), depression (p < 0.0001), apathy (p = 0.0161), and behavioral dysregulation (p < 0.0001). Ultimately, the CHII demonstrated greater predictive validity than other individual exposure metrics. PMID:27029716

Marchiafava-Bignami Disease with Cortical Involvement.

PubMed

Zhao, Panpan; Zhang, Hongliang; Zhang, Ying; Sun, Li

2018-06-01

Marchiafava-Bignami disease (MBD) is a neurological degenerative disorder with a pathognomonic hallmark of symmetric demyelination in the corpus callosum (CC). Most reported cases were chronic alcoholics and some showed cortical lesions related to poor clinical prognosis. Herein we report a case of a chronic alcoholic who presented with confusion and generalized weakness. Nerve fiber integrity and metabolic changes were evaluated with Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and MRS. MRI revealed the typical callosal lesions of MBD with bilateral frontoparietal cortical lesions. DTI and MRS showed both impaired myelin integrity and axonal density in the CC. The cortical lesions partly disappeared after intravenous administration of high-dose multivitamins and corticosteroids. The patient regained consciousness 3 months later while dysarthria and quadriplegia persisted. Three years later, the patient can interact occasionally with people and the functional activities of both upper and lower limbs have no improvement. To our knowledge, this is the first report of DTI together with MRS assisting in evaluating the prognosis of MBD.

Visual Attention to Movement and Color in Children with Cortical Visual Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen-Maitre, Stacey Ann; Haerich, Paul

2005-01-01

This study investigated the ability of color and motion to elicit and maintain visual attention in a sample of children with cortical visual impairment (CVI). It found that colorful and moving objects may be used to engage children with CVI, increase their motivation to use their residual vision, and promote visual learning.

Irritability Trajectories, Cortical Thickness, and Clinical Outcomes in a Sample Enriched for Preschool Depression.

PubMed

Pagliaccio, David; Pine, Daniel S; Barch, Deanna M; Luby, Joan L; Leibenluft, Ellen

2018-05-01

Cross-sectional, longitudinal, and genetic associations exist between irritability and depression. Prior studies have examined developmental trajectories of irritability, clinical outcomes, and associations with child and familial depression. However, studies have not integrated neurobiological measures. The present study examined developmental trajectories of irritability, clinical outcomes, and cortical structure among preschoolers oversampled for depressive symptoms. Beginning at 3 to 5 years old, a sample of 271 children enriched for early depressive symptoms were assessed longitudinally by clinical interview. Latent class mixture models identified trajectories of irritability severity. Risk factors, clinical outcomes, and cortical thickness were compared across trajectory classes. Cortical thickness measures were extracted from 3 waves of magnetic resonance imaging at 7 to 12 years of age. Three trajectory classes were identified among these youth: 53.50% of children exhibited elevated irritability during preschool that decreased longitudinally, 30.26% exhibited consistently low irritability, and 16.24% exhibited consistently elevated irritability. Compared with other classes, the elevated irritability class exhibited higher rates of maternal depression, early life adversity, later psychiatric diagnoses, and functional impairment. Further, elevated baseline irritability predicted later depression beyond adversity and personal and maternal depression history. The elevated irritability class exhibited a thicker cortex in the left superior frontal and temporal gyri and the right inferior parietal lobule. Irritability manifested with specific developmental trajectories in this sample enriched for early depression. Persistently elevated irritability predicted poor psychiatric outcomes, higher risk for later depression, and decreased overall function later in development. Greater frontal, temporal, and parietal cortical thickness also was found, providing neural

Structural and functional evaluation of cortical motor areas in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

PubMed

Cosottini, Mirco; Pesaresi, Ilaria; Piazza, Selina; Diciotti, Stefano; Cecchi, Paolo; Fabbri, Serena; Carlesi, Cecilia; Mascalchi, Mario; Siciliano, Gabriele

2012-03-01

The structural and functional data gathered with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques about the brain cortical motor damage in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) are controversial. In fact some structural MRI studies showed foci of gray matter (GM) atrophy in the precentral gyrus, even in the early stage, while others did not. Most functional MRI (fMRI) studies in ALS reported hyperactivation of extra-primary motor cortices, while contradictory results were obtained on the activation of the primary motor cortex. We aimed to investigate the cortical motor circuitries in ALS patients by a combined structural and functional approach. Twenty patients with definite ALS and 16 healthy subjects underwent a structural examination with acquisition of a 3D T1-weighted sequence and fMRI examination during a maximal force handgrip task executed with the right-hand, the left-hand and with both hands simultaneously. The T1-weighted images were analyzed with Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM) that showed several clusters of reduced cortical GM in ALS patients compared to controls including the pre and postcentral gyri, the superior, middle and inferior frontal gyri, the supplementary motor area, the superior and inferior parietal cortices and the temporal lobe, bilaterally but more extensive on the right side. In ALS patients a significant hypoactivation of the primary sensory motor cortex and frontal dorsal premotor areas as compared to controls was observed. The hypoactivated areas matched with foci of cortical atrophy demonstrated by VBM. The fMRI analysis also showed an enhanced activation in the ventral premotor frontal areas and in the parietal cortex pertaining to the fronto-parietal motor circuit which paralleled with disease progression rate and matched with cortical regions of atrophy. The hyperactivation of the fronto-parietal circuit was asymmetric and prevalent in the left hemisphere. VBM and fMRI identified structural and functional markers of an extended

Prenatal Exposure to Arsenic Impairs Behavioral Flexibility and Cortical Structure in Mice

PubMed Central

Aung, Kyaw H.; Kyi-Tha-Thu, Chaw; Sano, Kazuhiro; Nakamura, Kazuaki; Tanoue, Akito; Nohara, Keiko; Kakeyama, Masaki; Tohyama, Chiharu; Tsukahara, Shinji; Maekawa, Fumihiko

2016-01-01

Exposure to arsenic from well water in developing countries is suspected to cause developmental neurotoxicity. Although, it has been demonstrated that exposure to sodium arsenite (NaAsO2) suppresses neurite outgrowth of cortical neurons in vitro, it is largely unknown how developmental exposure to NaAsO2 impairs higher brain function and affects cortical histology. Here, we investigated the effect of prenatal NaAsO2 exposure on the behavior of mice in adulthood, and evaluated histological changes in the prelimbic cortex (PrL), which is a part of the medial prefrontal cortex that is critically involved in cognition. Drinking water with or without NaAsO2 (85 ppm) was provided to pregnant C3H mice from gestational days 8 to 18, and offspring of both sexes were subjected to cognitive behavioral analyses at 60 weeks of age. The brains of female offspring were subsequently harvested and used for morphometrical analyses. We found that both male and female mice prenatally exposed to NaAsO2 displayed an impaired adaptation to repetitive reversal tasks. In morphometrical analyses of Nissl- or Golgi-stained tissue sections, we found that NaAsO2 exposure was associated with a significant increase in the number of pyramidal neurons in layers V and VI of the PrL, but not other layers of the PrL. More strikingly, prenatal NaAsO2 exposure was associated with a significant decrease in neurite length but not dendrite spine density in all layers of the PrL. Taken together, our results indicate that prenatal exposure to NaAsO2 leads to behavioral inflexibility in adulthood and cortical disarrangement in the PrL might contribute to this behavioral impairment. PMID:27064386

A Survey of Parents of Children with Cortical or Cerebral Visual Impairment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackel, Bernadette; Wilson, Michelle; Hartmann, Elizabeth

2010-01-01

Cortical or cerebral visual impairment (CVI) can result when the visual pathways and visual processing areas of the brain have been damaged. Children with CVI may have difficulty finding an object among other objects, viewing in the distance, orienting themselves in space, going from grass to pavement or other changes in surface, and copying…

Lateralization of brain activity pattern during unilateral movement in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Wu, Tao; Hou, Yanan; Hallett, Mark; Zhang, Jiarong; Chan, Piu

2015-05-01

We investigated the lateralization of brain activity pattern during performance of unilateral movement in drug-naïve Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with only right hemiparkinsonian symptoms. Functional MRI was obtained when the subjects performed strictly unilateral right hand movement. A laterality index was calculated to examine the lateralization. Patients had decreased activity in the left putamen and left supplementary motor area, but had increased activity in the right primary motor cortex, right premotor cortex, left postcentral gyrus, and bilateral cerebellum. The laterality index was significantly decreased in PD patients compared with controls (0.41 ± 0.14 vs. 0.84 ± 0.09). The connectivity from the left putamen to cortical motor regions and cerebellum was decreased, while the interactions between the cortical motor regions, cerebellum, and right putamen were increased. Our study demonstrates that in early PD, the lateralization of brain activity during unilateral movement is significantly reduced. The dysfunction of the striatum-cortical circuit, decreased transcallosal inhibition, and compensatory efforts from cortical motor regions, cerebellum, and the less affected striatum are likely reasons contributing to the reduced motor lateralization. The disruption of the lateralized brain activity pattern might be a reason underlying some motor deficits in PD, like mirror movements or impaired bilateral motor coordination. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cortical Thinning and Altered Cortico-Cortical Structural Covariance of the Default Mode Network in Patients with Persistent Insomnia Symptoms.

PubMed

Suh, Sooyeon; Kim, Hosung; Dang-Vu, Thien Thanh; Joo, Eunyeon; Shin, Chol

2016-01-01

Recent studies have suggested that structural abnormalities in insomnia may be linked with alterations in the default-mode network (DMN). This study compared cortical thickness and structural connectivity linked to the DMN in patients with persistent insomnia (PI) and good sleepers (GS). The current study used a clinical subsample from the longitudinal community-based Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES). Cortical thickness and structural connectivity linked to the DMN in patients with persistent insomnia symptoms (PIS; n = 57) were compared to good sleepers (GS; n = 40). All participants underwent MRI acquisition. Based on literature review, we selected cortical regions corresponding to the DMN. A seed-based structural covariance analysis measured cortical thickness correlation between each seed region of the DMN and other cortical areas. Association of cortical thickness and covariance with sleep quality and neuropsychological assessments were further assessed. Compared to GS, cortical thinning was found in PIS in the anterior cingulate cortex, precentral cortex, and lateral prefrontal cortex. Decreased structural connectivity between anterior and posterior regions of the DMN was observed in the PIS group. Decreased structural covariance within the DMN was associated with higher PSQI scores. Cortical thinning in the lateral frontal lobe was related to poor performance in executive function in PIS. Disrupted structural covariance network in PIS might reflect malfunctioning of antero-posterior disconnection of the DMN during the wake to sleep transition that is commonly found during normal sleep. The observed structural network alteration may further implicate commonly observed sustained sleep difficulties and cognitive impairment in insomnia. © 2016 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

Cortical thickness abnormalities in late adolescence with online gaming addiction.

PubMed

Yuan, Kai; Cheng, Ping; Dong, Tao; Bi, Yanzhi; Xing, Lihong; Yu, Dahua; Zhao, Limei; Dong, Minghao; von Deneen, Karen M; Liu, Yijun; Qin, Wei; Tian, Jie

2013-01-01

Online gaming addiction, as the most popular subtype of Internet addiction, had gained more and more attention from the whole world. However, the structural differences in cortical thickness of the brain between adolescents with online gaming addiction and healthy controls are not well unknown; neither was its association with the impaired cognitive control ability. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging scans from late adolescence with online gaming addiction (n = 18) and age-, education- and gender-matched controls (n = 18) were acquired. The cortical thickness measurement method was employed to investigate alterations of cortical thickness in individuals with online gaming addiction. The color-word Stroop task was employed to investigate the functional implications of the cortical thickness abnormalities. Imaging data revealed increased cortical thickness in the left precentral cortex, precuneus, middle frontal cortex, inferior temporal and middle temporal cortices in late adolescence with online gaming addiction; meanwhile, the cortical thicknesses of the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), insula, lingual gyrus, the right postcentral gyrus, entorhinal cortex and inferior parietal cortex were decreased. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the cortical thicknesses of the left precentral cortex, precuneus and lingual gyrus correlated with duration of online gaming addiction and the cortical thickness of the OFC correlated with the impaired task performance during the color-word Stroop task in adolescents with online gaming addiction. The findings in the current study suggested that the cortical thickness abnormalities of these regions may be implicated in the underlying pathophysiology of online gaming addiction.

Resting lateralized activity predicts the cortical response and appraisal of emotions: an fNIRS study.

PubMed

Balconi, Michela; Grippa, Elisabetta; Vanutelli, Maria Elide

2015-12-01

This study explored the effect of lateralized left-right resting brain activity on prefrontal cortical responsiveness to emotional cues and on the explicit appraisal (stimulus evaluation) of emotions based on their valence. Indeed subjective responses to different emotional stimuli should be predicted by brain resting activity and should be lateralized and valence-related (positive vs negative valence). A hemodynamic measure was considered (functional near-infrared spectroscopy). Indeed hemodynamic resting activity and brain response to emotional cues were registered when subjects (N = 19) viewed emotional positive vs negative stimuli (IAPS). Lateralized index response during resting state, LI (lateralized index) during emotional processing and self-assessment manikin rating were considered. Regression analysis showed the significant predictive effect of resting activity (more left or right lateralized) on both brain response and appraisal of emotional cues based on stimuli valence. Moreover, significant effects were found as a function of valence (more right response to negative stimuli; more left response to positive stimuli) during emotion processing. Therefore, resting state may be considered a predictive marker of the successive cortical responsiveness to emotions. The significance of resting condition for emotional behavior was discussed. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment: severe cortical thinning antedates dementia.

PubMed

Gasca-Salas, Carmen; García-Lorenzo, Daniel; Garcia-Garcia, David; Clavero, Pedro; Obeso, José A; Lehericy, Stephane; Rodríguez-Oroz, María C

2017-07-14

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is a risk factor for dementia and thus, it is of interest to elucidate if specific patterns of atrophy in PD-MCI patients are associated with a higher risk of developing dementia. We aim to define pattern(s) of regional atrophy in PD-MCI patients who developed dementia during 31 months of follow-up using cortical thickness analysis Twenty-three PD-MCI patients and 18 controls underwent brain MRI and completed a neuropsychological examination at baseline, PD-MCI patients were followed after a 31 month follow-up in order to assess their progression to dementia. At follow up, 8 PD-MCI patients had converted to dementia (PD-MCI converters) whereas 15 remained as PD-MCI (PD-MCI non-converters). All patients were at least 60 years old and suffered PD ≥ 10 years. There were no baseline differences between the two groups of patients in clinical and neuropsychological variables. The cortex of PD-MCI converters was thinner than that of PD-MCI non-converters, bilaterally in the frontal, insula and the left middle temporal areas, also displaying a more widespread pattern of cortical thinning relative to the controls. This study shows that aged and long-term PD patients with MCI who convert to dementia in the short-mid term suffer a thinning of the cortex in several areas (frontal cortex, and middle temporal lobe and insula), even when their cognitive impairment was similar to that of PD-MCI non-converters. Thus, MRI analysis of cortical thickness may represent a useful measure to identify PD-MCI patients at a higher risk of developing dementia.

Alterations of whole-brain cortical area and thickness in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Li, Chuanming; Wang, Jian; Gui, Li; Zheng, Jian; Liu, Chen; Du, Hanjian

2011-01-01

Gray matter volume and density of several brain regions, determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are decreased in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Animal studies have indicated that changes in cortical area size is relevant to thinking and behavior, but alterations of cortical area and thickness in the brains of individuals with AD or its likely precursor, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), have not been reported. In this study, 25 MCI subjects, 30 AD subjects, and 30 age-matched normal controls were recruited for brain MRI scans and Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ) assessments. Based on the model using FreeSurfer software, two brain lobes were divided into various regions according to the Desikan-Killiany atlas and the cortical area and thickness of every region was compared and analyzed. We found a significant increase in cortical area of several regions in the frontal and temporal cortices, which correlated negatively with MMSE scores, and a significant decrease in cortical area of several regions in the parietal cortex and the cingulate gyrus in AD subjects. Increased cortical area was also seen in some regions of the frontal and temporal cortices in MCI subjects, whereas the cortical thickness of the same regions was decreased. Our observations suggest characteristic differences of the cortical area and thickness in MCI, AD, and normal control subjects, and these changes may help diagnose both MCI and AD.

Cortical Thinning and Altered Cortico-Cortical Structural Covariance of the Default Mode Network in Patients with Persistent Insomnia Symptoms

PubMed Central

Suh, Sooyeon; Kim, Hosung; Dang-Vu, Thien Thanh; Joo, Eunyeon; Shin, Chol

2016-01-01

Study Objectives: Recent studies have suggested that structural abnormalities in insomnia may be linked with alterations in the default-mode network (DMN). This study compared cortical thickness and structural connectivity linked to the DMN in patients with persistent insomnia (PI) and good sleepers (GS). Methods: The current study used a clinical subsample from the longitudinal community-based Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES). Cortical thickness and structural connectivity linked to the DMN in patients with persistent insomnia symptoms (PIS; n = 57) were compared to good sleepers (GS; n = 40). All participants underwent MRI acquisition. Based on literature review, we selected cortical regions corresponding to the DMN. A seed-based structural covariance analysis measured cortical thickness correlation between each seed region of the DMN and other cortical areas. Association of cortical thickness and covariance with sleep quality and neuropsychological assessments were further assessed. Results: Compared to GS, cortical thinning was found in PIS in the anterior cingulate cortex, precentral cortex, and lateral prefrontal cortex. Decreased structural connectivity between anterior and posterior regions of the DMN was observed in the PIS group. Decreased structural covariance within the DMN was associated with higher PSQI scores. Cortical thinning in the lateral frontal lobe was related to poor performance in executive function in PIS. Conclusion: Disrupted structural covariance network in PIS might reflect malfunctioning of antero-posterior disconnection of the DMN during the wake to sleep transition that is commonly found during normal sleep. The observed structural network alteration may further implicate commonly observed sustained sleep difficulties and cognitive impairment in insomnia. Citation: Suh S, Kim H, Dang-Vu TT, Joo E, Shin C. Cortical thinning and altered cortico-cortical structural covariance of the default mode network in patients with

Dissociable Changes of Frontal and Parietal Cortices in Inherent Functional Flexibility across the Human Life Span.

PubMed

Yin, Dazhi; Liu, Wenjing; Zeljic, Kristina; Wang, Zhiwei; Lv, Qian; Fan, Mingxia; Cheng, Wenhong; Wang, Zheng

2016-09-28

Extensive evidence suggests that frontoparietal regions can dynamically update their pattern of functional connectivity, supporting cognitive control and adaptive implementation of task demands. However, it is largely unknown whether this flexibly functional reconfiguration is intrinsic and occurs even in the absence of overt tasks. Based on recent advances in dynamics of resting-state functional resonance imaging (fMRI), we propose a probabilistic framework in which dynamic reconfiguration of intrinsic functional connectivity between each brain region and others can be represented as a probability distribution. A complexity measurement (i.e., entropy) was used to quantify functional flexibility, which characterizes heterogeneous connectivity between a particular region and others over time. Following this framework, we identified both functionally flexible and specialized regions over the human life span (112 healthy subjects from 13 to 76 years old). Across brainwide regions, we found regions showing high flexibility mainly in the higher-order association cortex, such as the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), lateral parietal cortex, and lateral temporal lobules. In contrast, visual, auditory, and sensory areas exhibited low flexibility. Furthermore, we observed that flexibility of the right LPFC improved during maturation and reduced due to normal aging, with the opposite occurring for the left lateral parietal cortex. Our findings reveal dissociable changes of frontal and parietal cortices over the life span in terms of inherent functional flexibility. This study not only provides a new framework to quantify the spatiotemporal behavior of spontaneous brain activity, but also sheds light on the organizational principle behind changes in brain function across the human life span. Recent neuroscientific research has demonstrated that the human capability of adaptive task control is primarily the result of the flexible operation of frontal brain networks. However

Pronounced impairment of everyday skills and self-care in posterior cortical atrophy.

PubMed

Shakespeare, Timothy J; Yong, Keir X X; Foxe, David; Hodges, John; Crutch, Sebastian J

2015-01-01

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a neurodegenerative syndrome characterized by progressive visual dysfunction and parietal, occipital, and occipitotemporal atrophy. The aim of this study was to compare the impact of PCA and typical Alzheimer's disease (tAD) on everyday functional abilities and neuropsychiatric status. The Cambridge Behavioural Inventory-Revised was given to carers of 32 PCA and 71 tAD patients. PCA patients showed significantly greater impairment in everyday skills and self-care while the tAD group showed greater impairment in aspects of memory and orientation, and motivation. We suggest that PCA poses specific challenges for those caring for people affected by the condition.

Cortical Thickness Abnormalities in Late Adolescence with Online Gaming Addiction

PubMed Central

Yuan, Kai; Cheng, Ping; Dong, Tao; Bi, Yanzhi; Xing, Lihong; Yu, Dahua; Zhao, Limei; Dong, Minghao; von Deneen, Karen M.; Liu, Yijun; Qin, Wei; Tian, Jie

2013-01-01

Online gaming addiction, as the most popular subtype of Internet addiction, had gained more and more attention from the whole world. However, the structural differences in cortical thickness of the brain between adolescents with online gaming addiction and healthy controls are not well unknown; neither was its association with the impaired cognitive control ability. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging scans from late adolescence with online gaming addiction (n = 18) and age-, education- and gender-matched controls (n = 18) were acquired. The cortical thickness measurement method was employed to investigate alterations of cortical thickness in individuals with online gaming addiction. The color-word Stroop task was employed to investigate the functional implications of the cortical thickness abnormalities. Imaging data revealed increased cortical thickness in the left precentral cortex, precuneus, middle frontal cortex, inferior temporal and middle temporal cortices in late adolescence with online gaming addiction; meanwhile, the cortical thicknesses of the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), insula, lingual gyrus, the right postcentral gyrus, entorhinal cortex and inferior parietal cortex were decreased. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the cortical thicknesses of the left precentral cortex, precuneus and lingual gyrus correlated with duration of online gaming addiction and the cortical thickness of the OFC correlated with the impaired task performance during the color-word Stroop task in adolescents with online gaming addiction. The findings in the current study suggested that the cortical thickness abnormalities of these regions may be implicated in the underlying pathophysiology of online gaming addiction. PMID:23326379

Diagnostic Significance of Cortical Superficial Siderosis for Alzheimer Disease in Patients with Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Inoue, Y; Nakajima, M; Uetani, H; Hirai, T; Ueda, M; Kitajima, M; Utsunomiya, D; Watanabe, M; Hashimoto, M; Ikeda, M; Yamashita, Y; Ando, Y

2016-02-01

Because the diagnostic significance of cortical superficial siderosis for Alzheimer disease and the association between cortical superficial siderosis and the topographic distribution of cerebral microbleeds have been unclear, we investigated the association between cortical superficial siderosis and clinicoradiologic characteristics of patients with cognitive impairment. We studied 347 patients (217 women, 130 men; mean age, 74 ± 9 years) who visited our memory clinic and underwent MR imaging (3T SWI). We analyzed the association between cortical superficial siderosis and the topographic distribution of cerebral microbleeds plus clinical characteristics including types of dementia. We used multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine the diagnostic significance of cortical superficial siderosis for Alzheimer disease. Twelve patients (3.5%) manifested cortical superficial siderosis. They were older (P = .026) and had strictly lobar cerebral microbleeds significantly more often than did patients without cortical superficial siderosis (50.0% versus 19.4%, P = .02); the occurrence of strictly deep and mixed cerebral microbleeds, however, did not differ in the 2 groups. Alzheimer disease was diagnosed in 162 (46.7%) patients. Of these, 8 patients (4.9%) had cortical superficial siderosis. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis for the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease, lacunar infarcts were negatively and independently associated with Alzheimer disease (P = .007). Although cortical superficial siderosis was associated with a strictly lobar cerebral microbleed location, it was not independently associated with Alzheimer disease in a memory clinic setting. Additional studies are required to investigate the temporal changes of these cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related MR imaging findings. © 2016 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

Higher Education is Not Associated with Greater Cortical Thickness in Brain Areas Related to Literacy or Intelligence in Normal Aging or Mild Cognitive Impairment

PubMed Central

Pillai, Jagan A.; McEvoy, Linda K.; Hagler, Donald J.; Holland, Dominic; Dale, Anders M.; Salmon, David P.; Galasko, Douglas; Fennema-Notestine, Christine

2012-01-01

Education may reduce risk of dementia through passive reserve, by increasing neural substrate. We tested the hypotheses that education is associated with thicker cortex and reduced rates of atrophy in brain regions related to literacy and intellectual ability. Healthy older adults and those with mild cognitive impairment were categorized into High (≥18 yrs) and Low (≤13 yrs) education groups. Higher education was associated with thinner cortices in several areas, but one-year atrophy rates in these areas did not differ by education group. These results do not support a passive reserve model in which early life education protects against dementia by increasing cortical thickness. Connectivity and synaptic efficiency, or other lifestyle factors may more directly reflect cognitive reserve. PMID:22905705

Progressive Cortical Neuronal Damage and Chronic Hemodynamic Impairment in Atherosclerotic Major Cerebral Artery Disease.

PubMed

Yamauchi, Hiroshi; Kagawa, Shinya; Kishibe, Yoshihiko; Takahashi, Masaaki; Higashi, Tatsuya

2016-06-01

Cross-sectional studies suggest that chronic hemodynamic impairment may cause selective cortical neuronal damage in patients with atherosclerotic internal carotid artery or middle cerebral artery occlusive disease. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to determine whether the progression of cortical neuronal damage, evaluated as a decrease in central benzodiazepine receptors (BZRs), is associated with hemodynamic impairment at baseline or hemodynamic deterioration during follow-up. We evaluated the distribution of BZRs twice using positron emission tomography and (11)C-flumazenil over time in 80 medically treated patients with atherosclerotic internal carotid artery or middle cerebral artery occlusive disease that had no ischemic episodes during follow-up. Using 3D stereotactic surface projections, we quantified abnormal decreases in the BZRs in the cerebral cortex within the middle cerebral artery distribution and correlated changes in the BZR index with the mean hemispheric values of hemodynamic parameters obtained from (15)O gas positron emission tomography. In the hemisphere affected by arterial disease, the BZR index in 40 patients (50%) was increased during follow-up (mean 26±20 months). In multivariable logistic regression analyses, increases in the BZR index were associated with the decreased cerebral blood flow at baseline and an increased oxygen extraction fraction during follow-up. Increases in the oxygen extraction fraction during follow-up were associated with a lack of statin use. In patients with atherosclerotic internal carotid artery or middle cerebral artery disease, the progression of cortical neuronal damage was associated with hemodynamic impairment at baseline and hemodynamic deterioration during follow-up. Statin use may be beneficial against hemodynamic deterioration and therefore neuroprotective. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

Stamina in later life.

PubMed

Colerick, E J

1985-01-01

Patterns of aging raise a number of important questions concerning the paths to successful adaptation. What gives some older individuals their staying power in the face of misfortune? What causes others to function less effectively when stressed, to resist change? Clearly, the margin of safety, the degree of elasticity and resilience varies across individuals in the later years. This study focuses on event histories and current behavior of 62 elderly men and women (Phase I) and reports by their confidants (N = 62; Phase II). A central proposition, that stamina in later life depends, in part, on the appraisal of previous events involving loss is investigated using a model that incorporates aspects of earlier life, cognitive appraisal and clinically judged dimensions of stamina in old age. Multivariate (particularly path analytic) techniques are used to test the links between variable foci. Results suggest that antecedents of stamina involve the interaction of social resources and cognitive orientations. Specifically, stamina in later life is contingent, for the most part, on a triumphant, positive outlook during periods of adversity. Elderly so oriented are also those with robust health histories and marked educational accomplishments. Conversely, persons who view situations involving loss as threatening, overwhelming and potentially defeating experience no such outcome; low levels of stamina mark their later years. Interestingly, quality childhood ties matter for stamina in old age only by increasing the likelihood of perceptions of a supportive environment during hard times. The findings corroborate the general pattern of research documenting the importance of cognitive orientations in adaptive processes.

Sex, Age, and Cognitive Correlates of Asymmetries in Thickness of the Cortical Mantle Across the Life Span

PubMed Central

Plessen, Kerstin J.; Hugdahl, Kenneth; Bansal, Ravi; Hao, Xuejun

2014-01-01

We assessed the correlations of age, sex, and cognitive performance with measures of asymmetry in cortical thickness on high-resolution MRIs in 215 healthy human children and adults, 7–59 years of age. A left > right asymmetry in thickness of the cortical mantle was present throughout the entire lateral, dorsal, and mesial surfaces of the frontal lobe, extending into primary sensory, superior parietal, and anterior superior temporal cortices. A right > left asymmetry was present in the lateral, mesial, and dorsal surfaces of the posterior temporal, parietal, and occipital cortices, as well as in the entire inferior surface of the brain. An exaggerated left > right asymmetry was detected in females in anterior brain regions, and an exaggerated right > left asymmetry was detected in males in the orbitofrontal, inferior parietal, and inferior occipital cortices. Weaker moderating effects of sex were scattered along the mesial surface of the brain. Age significantly moderated asymmetry measures in the inferior sensorimotor, inferior parietal, posterior temporal, and inferior occipital cortices. The age × asymmetry interaction derived from a steeper decline in cortical thickness with age in the right hemisphere than in the left on the lateral surface, whereas it derived from a steeper decline with age in the left hemisphere than in the right on the mesial surface. Finally, measures of performance on working memory and vocabulary tasks improved with increasing magnitudes of normal asymmetries in regions thought to support these cognitive capacities. PMID:24790200

Sex, age, and cognitive correlates of asymmetries in thickness of the cortical mantle across the life span.

PubMed

Plessen, Kerstin J; Hugdahl, Kenneth; Bansal, Ravi; Hao, Xuejun; Peterson, Bradley S

2014-04-30

We assessed the correlations of age, sex, and cognitive performance with measures of asymmetry in cortical thickness on high-resolution MRIs in 215 healthy human children and adults, 7-59 years of age. A left > right asymmetry in thickness of the cortical mantle was present throughout the entire lateral, dorsal, and mesial surfaces of the frontal lobe, extending into primary sensory, superior parietal, and anterior superior temporal cortices. A right > left asymmetry was present in the lateral, mesial, and dorsal surfaces of the posterior temporal, parietal, and occipital cortices, as well as in the entire inferior surface of the brain. An exaggerated left > right asymmetry was detected in females in anterior brain regions, and an exaggerated right > left asymmetry was detected in males in the orbitofrontal, inferior parietal, and inferior occipital cortices. Weaker moderating effects of sex were scattered along the mesial surface of the brain. Age significantly moderated asymmetry measures in the inferior sensorimotor, inferior parietal, posterior temporal, and inferior occipital cortices. The age × asymmetry interaction derived from a steeper decline in cortical thickness with age in the right hemisphere than in the left on the lateral surface, whereas it derived from a steeper decline with age in the left hemisphere than in the right on the mesial surface. Finally, measures of performance on working memory and vocabulary tasks improved with increasing magnitudes of normal asymmetries in regions thought to support these cognitive capacities.

Methamphetamine Induces Anhedonic-Like Behavior and Impairs Frontal Cortical Energetics in Mice.

PubMed

Fonseca, Raquel; Carvalho, Rui A; Lemos, Cristina; Sequeira, Ana C; Pita, Inês R; Carvalho, Fábio; Silva, Carlos D; Prediger, Rui D S; Jarak, Ivana; Cunha, Rodrigo A; Fontes Ribeiro, Carlos A; Köfalvi, Attila; Pereira, Frederico C

2017-02-01

We recently showed that a single high dose of methamphetamine (METH) induces a persistent frontal cortical monoamine depletion that is accompanied by helpless-like behavior in mice. However, brain metabolic alterations underlying both neurochemical and mood alterations remain unknown. Herein, we aimed at characterizing frontal cortical metabolic alterations associated with early negative mood behavior triggered by METH. Adult C57BL/6 mice were injected with METH (30 mg/kg, i.p.), and their frontal cortical metabolic status was characterized after probing their mood and anxiety-related phenotypes 3 days postinjection. Methamphetamine induced depressive-like behavior, as indicated by the decreased grooming time in the splash test and by a transient decrease in sucrose preference. At this time, METH did not alter anxiety-like behavior or motor functions. Depolarization-induced glucose uptake was reduced in frontocortical slices from METH-treated mice compared to controls. Consistently, astrocytic glucose transporter (GluT1) density was lower in the METH group. A proton high rotation magic angle spinning (HRMAS) spectroscopic approach revealed that METH induced a significant decrease in N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) and glutamate levels, suggesting that METH decreased neuronal glutamatergic function in frontal cortex. We report, for the first time, that a single METH injection triggers early self-care and hedonic deficits and impairs frontal cortical energetics in mice. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Discriminant analysis of multiple cortical changes in mild cognitive impairment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Congling; Guo, Shengwen; Lai, Chunren; Wu, Yupeng; Zhao, Di; Jiang, Xingjun

2017-02-01

To reveal the differences in brain structures and morphological changes between the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and the normal control (NC), analyze and predict the risk of MCI conversion. First, the baseline and 2-year longitudinal follow-up magnetic resonance (MR) images of 73 NC, 46 patients with stable MCI (sMCI) and 40 patients with converted MCI (cMCI) were selected. Second, the FreeSurfer was used to extract the cortical features, including the cortical thickness, surface area, gray matter volume and mean curvature. Third, the support vector machine-recursive feature elimination method (SVM-RFE) were adopted to determine salient features for effective discrimination. Finally, the distribution and importance of essential brain regions were described. The experimental results showed that the cortical thickness and gray matter volume exhibited prominent capability in discrimination, and surface area and mean curvature behaved relatively weak. Furthermore, the combination of different morphological features, especially the baseline combined with the longitudinal changes, can be used to evidently improve the performance of classification. In addition, brain regions with high weights predominately located in the temporal lobe and the frontal lobe, which were relative to emotional control and memory functions. It suggests that there were significant different patterns in the brain structure and changes between the compared group, which could not only be effectively applied for classification, but also be used to evaluate and predict the conversion of the patients with MCI.

The Effects of Training on a Young Child with Cortical Visual Impairment: An Exploratory Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lueck, Amanda Hall; Dornbusch, Helen; Hart, Jeri

1999-01-01

This exploratory study investigated the effects of the components of visual environmental management, visual skills training, and visually dependent task training on the performance of visual behaviors of a toddler with multiple disabilities including cortical visual impairment. Training components were implemented by the mother during daily…

Age of Migration Differentials in Life Expectancy with Cognitive Impairment: 20-Year Findings From the Hispanic-EPESE.

PubMed

Garcia, Marc A; Saenz, Joseph L; Downer, Brian; Chiu, Chi-Tsun; Rote, Sunshine; Wong, Rebeca

2017-05-09

To examine differences in life expectancy with cognitive impairment among older Mexican adults according to nativity (U.S.-born/foreign-born) and among immigrants, age of migration to the United States. This study employs 20 years of data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly to estimate the proportion of life spent cognitively healthy and cognitively impaired prior to death among older Mexican adults residing in the southwestern United States. We combine age-specific mortality rates with age-specific prevalence of cognitive impairment, defined as a Mini-Mental Status Exam score of less than 21 points to calculate Sullivan-based life table models with and without cognitive impairment in later life. Foreign-born Mexican immigrants have longer total life expectancy and comparable cognitive healthy life expectancy regardless of gender compared to U.S.-born Mexican-Americans. However, the foreign-born spend a greater number of years after age 65 with cognitive impairment relative to their U.S.-born counterparts. Furthermore, we document an advantage in life expectancy with cognitive impairment and proportion of years after age 65 cognitively healthy among mid-life immigrant men and women relative to early- and late-life migrants. The relationship between nativity, age of migration, and life expectancy with cognitive impairment means that the foreign-born are in more need of support and time-intensive care in late life. This issue merits special attention to develop appropriate and targeted screening efforts that reduce cognitive decline for diverse subgroups of older Mexican-origin adults as they age. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Hearing-impaired adults are at increased risk of experiencing emotional distress and social engagement restrictions five years later.

PubMed

Gopinath, Bamini; Hickson, Louise; Schneider, Julie; McMahon, Catherine M; Burlutsky, George; Leeder, Stephen R; Mitchell, Paul

2012-09-01

we aimed to assess both cross-sectional and temporal links between measured hearing impairment and self-perceived hearing handicap, and health outcomes. in total, 811 Blue Mountains Hearing Study participants (Sydney, Australia) aged ≥55 years were examined twice (1997-99 and 2002-04). Hearing levels were measured with pure-tone audiometry. The shortened version of the hearing handicap inventory (HHIE-S) was administered, scores ≥8 defined hearing handicap. baseline hearing impairment was strongly associated with 7 of the 10 HHIE-S questions, 5 years later. Individuals with and without hearing impairment at baseline reported that they felt embarrassed and/or frustrated by their hearing problem, and that it hampered their personal/social life, multivariable-adjusted OR: 11.5 (CI: 3.5-38.1), OR: 6.3 (CI: 2.5-15.7) and OR: 6.0 (CI: 2.1-17.5), respectively, 5 years later. Hearing-impaired, compared with non-hearing-impaired adults had a significantly higher risk of developing moderate or severe hearing handicap, OR: 3.35 (CI: 1.91-5.90) and OR: 6.60 (CI: 1.45-30.00), respectively. Cross-sectionally (at wave 2), hearing handicap increased the odds of depressive symptoms and low self-rated health by 80 and 46%, respectively. older, hearing-impaired adults were significantly more likely to experience emotional distress and social engagement restrictions (self-perceived hearing handicap) directly due to their hearing impairment.

Laterality judgments are not impaired in patients with chronic whiplash associated disorders.

PubMed

Pedler, Ashley; Motlagh, Helena; Sterling, Michele

2013-02-01

Impaired integration of the body schema with motor processes may contribute to painful and/or restricted movement in chronic pain. Laterality judgment tasks assess this integration of the body schema with motor processes. The purpose of this study was to assess if patients with chronic whiplash associated disorders (WAD) are impaired on laterality judgment tasks. Accuracy (ACC) and reaction time (RT) for foot and neck laterality tasks were assessed in 64 (35 female) patients with chronic (>6 months) WAD and 24 (14 female) asymptomatic subjects. Pain characteristics, post-traumatic stress symptoms, cold pain thresholds (CPT) and pressure pain thresholds (PPT) were collected for patients with WAD. The effect of WAD and body part on laterality task performance was assessed. For patients with WAD, the correlations between neck task performance and pain characteristics, post-traumatic stress symptoms and pain thresholds were assessed. There was no effect of group on laterality performance. Subjects showed better RT (p < 0.001) and ACC (p = 0.001) on the neck task in comparison to the foot task. There was a significant correlation between CPT and ACC (r = 0.33) and RT (r = -0.33) on the neck laterality task in patients with WAD. Cervical spine PPT were significantly correlated with accuracy (r = 0.36) and RT (r = 0.29) in patients with WAD. These findings suggest that patients with chronic WAD are not impaired on neck or foot laterality judgment tasks. Laterality training is not indicated in the management of chronic WAD. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vascular cognitive impairment and dementia.

PubMed

Gorelick, Philip B; Counts, Scott E; Nyenhuis, David

2016-05-01

Vascular contributions to cognitive impairment are receiving heightened attention as potentially modifiable factors for dementias of later life. These factors have now been linked not only to vascular cognitive disorders but also Alzheimer's disease. In this chapter we review 3 related topics that address vascular contributions to cognitive impairment: 1. vascular pathogenesis and mechanisms; 2. neuropsychological and neuroimaging phenotypic manifestations of cerebrovascular disease; and 3. prospects for prevention of cognitive impairment of later life based on cardiovascular and stroke risk modification. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia edited by M. Paul Murphy, Roderick A. Corriveau and Donna M. Wilcock. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Basic visual function and cortical thickness patterns in posterior cortical atrophy.

PubMed

Lehmann, Manja; Barnes, Josephine; Ridgway, Gerard R; Wattam-Bell, John; Warrington, Elizabeth K; Fox, Nick C; Crutch, Sebastian J

2011-09-01

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is characterized by a progressive decline in higher-visual object and space processing, but the extent to which these deficits are underpinned by basic visual impairments is unknown. This study aimed to assess basic and higher-order visual deficits in 21 PCA patients. Basic visual skills including form detection and discrimination, color discrimination, motion coherence, and point localization were measured, and associations and dissociations between specific basic visual functions and measures of higher-order object and space perception were identified. All participants showed impairment in at least one aspect of basic visual processing. However, a number of dissociations between basic visual skills indicated a heterogeneous pattern of visual impairment among the PCA patients. Furthermore, basic visual impairments were associated with particular higher-order object and space perception deficits, but not with nonvisual parietal tasks, suggesting the specific involvement of visual networks in PCA. Cortical thickness analysis revealed trends toward lower cortical thickness in occipitotemporal (ventral) and occipitoparietal (dorsal) regions in patients with visuoperceptual and visuospatial deficits, respectively. However, there was also a lot of overlap in their patterns of cortical thinning. These findings suggest that different presentations of PCA represent points in a continuum of phenotypical variation.

How elderly nursing home residents transcend losses of later life.

PubMed

Bickerstaff, Kathleen A; Grasser, Carol M; McCabe, Barbara

2003-01-01

Losses of later life can prove overwhelming to older adults. Some elderly persons seem to cope with these losses with a spirit of acceptance and serenity. The purpose of this study was to identify qualities in selected nursing home residents that allow them to transcend difficulties and continue living with some degree of contentment and satisfaction. Qualitative data were obtained in taped interviews from 95 functionally impaired residents (mean age 82.16 years). Content analysis resulted in several themes supporting the spiritual perspective of Reed's theory of self-transcendence: generativity, introjectivity, temporal integration, body-transcendence, and relationship with self, others, and a higher being.

High-Resolution 7T MR Imaging of the Motor Cortex in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

PubMed

Cosottini, M; Donatelli, G; Costagli, M; Caldarazzo Ienco, E; Frosini, D; Pesaresi, I; Biagi, L; Siciliano, G; Tosetti, M

2016-03-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive motor neuron disorder that involves degeneration of both upper and lower motor neurons. In patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, pathologic studies and ex vivo high-resolution MR imaging at ultra-high field strength revealed the co-localization of iron and activated microglia distributed in the deep layers of the primary motor cortex. The aims of the study were to measure the cortical thickness and evaluate the distribution of iron-related signal changes in the primary motor cortex of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as possible in vivo biomarkers of upper motor neuron impairment. Twenty-two patients with definite amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 14 healthy subjects underwent a high-resolution 2D multiecho gradient-recalled sequence targeted on the primary motor cortex by using a 7T scanner. Image analysis consisted of the visual evaluation and quantitative measurement of signal intensity and cortical thickness of the primary motor cortex in patients and controls. Qualitative and quantitative MR imaging parameters were correlated with electrophysiologic and laboratory data and with clinical scores. Ultra-high field MR imaging revealed atrophy and signal hypointensity in the deep layers of the primary motor cortex of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with a diagnostic accuracy of 71%. Signal hypointensity of the deep layers of the primary motor cortex correlated with upper motor neuron impairment (r = -0.47; P < .001) and with disease progression rate (r = -0.60; P = .009). The combined high spatial resolution and sensitivity to paramagnetic substances of 7T MR imaging demonstrate in vivo signal changes of the cerebral motor cortex that resemble the distribution of activated microglia within the cortex of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Cortical thinning and signal hypointensity of the deep layers of the primary motor cortex could constitute a marker of upper motor neuron

Cortical network architecture for context processing in primate brain

PubMed Central

Chao, Zenas C; Nagasaka, Yasuo; Fujii, Naotaka

2015-01-01

Context is information linked to a situation that can guide behavior. In the brain, context is encoded by sensory processing and can later be retrieved from memory. How context is communicated within the cortical network in sensory and mnemonic forms is unknown due to the lack of methods for high-resolution, brain-wide neuronal recording and analysis. Here, we report the comprehensive architecture of a cortical network for context processing. Using hemisphere-wide, high-density electrocorticography, we measured large-scale neuronal activity from monkeys observing videos of agents interacting in situations with different contexts. We extracted five context-related network structures including a bottom-up network during encoding and, seconds later, cue-dependent retrieval of the same network with the opposite top-down connectivity. These findings show that context is represented in the cortical network as distributed communication structures with dynamic information flows. This study provides a general methodology for recording and analyzing cortical network neuronal communication during cognition. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06121.001 PMID:26416139

Subcortical atrophy is associated with cognitive impairment in mild Parkinson disease: a combined investigation of volumetric changes, cortical thickness, and vertex-based shape analysis.

PubMed

Mak, E; Bergsland, N; Dwyer, M G; Zivadinov, R; Kandiah, N

2014-12-01

The involvement of subcortical deep gray matter and cortical thinning associated with mild Parkinson disease remains poorly understood. We assessed cortical thickness and subcortical volumes in patients with Parkinson disease without dementia and evaluated their associations with cognitive dysfunction. The study included 90 patients with mild Parkinson disease without dementia. Neuropsychological assessments classified the sample into patients with mild cognitive impairment (n = 25) and patients without cognitive impairment (n = 65). Volumetric data for subcortical structures were obtained by using the FMRIB Integrated Registration and Segmentation Tool while whole-brain, gray and white matter volumes were estimated by using Structural Image Evaluation, with Normalization of Atrophy. Vertex-based shape analyses were performed to investigate shape differences in subcortical structures. Vertex-wise group differences in cortical thickness were also assessed. Volumetric comparisons between Parkinson disease with mild cognitive impairment and Parkinson disease with no cognitive impairment were performed by using ANCOVA. Associations of subcortical structures with both cognitive function and disease severity were assessed by using linear regression models. Compared with Parkinson disease with no cognitive impairment, Parkinson disease with mild cognitive impairment demonstrated reduced volumes of the thalamus (P = .03) and the nucleus accumbens (P = .04). Significant associations were found for the nucleus accumbens and putamen with performances on the attention/working memory domains (P < .05) and nucleus accumbens and language domains (P = .04). The 2 groups did not differ in measures of subcortical shape or in cortical thickness. Patients with Parkinson disease with mild cognitive impairment demonstrated reduced subcortical volumes, which were associated with cognitive deficits. The thalamus, nucleus accumbens, and putamen may serve as potential biomarkers for

Fear conditioning leads to alteration in specific genes expression in cortical and thalamic neurons that project to the lateral amygdala.

PubMed

Katz, Ira K; Lamprecht, Raphael

2015-02-01

RNA transcription is needed for memory formation. However, the ability to identify genes whose expression is altered by learning is greatly impaired because of methodological difficulties in profiling gene expression in specific neurons involved in memory formation. Here, we report a novel approach to monitor the expression of genes after learning in neurons in specific brain pathways needed for memory formation. In this study, we aimed to monitor gene expression after fear learning. We retrogradely labeled discrete thalamic neurons that project to the lateral amygdala (LA) of rats. The labeled neurons were dissected, using laser microdissection microscopy, after fear conditioning learning or unpaired training. The RNAs from the dissected neurons were subjected to microarray analysis. The levels of selected RNAs detected by the microarray analysis to be altered by fear conditioning were also assessed by nanostring analysis. We observed that the expression of genes involved in the regulation of translation, maturation and degradation of proteins was increased 6 h after fear conditioning compared to unpaired or naïve trained rats. These genes were not expressed 24 h after training or in cortical neurons that project to the LA. The expression of genes involved in transcription regulation and neuronal development was altered after fear conditioning learning in the cortical-LA pathway. The present study provides key information on the identity of genes expressed in discrete thalamic and cortical neurons that project to the LA after fear conditioning. Such an approach could also serve to identify gene products as targets for the development of a new generation of therapeutic agents that could be aimed to functionally identified brain circuits to treat memory-related disorders. © 2014 International Society for Neurochemistry.

Long-term exposure to noise impairs cortical sound processing and attention control.

PubMed

Kujala, Teija; Shtyrov, Yury; Winkler, Istvan; Saher, Marieke; Tervaniemi, Mari; Sallinen, Mikael; Teder-Sälejärvi, Wolfgang; Alho, Kimmo; Reinikainen, Kalevi; Näätänen, Risto

2004-11-01

Long-term exposure to noise impairs human health, causing pathological changes in the inner ear as well as other anatomical and physiological deficits. Numerous individuals are daily exposed to excessive noise. However, there is a lack of systematic research on the effects of noise on cortical function. Here we report data showing that long-term exposure to noise has a persistent effect on central auditory processing and leads to concurrent behavioral deficits. We found that speech-sound discrimination was impaired in noise-exposed individuals, as indicated by behavioral responses and the mismatch negativity brain response. Furthermore, irrelevant sounds increased the distractibility of the noise-exposed subjects, which was shown by increased interference in task performance and aberrant brain responses. These results demonstrate that long-term exposure to noise has long-lasting detrimental effects on central auditory processing and attention control.

Effects of lateral cortical anchorage on the primary stability of implants subjected to controlled loads: an in vitro study.

PubMed

Xiao, Jian-rui; Li, Yong-Qi; Guan, Su-Min; Kong, Liang; Liu, Baolin; Li, Dehua

2012-03-01

Our aim was to evaluate the effects of lateral cortical anchorage on the primary stability of implants subjected to immediate loading. Implants were placed into bovine bones with monocortical anchorage (implant placed through the cortical bone of the crest) and bicortical anchorage (the crest cortical bone plus one cortical bone on the lateral side). Loads of 25N and 50N were applied to the implants in different cycles. The implant stability quotient (ISQ) was measured before and after the cyclic loadings. Under 25N load there was no difference in ISQ between 1800 cyclic loading and preloading, but the values decreased significantly after 3600 cyclic loading in both groups (p<0.05). Under a 50N load the ISQ value after 1800 and 3600 cyclic loading decreased in the monocortical group (p<0.05), but there was no difference between 1800 cyclic loading and preloading in the bicortical group, and the ISQ in the bicortical group was higher than in the monocortical group after 1800 cyclic loading (p<0.05). Our results suggest that the stability of implants with bicortical anchorage decreased more slowly under higher loads. Copyright © 2011 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cortical parvalbumin GABAergic deficits with α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor deletion: Implications for schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Lin, Hong; Hsu, Fu-Chun; Baumann, Bailey H.; Coulter, Douglas A.; Anderson, Stewart A.; Lynch, David R.

2014-01-01

Dysfunction of cortical parvalbumin (PV)-containing GABAergic interneurons has been implicated in cognitive deficits of schizophrenia. In humans microdeletion of the CHRNA7 (α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, nAChR) gene is associated with cortical dysfunction in a broad spectrum of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia while in mice similar deletion causes analogous abnormalities including impaired attention, working-memory and learning. However, the pathophysiological roles of α7 nAChRs in cortical PV GABAergic development remain largely uncharacterized. In both in vivo and in vitro models, we identify here that deletion of the α7 nAChR gene in mice impairs cortical PV GABAergic development and recapitulates many of the characteristic neurochemical deficits in PV-positive GABAergic interneurons found in schizophrenia. α7 nAChR null mice had decreased cortical levels of GABAergic markers including PV, Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase 65/67 (GAD65/67) and the α1 subunit of GABAA receptors, particularly reductions of PV and GAD67 levels in cortical PV-positive interneurons during late postnatal life and adulthood. Cortical GABAergic synaptic deficits were identified in the prefrontal cortex of α7 nAChR null mice and α7 nAChR null cortical cultures. Similar disruptions in development of PV-positive GABAergic interneurons and perisomatic synapses were found in cortical cultures lacking α7 nAChRs. Moreover, NMDA receptor expression was reduced in GABAergic interneurons, implicating NMDA receptor hypofunction in GABAergic deficits in α7 nAChR null mice. Our findings thus demonstrate impaired cortical PV GABAergic development and multiple characteristic neurochemical deficits reminiscent of schizophrenia in cortical PV-positive interneurons in α7 nAChR gene deletion models. This implicates crucial roles of α7 nAChRs in cortical PV GABAergic development and dysfunction in schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders. PMID

Spontaneous and training-induced cortical plasticity in MD patients: Hints from lateral masking.

PubMed

Maniglia, Marcello; Soler, Vincent; Cottereau, Benoit; Trotter, Yves

2018-01-08

Macular degeneration (MD) affects central vision and represents the leading cause of visual diseases in elderly population worldwide. As a consequence of central vision loss, MD patients develop a preferred retinal locus (PRL), an eccentric fixation point that replaces the fovea. Here, our aim was to determine whether and to what extent spontaneous plasticity takes place in the cortical regions formerly responding to central vision and whether a visual training based on perceptual learning (PL) can boost this plasticity within the PRL area. Spontaneous and PL-induced cortical plasticity were characterized by using lateral masking, a contrast sensitivity modulation induced by collinear flankers. This configuration is known to be sensitive to neural plasticity and underlies several rehabilitation trainings. Results in a group of 4 MD patients showed that collinear facilitation was similar to what observed in age- and eccentricity-matched controls. However, MD patients exhibited significantly reduced collinear inhibition, a sign of neural plasticity, consistent with the hypothesis of partial cortical reorganization. Three AMD patients from the same group showed a further reduction of inhibition after training, but not controls. This result suggests that PL might further boost neural plasticity, opening promising perspectives for the development of rehabilitation protocols for MD patients.

Preeclampsia and health risks later in life: an immunological link.

PubMed

Cheng, Shi-Bin; Sharma, Surendra

2016-11-01

Pregnancy represents a period of physiological stress, and although this stress is experienced for a very modest portion of life, it is now recognized as a window to women's future health, often by unmasking predispositions to conditions that only become symptomatic later in life. In normal pregnancy, the mother experiences mild metabolic syndrome-like condition through week 20 of gestation. A pronounced phenotype of metabolic syndrome may program pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a serious complication with a myriad of manifestations for mother and offspring. This pregnancy syndrome is a polygenic disease and has been now linked to higher incidence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and several other disorders associated with vulnerable organs. Furthermore, the offspring born to preeclamptic mothers also exhibit an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and mental disorders during adulthood. This suggests that preeclampsia not only exposes the mother and the fetus to complications during pregnancy but also programs chronic diseases in later life. The etiology of preeclampsia is thought to be primarily associated with poor placentation and entails excessive maternal inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. It is well established now that the maternal immune system and the placenta are involved in a highly choreographed cross-talk that underlies adequate spiral artery remodeling required for uteroplacental perfusion and free flow of nutrients to the fetus. Since normal pregnancy is associated with a sequence of events represented by temporal events of inflammation (implantation), anti-inflammation (gestation), and inflammation (parturition), it is quite possible that unscheduled alterations in these regulatory responses may lead to pathologic consequences. Although it is not clear whether immunological alterations occur early in pregnancy, it is proposed that dysregulated systemic and placental immunity contribute to impaired

Cortical Bony Thickening of the Lateral Intercondylar Wall: The Functional Attachment of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament.

PubMed

Norman, Daniel; Metcalfe, Andrew J; Barlow, Timothy; Hutchinson, Charles E; Thompson, Peter J M; Spalding, Timothy J W; Williams, Mark A

2017-02-01

The anatomy of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) has become the subject of much debate. There has been extensive study into attachment points of the native ligament, especially regarding the femoral attachment. Some of these studies have suggested that fibers in the ACL are of differing functional importance. Fibers with higher functional importance would be expected to exert larger mechanical stress on the bone. According to Wolff's law, cortical thickening would be expected in these areas. To examine cortical thickening in the region of the ACL footprint (ie, the functional footprint of the ACL). Descriptive laboratory study. Using micro-computed tomography with resolutions ranging from 71 to 91 μm, the cortical thickness of the lateral wall of the intercondylar notch in 17 cadaveric knees was examined, along with surface topography. After image processing, the relationship between the cortical thickening and surface topology was visually compared. A pattern of cortical thickening consistent with the functional footprint of the ACL was found. On average, this area was 3 times thicker than the surrounding bone and significantly thicker than the remaining lateral wall ( P < .0001). This thickening was roughly elliptical in shape (with a mean centroid at 23.5 h:31 t on a Bernard and Hertel grid) and had areas higher on the wall where greater thickness was present. The relationship to previously reported osseous landmarks was variable, although the patterns were broadly consistent with those reported in previous studies describing direct and indirect fibers of the ACL. The findings of this study are consistent with those of recent studies describing fibers in the ACL of differing functional importance. The area in which the thickening was found has been defined and is likely to represent the functional footprint of the ACL. This information is of value to surgeons when determining the optimal place to position the femoral attachment site of the reconstructed ACL.

Alterations in Cortical Thickness and White Matter Integrity in Mild Cognitive Impairment Measured by Whole Brain Cortical Thickness Mapping and Diffusion Tensor Imaging

PubMed Central

Wang, Liya; Goldstein, Felicia C.; Veledar, Emir; Levey, Allan I.; Lah, James J.; Meltzer, Carolyn C.; Holder, Chad A.; Mao, Hui

2010-01-01

Background and Purpose Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and can be difficult to diagnose due to the subtlety of symptoms. This work attempted to examine gray and white matter changes with cortical thickness analysis and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in MCI patients and demographically-matched comparison subjects in order to test these measurements as possible imaging markers for diagnosis. Materials and Methods Subjects with amnestic MCI (n=10; age 72.2±7.1) and normal cognition (n=10; age 70.1±7.7) underwent DTI and T1 weighted MRI at 3T. Fractional anisotropy, apparent diffusion coefficient and cortical thickness were measured and compared between MCI and control groups. The diagnostic accuracy of two methods, either in combination or separately, was evaluated using binary logistic regression and nonparametric statistical analyses for sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. Results Decreased FA and increased ADC in white matter regions of frontal and temporal lobes and corpus callosum were observed in MCI patients. Cortical thickness was decreased in gray matter regions of the frontal, temporal, parietal lobes in MCI patients. Changes in white matter and cortical thickness appeared to be more pronounced in the left hemisphere than in the right hemisphere. Furthermore the combination of cortical thickness and DTI measurements in left temporal areas improved the accuracy of differentiating MCI patients from controls compared to either measure alone. Conclusion DTI and cortical thickness analyses may both serve imaging markers for differentiating MCI from normal aging. Combined use of two methods may improve the accuracy of MCI diagnosis. PMID:19279272

Cortical Amyloid β Deposition and Current Depressive Symptoms in Alzheimer Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Chung, Jun Ku; Plitman, Eric; Nakajima, Shinichiro; Chakravarty, M Mallar; Caravaggio, Fernando; Gerretsen, Philip; Iwata, Yusuke; Graff-Guerrero, Ariel

2016-05-01

Depressive symptoms are frequently seen in patients with dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Evidence suggests that there may be a link between current depressive symptoms and Alzheimer disease (AD)-associated pathological changes, such as an increase in cortical amyloid-β (Aβ). However, limited in vivo studies have explored the relationship between current depressive symptoms and cortical Aβ in patients with MCI and AD. Our study, using a large sample of 455 patients with MCI and 153 patients with AD from the Alzheimer's disease Neuroimaging Initiatives, investigated whether current depressive symptoms are related to cortical Aβ deposition. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale and Neuropsychiatric Inventory-depression/dysphoria. Cortical Aβ was quantified using positron emission tomography with the Aβ probe(18)F-florbetapir (AV-45).(18)F-florbetapir standardized uptake value ratio (AV-45 SUVR) from the frontal, cingulate, parietal, and temporal regions was estimated. A global AV-45 SUVR, defined as the average of frontal, cingulate, precuneus, and parietal cortex, was also used. We observed that current depressive symptoms were not related to cortical Aβ, after controlling for potential confounds, including history of major depression. We also observed that there was no difference in cortical Aβ between matched participants with high and low depressive symptoms, as well as no difference between matched participants with the presence and absence of depressive symptoms. The association between depression and cortical Aβ deposition does not exist, but the relationship is highly influenced by stressful events in the past, such as previous depressive episodes, and complex interactions of different pathways underlying both depression and dementia. © The Author(s) 2015.

Altered cortical communication in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Blain-Moraes, Stefanie; Mashour, George A; Lee, Heonsoo; Huggins, Jane E; Lee, Uncheol

2013-05-24

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a disorder associated primarily with the degeneration of the motor system. More recently, functional connectivity studies have demonstrated potentially adaptive changes in ALS brain organization, but disease-related changes in cortical communication remain unknown. We recruited individuals with ALS and age-matched controls to operate a brain-computer interface while electroencephalography was recorded over three sessions. Using normalized symbolic transfer entropy, we measured directed functional connectivity from frontal to parietal (feedback connectivity) and parietal to frontal (feedforward connectivity) regions. Feedback connectivity was not significantly different between groups, but feedforward connectivity was significantly higher in individuals with ALS. This result was consistent across a broad electroencephalographic spectrum (4-35 Hz), and in theta, alpha and beta frequency bands. Feedback connectivity has been associated with conscious state and was found to be independent of ALS symptom severity in this study, which may have significant implications for the detection of consciousness in individuals with advanced ALS. We suggest that increases in feedforward connectivity represent a compensatory response to the ALS-related loss of input such that sensory stimuli have sufficient strength to cross the threshold necessary for conscious processing in the global neuronal workspace. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Longitudinal development of cortical thickness, folding, and fiber density networks in the first 2 years of life.

PubMed

Nie, Jingxin; Li, Gang; Wang, Li; Shi, Feng; Lin, Weili; Gilmore, John H; Shen, Dinggang

2014-08-01

Quantitatively characterizing the development of cortical anatomical networks during the early stage of life plays an important role in revealing the relationship between cortical structural connection and high-level functional development. The development of correlation networks of cortical-thickness, cortical folding, and fiber-density is systematically analyzed in this article to study the relationship between different anatomical properties during the first 2 years of life. Specifically, longitudinal MR images of 73 healthy subjects from birth to 2 year old are used. For each subject at each time point, its measures of cortical thickness, cortical folding, and fiber density are projected to its cortical surface that has been partitioned into 78 cortical regions. Then, the correlation matrices for cortical thickness, cortical folding, and fiber density at each time point can be constructed, respectively, by computing the inter-regional Pearson correlation coefficient (of any pair of ROIs) across all 73 subjects. Finally, the presence/absence pattern (i.e., binary pattern) of the connection network is constructed from each inter-regional correlation matrix, and its statistical and anatomical properties are adopted to analyze the longitudinal development of anatomical networks. The results show that the development of anatomical network could be characterized differently by using different anatomical properties (i.e., using cortical thickness, cortical folding, or fiber density). Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Regional cortical thinning and cerebrospinal biomarkers predict worsening daily functioning across the Alzheimer disease spectrum

PubMed Central

Marshall, Gad A.; Lorius, Natacha; Locascio, Joseph J.; Hyman, Bradley T.; Rentz, Dorene M.; Johnson, Keith A.; Sperling, Reisa A.

2014-01-01

Background Impairment in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) heralds the transition from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia and is a major source of burden for both the patient and caregiver. Objective To investigate the relationship between IADL and regional cortical thinning and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Alzheimer disease (AD) biomarkers cross-sectionally and longitudinally in clinically normal (CN) elderly, MCI, and mild AD dementia subjects. Methods Two hundred and twenty nine CN, 395 MCI, and 188 AD dementia subjects participating in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative underwent baseline magnetic resonance imaging, baseline lumbar puncture, and clinical assessments, including the Functional Activities Questionnaire used to measure IADL, every 6 to 12 months up to 3 years. General linear regression and mixed effects models were employed. Results IADL impairment was associated with the interactions between lower inferior temporal cortical thickness and diagnosis (p<0.0001), greater lateral occipital cortical thickness and diagnosis (p<0.0001), and greater amyloid-beta 1-42 (Aβ1-42) and diagnosis (p=0.0002) at baseline (driven by AD dementia). Lower baseline supramarginal (p=0.02) and inferior temporal (p=0.05) cortical thickness, lower Aβ1-42 (p<0.0001), and greater total tau (t-tau) (p=0.02) were associated with greater rate of IADL impairment over time. Conclusions Temporal atrophy is associated with IADL impairment in mild AD dementia at baseline, while baseline parietal and temporal atrophy, lower CSF Aβ1-42, and greater t-tau predict worsening IADL impairment over time across the AD spectrum. These results emphasize the importance of assessing IADL at the stage of MCI and even at the transition from CN to MCI. PMID:24685624

Hearing Impairment

MedlinePlus

... deafness ) or loses hearing later in life (after learning to hear and speak, which is known as ... Impaired? For people who lose their hearing after learning to speak and hear, it can be difficult ...

Early-life disruption of amphibian microbiota decreases later-life resistance to parasites.

PubMed

Knutie, Sarah A; Wilkinson, Christina L; Kohl, Kevin D; Rohr, Jason R

2017-07-20

Changes in the early-life microbiota of hosts might affect infectious disease risk throughout life, if such disruptions during formative times alter immune system development. Here, we test whether an early-life disruption of host-associated microbiota affects later-life resistance to infections by manipulating the microbiota of tadpoles and challenging them with parasitic gut worms as adults. We find that tadpole bacterial diversity is negatively correlated with parasite establishment in adult frogs: adult frogs that had reduced bacterial diversity as tadpoles have three times more worms than adults without their microbiota manipulated as tadpoles. In contrast, adult bacterial diversity during parasite exposure is not correlated with parasite establishment in adult frogs. Thus, in this experimental setup, an early-life disruption of the microbiota has lasting reductions on host resistance to infections, which is possibly mediated by its effects on immune system development. Our results support the idea that preventing early-life disruption of host-associated microbiota might confer protection against diseases later in life.Early-life microbiota alterations can affect infection susceptibility later in life, in animal models. Here, Knutie et al. show that manipulating the microbiota of tadpoles leads to increased susceptibility to parasitic infection in adult frogs, in the absence of substantial changes in the adults' microbiota.

A new perspective on loneliness in later life.

PubMed

Rane-Szostak, D; Herth, K A

1995-01-01

Loneliness in later life remains a serious problem despite extensive research across the life span. Unfortunately, most studies of loneliness that include older adults focus on individuals who are already lonely; findings suggest interventions dependent upon external factors such as socialization and functional status. Such interventions are not always feasible for older adults, who may have experienced social and functional losses. Nurses must adopt a new perspective in examining loneliness in later life. This new perspective should include a more positive approach that focuses on older adults who are not lonely even though they may have experienced decreased socialization or physical function. Identification of strategies employed by these older individuals may be used to help many elders avoid loneliness and help others cope with the related losses so frequent in later life.

Trait- and state-dependent cortical inhibitory deficits in bipolar disorder.

PubMed

Ruiz-Veguilla, Miguel; Martín-Rodríguez, Juan Francisco; Palomar, Francisco J; Porcacchia, Paolo; Álvarez de Toledo, Paloma; Perona-Garcelán, Salvador; Rodríguez-Testal, Juan Francisco; Huertas-Fernández, Ismael; Mir, Pablo

2016-05-01

Euthymic patients with bipolar disorder (BD) have deficits in cortical inhibition. However, whether cortical inhibitory deficits are trait- or state-dependent impairments is not yet known and their relationship with psychiatric symptoms is not yet understood. In the present study, we examined trait- and state-dependent cortical inhibitory deficits and evaluated the potential clinical significance of these deficits. Nineteen patients with bipolar I disorder were evaluated using the paired-pulse transcranial stimulation protocol, which assessed cortical inhibition during an acute manic episode. Cortical inhibition measures were compared with those obtained in 28 demographically matched healthy controls. A follow-up assessment was performed in 15 of these patients three months later, when there was remission from their mood and psychotic symptoms. The association between cortical inhibitory measures and severity of psychiatric symptoms was also studied. During mania, patients showed decreased short-interval intracortical and transcallosal inhibition, as well as a normal cortical silent period and long-interval cortical inhibition. These findings were the same during euthymia. Symptoms associated with motor hyperactivity were correlated negatively with the degree of cortical inhibition. These correlations were not significant when a Bonferroni correction was applied. The present longitudinal study showed cortical inhibitory deficits in patients with BD, and supports the hypothesis that cortical inhibitory deficits in BD are trait dependent. Further research is necessary to confirm the clinical significance of these deficits. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Exogenous determinants of early-life conditions, and mortality later in life.

PubMed

van den Berg, Gerard J; Doblhammer, Gabriele; Christensen, Kaare

2009-05-01

We analyze causal effects of conditions early in life on the individual mortality rate later in life. Conditions early in life are captured by transitory features of the macro-environment around birth, notably the state of the business cycle around birth, but also food price deviations, weather indicators, and demographic indicators. We argue that these features can only affect high-age mortality by way of the individual early-life conditions. Moreover, they are exogenous from the individual point of view, which is a methodological advantage compared to the use of unique characteristics of the newborn individual or his or her family or household as early-life indicators. We collected national annual time-series data on the above-mentioned indicators, and we combine these to the individual data records from the Danish Twin Registry covering births in 1873-1906. The empirical analyses (mostly based on the estimation of duration models) indicate a significant negative causal effect of economic conditions early in life on individual mortality rates at higher ages. If the national economic performance in the year of birth exceeds its trend value (i.e., if the business cycle is favorable) then the mortality rate later in life is lower. The implied effect on the median lifetime of those who survive until age 35 is about 10 months. A systematic empirical exploration of all macro-indicators reveals that economic conditions in the first years after birth also affect mortality rates later in life.

Chronic post-stroke oropharyngeal dysphagia is associated with impaired cortical activation to pharyngeal sensory inputs.

PubMed

Cabib, C; Ortega, O; Vilardell, N; Mundet, L; Clavé, P; Rofes, L

2017-11-01

The role of afferent sensory pathways in the pathophysiology of post-stroke oropharyngeal dysphagia is not known. We hypothesized that patients with chronic post-stroke dysphagia (PSD) would show impaired sensory cortical activation in the ipsilesional hemisphere. We studied 28 chronic unilateral post-stroke patients [17 PSD and 11 post-stroke non-dysphagic patients (PSnD)] and 11 age-matched healthy volunteers. Event-related sensory-evoked potentials to pharyngeal stimulation (pSEP) and sensory thresholds were assessed. We analyzed pSEP peak latency and amplitude (N1, P1, N2 and P2), and neurotopographic stroke characteristics from brain magnetic resonance imaging. Healthy volunteers presented a highly symmetric bihemispheric cortical pattern of brain activation at centroparietal areas (N1-P1 and N2-P2) to pharyngeal stimuli. In contrast, an asymmetric pattern of reduced ipsilesional activation was found in PSD (N2-P2; P = 0.026) but not in PSnD. PSD presented impaired safety of swallow (penetration-aspiration score: 4.3 ± 1.6), delayed laryngeal vestibule closure (360.0 ± 70.0 ms) and higher National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (7.0 ± 6.2 vs. 1.9 ± 1.4, P = 0.001) and Fazekas scores (3.0 ± 1.4 vs. 2.0 ± 1.1; P < 0.05) than PSnD. pSEP showed a unilateral delay at stroke site exclusively for PSD (peak-latency interhemispheric difference vs. PSnD: N1, 6.5 ± 6.7 vs. 1.1 ± 1.0 ms; N2, 32.0 ± 15.8 vs. 4.5 ± 4.9 ms; P < 0.05). Chronic post-stroke oropharyngeal dysphagia is associated with stroke severity and degree of leukoaraoisis. Impaired conduction and cortical integration of pharyngeal sensory inputs at stroke site are key features of chronic PSD. These findings highlight the role of sensory pathways in the pathophysiology of post-stroke oropharyngeal dysphagia and offer a potential target for future treatments. © 2017 EAN.

Height, education and later-life cognition in Latin America and the Caribbean.

PubMed

Maurer, Jürgen

2010-07-01

Building on previous evidence from the U.S., this study investigates the relationship between anthropometric markers (height and knee height), early-life conditions, education, and cognitive function in later life among urban elderly from Latin America and the Caribbean. I document a positive association between height and later-life cognitive function, which is larger for women than for men. This sex difference increases when I address potential feedback effects from mid- and later-life circumstances on stature by using knee height as an instrument for height. Specifically, while the estimates for women remain largely unchanged, I only find a diminished and statistically insignificant association between instrumented height and later-life cognition for men. This finding suggests that at least part of the association between height and later-life cognition among men may stem from common third factors that are correlated with both height and later-life cognition, such as adverse occupational exposures or health events during mid- and later life. Extended models that also include education further diminish the association between height and later-life cognition. Education displays strong positive gradients with the employed measures of childhood circumstances - including height - which points to education as a potential pathway linking early-life conditions and later-life cognitive function. 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Resting-state synchrony between the retrosplenial cortex and anterior medial cortical structures relates to memory complaints in subjective cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Yasuno, Fumihiko; Kazui, Hiroaki; Yamamoto, Akihide; Morita, Naomi; Kajimoto, Katsufumi; Ihara, Masafumi; Taguchi, Akihiko; Matsuoka, Kiwamu; Kosaka, Jun; Tanaka, Toshihisa; Kudo, Takashi; Takeda, Masatoshi; Nagatsuka, Kazuyuki; Iida, Hidehiro; Kishimoto, Toshifumi

2015-06-01

Subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) is a clinical state characterized by subjective cognitive deficits without cognitive impairment. To test the hypothesis that this state might involve dysfunction of self-referential processing mediated by cortical midline structures, we investigated abnormalities of functional connectivity in these structures in individuals with SCI using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We performed functional connectivity analysis for 23 individuals with SCI and 30 individuals without SCI. To reveal the pathophysiological basis of the functional connectivity change, we performed magnetic resonance-diffusion tensor imaging. Positron emission tomography-amyloid imaging was conducted in 13 SCI and 15 nonSCI subjects. Individuals with SCI showed reduced functional connectivity in cortical midline structures. Reduction in white matter connections was related to reduced functional connectivity, but we found no amyloid deposition in individuals with SCI. The results do not necessarily contradict the possibility that SCI indicates initial cognitive decrements, but imply that reduced functional connectivity in cortical midline structures contributes to overestimation of the experience of forgetfulness. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bipolar disorder type I and II show distinct relationships between cortical thickness and executive function.

PubMed

Abé, C; Rolstad, S; Petrovic, P; Ekman, C-J; Sparding, T; Ingvar, M; Landén, M

2018-06-15

Frontal cortical abnormalities and executive function impairment co-occur in bipolar disorder. Recent studies have shown that bipolar subtypes differ in the degree of structural and functional impairments. The relationships between cognitive performance and cortical integrity have not been clarified and might differ across patients with bipolar disorder type I, II, and healthy subjects. Using a vertex-wise whole-brain analysis, we investigated how cortical integrity, as measured by cortical thickness, correlates with executive performance in patients with bipolar disorder type I, II, and controls (N = 160). We found focal associations between executive function and cortical thickness in the medial prefrontal cortex in bipolar II patients and controls, but not in bipolar I disorder. In bipolar II patients, we observed additional correlations in lateral prefrontal and occipital regions. Our findings suggest that bipolar disorder patients show altered structure-function relationships, and importantly that those relationships may differ between bipolar subtypes. The findings are line with studies suggesting subtype-specific neurobiological and cognitive profiles. This study contributes to a better understanding of brain structure-function relationships in bipolar disorder and gives important insights into the neuropathophysiology of diagnostic subtypes. © 2018 The Authors Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cognitive Impairment and Structural Abnormalities in Late Life Depression with Olfactory Identification Impairment: an Alzheimer's Disease-Like Pattern.

PubMed

Chen, Ben; Zhong, Xiaomei; Mai, Naikeng; Peng, Qi; Wu, Zhangying; Ouyang, Cong; Zhang, Weiru; Liang, Wanyuan; Wu, Yujie; Liu, Sha; Chen, Lijian; Ning, Yuping

2018-03-15

Late-life depression patients are at a high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, and diminished olfactory identification is an indicator in early screening for Alzheimer's disease in the elderly. However, whether diminished olfactory identification is associated with risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in late-life depression patients remains unclear. One hundred and twenty-five late-life depression patients, 50 Alzheimer's disease patients, and 60 normal controls were continuously recruited. The participants underwent a clinical evaluation, olfactory test, neuropsychological assessment, and neuroimaging assessment. The olfactory identification impairment in late-life depression patients was milder than that in Alzheimer's disease patients. Diminished olfactory identification was significantly correlated with worse cognitive performance (global function, memory language, executive function, and attention) and reduced grey matter volume (olfactory bulb and hippocampus) in the late-life depression patients. According to a multiple linear regression analysis, olfactory identification was significantly associated with the memory scores in late-life depression group (B=1.623, P<.001). The late-life depression with olfactory identification impairment group had worse cognitive performance (global, memory, language, and executive function) and more structural abnormalities in Alzheimer's disease-related regions than the late-life depression without olfactory identification impairment group, and global cognitive function and logical memory in the late-life depression without olfactory identification impairment group was intact. Reduced volume observed in many areas (hippocampus, precuneus, etc.) in the Alzheimer's disease group was also observed in late-life depression with olfactory identification impairment group but not in the late-life depression without olfactory identification impairment group. The patterns of cognitive impairment and structural abnormalities in

The Never-Married in Later Life.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Russell A.

1979-01-01

Consequences of singlehood are analyzed for never-married persons. Highly-educated older women are most likely to remain single. Family background is not a predictor. Although the never-married find life more exciting than other marital statuses among younger respondents, this reverses in later life. Never-marrieds are also less happy than the…

Mapping cortical mesoscopic networks of single spiking cortical or sub-cortical neurons

PubMed Central

Xiao, Dongsheng; Vanni, Matthieu P; Mitelut, Catalin C; Chan, Allen W; LeDue, Jeffrey M; Xie, Yicheng; Chen, Andrew CN; Swindale, Nicholas V; Murphy, Timothy H

2017-01-01

Understanding the basis of brain function requires knowledge of cortical operations over wide-spatial scales, but also within the context of single neurons. In vivo, wide-field GCaMP imaging and sub-cortical/cortical cellular electrophysiology were used in mice to investigate relationships between spontaneous single neuron spiking and mesoscopic cortical activity. We make use of a rich set of cortical activity motifs that are present in spontaneous activity in anesthetized and awake animals. A mesoscale spike-triggered averaging procedure allowed the identification of motifs that are preferentially linked to individual spiking neurons by employing genetically targeted indicators of neuronal activity. Thalamic neurons predicted and reported specific cycles of wide-scale cortical inhibition/excitation. In contrast, spike-triggered maps derived from single cortical neurons yielded spatio-temporal maps expected for regional cortical consensus function. This approach can define network relationships between any point source of neuronal spiking and mesoscale cortical maps. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.19976.001 PMID:28160463

Impaired Consciousness in Epilepsy

PubMed Central

Blumenfeld, Hal

2013-01-01

Consciousness is essential to normal human life. In epileptic seizures consciousness is often transiently lost making it impossible for the individual to experience or respond. This has huge consequences for safety, productivity, emotional health and quality of life. To prevent impaired consciousness in epilepsy it is necessary to understand the mechanisms leading to brain dysfunction during seizures. Normally the “consciousness system”—a specialized set of cortical-subcortical structures—maintains alertness, attention and awareness. Recent advances in neuroimaging, electrophysiology and prospective behavioral testing have shed new light on how epileptic seizures disrupt the consciousness system. Diverse seizure types including absence, generalized tonic-clonic and complex partial seizures converge on the same set of anatomical structures through different mechanisms to disrupt consciousness. Understanding these mechanisms may lead to improved treatment strategies to prevent impaired consciousness and improve quality of life in people with epilepsy. PMID:22898735

Gender and religious differences associated with volunteering in later life.

PubMed

Manning, Lydia K

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study is to use a nationally representative sample of older adults in the United States to investigate the effect gender and religiosity has on volunteer behavior in later life. This study looks specifically at the gender and religious differences associated with volunteering in later life. Accounting for gender and religious differences, more specifically, this study examines the assumption that older women are more likely to volunteer in later life as opposed to men, and that gender is a better predictor than being religious for the likelihood of occupying a volunteer role in later life. This study poses questions about the differences in gender and religiosity associated with volunteering in later life; the results indicate there is more work to be done as we conduct research that is clearer about how volunteerism and religiosity are measured in relation to gender, and the overall impact these differences have for older women and their respective communities.

Sexual behavior in later life.

PubMed

DeLamater, John; Moorman, Sara M

2007-12-01

This research tests the influences of age, biological, and psychosocial factors on sexual expression in later life. The American Association of Retired Persons Modern Maturity Sexuality Survey collected data on diagnosed illnesses, treated illnesses, sexual desire, sexual attitudes, partner circumstances, and sexual behavior from 1,384 persons ages 45 and older. Ordered logistic regression models estimate the associations of age, biological, and psychosocial factors with the frequency of five sexual behaviors. Diagnosed illnesses and treatments are generally unrelated to frequency of sexual activity. Sexual attitudes are related to frequency of partnered behavior and sexual desire is related to frequency of masturbation among both women and men. Satisfaction with the physical relationship with a partner is strongly related to behavior. Age remains significant after all other factors are controlled. The authors conclude that the nature of sexual expression in later life reflects the interplay of body, mind, and social context.

Perspectives on the Etiology of Violence in Later Life.

PubMed

Mysyuk, Yuliya; Westendorp, Rudi G J; Lindenberg, Jolanda

2016-11-01

This article focuses on the development of a conceptual framework for explaining the etiology of violence in later life by various groups involved in the field of elder abuse. In this study, we explore this through eight focus groups with different professionals involved in the field of elder abuse and older persons themselves and in interviews with 35 experts in the field. Our findings show that dependency, vulnerability, power and control, social isolation, stress, and care burden play a central role in their explanations for the occurrence of violence in later life. The role of a history of violence in violence in later life is equivocal. The complexity and ambiguity of dependency and vulnerability, the notion of mutual dependency, and diverse attitudes and expectations toward them that arise with the aging process are distinct features of violence in later life that were found. © The Author(s) 2015.

Later life disability status following incarceration as a prisoner of war.

PubMed

Hunt, Stephen C; Orsborn, Mack; Checkoway, Harvey; Biggs, Mary L; McFall, Miles; Takaro, Tim K

2008-07-01

Incarceration-related predictors of later life disability in former prisoners of war (POWs) have not been previously described. The objective of this project was to identify aspects of POW incarceration which are associated with later life disability status. Cross-sectional retrospective study of 328 former U.S. military personnel held as POWs (World War II and Korean and Vietnam Wars) who presented for evaluations at a Veterans Affairs medical center between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2004 outcome measures were: (1) total number of later life disability conditions attributable to incarceration and (2) cumulative percentage later life disability attributable to these conditions. We found significant associations between later life disability and POW experiences, including experiencing or witnessing torture, solitary confinement, forced marches, dysentry, pellagra, vitamin deficiencies, scabies, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Conditions of captivity and health concerns or emotional distress during captivity may contribute to long-term adverse health outcomes as measured by later life disabilities in individuals incarcerated as POWs.

Prolonged lateral steep position impairs respiratory mechanics during continuous lateral rotation therapy in respiratory failure.

PubMed

Schellongowski, Peter; Losert, Heidrun; Locker, Gottfried J; Laczika, Klaus; Frass, Michael; Holzinger, Ulrike; Bojic, Andja; Staudinger, Thomas

2007-04-01

To establish whether prolonged lateral steep position during continuous rotation therapy leads to improvement on pulmonary gas exchange, respiratory mechanics and hemodynamics. Prospective observational study. Intensive care unit of a university hospital. Twelve consecutive patients suffering from acute lung injury or adult respiratory distress syndrome undergoing continuous rotation therapy. Blood gas analysis, static lung compliance, blood pressure, cardiac index and pulmonary shunt fraction were measured in supine as well as in left and right lateral steep position at 62 degrees during continuous rotation therapy (phase I). Rotation was then stopped for 30 min with the patients in supine position, left and right lateral steep position, and the same measurements were performed every 10 min (phase II). Phase I and II revealed no significant changes in PaO(2)/FiO(2) ratio, mean arterial blood pressure, pulmonary shunt fraction, or cardiac index. Significantly lower static compliance was observed in lateral steep position than in supine position (p<0.001). Concomitantly, PaCO(2) was significantly lower in supine position than in left and right lateral steep position (p<0.01). Lateral steep positioning impairs the compliance of the respiratory system. Prolonged lateral steep position does not lead to benefits with respect to oxygenation or hemodynamics. Individual response to the different positions is unpredictable. The pauses in "extreme" positions should be as short as possible.

Conversion Discriminative Analysis on Mild Cognitive Impairment Using Multiple Cortical Features from MR Images.

PubMed

Guo, Shengwen; Lai, Chunren; Wu, Congling; Cen, Guiyin

2017-01-01

Neuroimaging measurements derived from magnetic resonance imaging provide important information required for detecting changes related to the progression of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Cortical features and changes play a crucial role in revealing unique anatomical patterns of brain regions, and further differentiate MCI patients from normal states. Four cortical features, namely, gray matter volume, cortical thickness, surface area, and mean curvature, were explored for discriminative analysis among three groups including the stable MCI (sMCI), the converted MCI (cMCI), and the normal control (NC) groups. In this study, 158 subjects (72 NC, 46 sMCI, and 40 cMCI) were selected from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. A sparse-constrained regression model based on the l2-1-norm was introduced to reduce the feature dimensionality and retrieve essential features for the discrimination of the three groups by using a support vector machine (SVM). An optimized strategy of feature addition based on the weight of each feature was adopted for the SVM classifier in order to achieve the best classification performance. The baseline cortical features combined with the longitudinal measurements for 2 years of follow-up data yielded prominent classification results. In particular, the cortical thickness produced a classification with 98.84% accuracy, 97.5% sensitivity, and 100% specificity for the sMCI-cMCI comparison; 92.37% accuracy, 84.78% sensitivity, and 97.22% specificity for the cMCI-NC comparison; and 93.75% accuracy, 92.5% sensitivity, and 94.44% specificity for the sMCI-NC comparison. The best performances obtained by the SVM classifier using the essential features were 5-40% more than those using all of the retained features. The feasibility of the cortical features for the recognition of anatomical patterns was certified; thus, the proposed method has the potential to improve the clinical diagnosis of sub-types of MCI and predict the risk of its

Inequality in oral health related to early and later life social conditions: a study of elderly in Norway and Sweden.

PubMed

Gülcan, Ferda; Ekbäck, Gunnar; Ordell, Sven; Lie, Stein Atle; Åstrøm, Anne Nordrehaug

2015-02-10

A life course perspective recognizes influences of socially patterned exposures on oral health across the life span. This study assessed the influence of early and later life social conditions on tooth loss and oral impacts on daily performances (OIDP) of people aged 65 and 70 years. Whether social inequalities in oral health changed after the usual age of retirement was also examined. In accordance with "the latent effect life course model", it was hypothesized that adverse early-life social conditions increase the risk of subsequent tooth loss and impaired OIDP, independent of later-life social conditions. Data were obtained from two cohorts studies conducted in Sweden and Norway. The 2007 and 2012 waves of the surveys were used for the present study. Early-life social conditions were measured in terms of gender, education and country of birth, and later-life social conditions were assessed by working status, marital status and size of social network. Logistic regression and Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) were used to analyse the data. Inverse probability weighting (IPW) was used to adjust estimates for missing responses and loss to follow-up. Early-life social conditions contributed to tooth loss and OIDP in each survey year and both countries independent of later-life social conditions. Lower education correlated positively with tooth loss, but did not influence OIDP. Foreign country of birth correlated positively with oral impacts in Sweden only. Later-life social conditions were the strongest predictors of tooth loss and OIDP across survey years and countries. GEE revealed significant interactions between social network and survey year, and between marital status and survey year on tooth loss. The results confirmed the latent effect life course model in that early and later life social conditions had independent effects on tooth loss and OIDP among the elderly in Norway and Sweden. Between age 65 and 70, inequalities in tooth loss related to marital

Neurophysiological mechanisms of cortical plasticity impairments in schizophrenia and modulation by the NMDA receptor agonist D-serine.

PubMed

Kantrowitz, Joshua T; Epstein, Michael L; Beggel, Odeta; Rohrig, Stephanie; Lehrfeld, Jonathan M; Revheim, Nadine; Lehrfeld, Nayla P; Reep, Jacob; Parker, Emily; Silipo, Gail; Ahissar, Merav; Javitt, Daniel C

2016-12-01

Schizophrenia is associated with deficits in cortical plasticity that affect sensory brain regions and lead to impaired cognitive performance. Here we examined underlying neural mechanisms of auditory plasticity deficits using combined behavioural and neurophysiological assessment, along with neuropharmacological manipulation targeted at the N-methyl-D-aspartate type glutamate receptor (NMDAR). Cortical plasticity was assessed in a cohort of 40 schizophrenia/schizoaffective patients relative to 42 healthy control subjects using a fixed reference tone auditory plasticity task. In a second cohort (n = 21 schizophrenia/schizoaffective patients, n = 13 healthy controls), event-related potential and event-related time-frequency measures of auditory dysfunction were assessed during administration of the NMDAR agonist d-serine. Mismatch negativity was used as a functional read-out of auditory-level function. Clinical trials registration numbers were NCT01474395/NCT02156908 Schizophrenia/schizoaffective patients showed significantly reduced auditory plasticity versus healthy controls (P = 0.001) that correlated with measures of cognitive, occupational and social dysfunction. In event-related potential/time-frequency analyses, patients showed highly significant reductions in sensory N1 that reflected underlying impairments in θ responses (P < 0.001), along with reduced θ and β-power modulation during retention and motor-preparation intervals. Repeated administration of d-serine led to intercorrelated improvements in (i) auditory plasticity (P < 0.001); (ii) θ-frequency response (P < 0.05); and (iii) mismatch negativity generation to trained versus untrained tones (P = 0.02). Schizophrenia/schizoaffective patients show highly significant deficits in auditory plasticity that contribute to cognitive, occupational and social dysfunction. d-serine studies suggest first that NMDAR dysfunction may contribute to underlying cortical plasticity deficits and, second, that repeated

Neurophysiological mechanisms of cortical plasticity impairments in schizophrenia and modulation by the NMDA receptor agonist D-serine

PubMed Central

Kantrowitz, Joshua T.; Epstein, Michael L.; Beggel, Odeta; Rohrig, Stephanie; Lehrfeld, Jonathan M.; Revheim, Nadine; Lehrfeld, Nayla P.; Reep, Jacob; Parker, Emily; Silipo, Gail; Ahissar, Merav; Javitt, Daniel C.

2016-01-01

Schizophrenia is associated with deficits in cortical plasticity that affect sensory brain regions and lead to impaired cognitive performance. Here we examined underlying neural mechanisms of auditory plasticity deficits using combined behavioural and neurophysiological assessment, along with neuropharmacological manipulation targeted at the N-methyl-D-aspartate type glutamate receptor (NMDAR). Cortical plasticity was assessed in a cohort of 40 schizophrenia/schizoaffective patients relative to 42 healthy control subjects using a fixed reference tone auditory plasticity task. In a second cohort (n = 21 schizophrenia/schizoaffective patients, n = 13 healthy controls), event-related potential and event-related time–frequency measures of auditory dysfunction were assessed during administration of the NMDAR agonist d-serine. Mismatch negativity was used as a functional read-out of auditory-level function. Clinical trials registration numbers were NCT01474395/NCT02156908. Schizophrenia/schizoaffective patients showed significantly reduced auditory plasticity versus healthy controls (P = 0.001) that correlated with measures of cognitive, occupational and social dysfunction. In event-related potential/time-frequency analyses, patients showed highly significant reductions in sensory N1 that reflected underlying impairments in θ responses (P < 0.001), along with reduced θ and β-power modulation during retention and motor-preparation intervals. Repeated administration of d-serine led to intercorrelated improvements in (i) auditory plasticity (P < 0.001); (ii) θ-frequency response (P < 0.05); and (iii) mismatch negativity generation to trained versus untrained tones (P = 0.02). Schizophrenia/schizoaffective patients show highly significant deficits in auditory plasticity that contribute to cognitive, occupational and social dysfunction. d-serine studies suggest first that NMDAR dysfunction may contribute to underlying cortical plasticity deficits and, second, that

Practice Parameter update: The care of the patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Multidisciplinary care, symptom management, and cognitive/behavioral impairment (an evidence-based review)

PubMed Central

Miller, R G.; Jackson, C E.; Kasarskis, E J.; England, J D.; Forshew, D; Johnston, W; Kalra, S; Katz, J S.; Mitsumoto, H; Rosenfeld, J; Shoesmith, C; Strong, M J.; Woolley, S C.

2009-01-01

Objective: To systematically review evidence bearing on the management of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods: The authors analyzed studies from 1998 to 2007 to update the 1999 practice parameter. Topics covered in this section include breaking the news, multidisciplinary clinics, symptom management, cognitive and behavioral impairment, communication, and palliative care for patients with ALS. Results: The authors identified 2 Class I studies, 8 Class II studies, and 30 Class III studies in ALS, but many important areas have been little studied. More high-quality, controlled studies of symptomatic therapies and palliative care are needed to guide management and assess outcomes in patients with ALS. Recommendations: Multidisciplinary clinic referral should be considered for managing patients with ALS to optimize health care delivery and prolong survival (Level B) and may be considered to enhance quality of life (Level C). For the treatment of refractory sialorrhea, botulinum toxin B should be considered (Level B) and low-dose radiation therapy to the salivary glands may be considered (Level C). For treatment of pseudobulbar affect, dextromethorphan and quinidine should be considered if approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (Level B). For patients who develop fatigue while taking riluzole, withholding the drug may be considered (Level C). Because many patients with ALS demonstrate cognitive impairment, which in some cases meets criteria for dementia, screening for cognitive and behavioral impairment should be considered in patients with ALS (Level B). Other management strategies all lack strong evidence. GLOSSARY ALS = amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; ALS-FTD = amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with a dementia meeting the Neary criteria for frontotemporal dementia; ALSbi = amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with behavioral impairment; ALSci = amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with cognitive impairment; BTxA = botulinum toxin type A; BTxB = botulinum

Reduced cortical complexity in children with Prader-Willi Syndrome and its association with cognitive impairment and developmental delay.

PubMed

Lukoshe, Akvile; Hokken-Koelega, Anita C; van der Lugt, Aad; White, Tonya

2014-01-01

Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a complex neurogenetic disorder with symptoms involving not only hypothalamic, but also a global, central nervous system dysfunction. Previously, qualitative studies reported polymicrogyria in adults with PWS. However, there have been no quantitative neuroimaging studies of cortical morphology in PWS and no studies to date in children with PWS. Thus, our aim was to investigate and quantify cortical complexity in children with PWS compared to healthy controls. In addition, we investigated differences between genetic subtypes of PWS and the relationship between cortical complexity and intelligence within the PWS group. High-resolution structural magnetic resonance images were acquired in 24 children with genetically confirmed PWS (12 carrying a deletion (DEL), 12 with maternal uniparental disomy (mUPD)) and 11 age- and sex-matched typically developing siblings as healthy controls. Local gyrification index (lGI) was obtained using the FreeSurfer software suite. Four large clusters, two in each hemisphere, comprising frontal, parietal and temporal lobes, had lower lGI in children with PWS, compared to healthy controls. Clusters with lower lGI also had significantly lower cortical surface area in children with PWS. No differences in cortical thickness of the clusters were found between the PWS and healthy controls. lGI correlated significantly with cortical surface area, but not with cortical thickness. Within the PWS group, lGI in both hemispheres correlated with Total IQ and Verbal IQ, but not with Performance IQ. Children with mUPD, compared to children with DEL, had two small clusters with lower lGI in the right hemisphere. lGI of these clusters correlated with cortical surface area, but not with cortical thickness or IQ. These results suggest that lower cortical complexity in children with PWS partially underlies cognitive impairment and developmental delay, probably due to alterations in gene networks that play a prominent role in

Transnational connections of later-life migrants.

PubMed

Heikkinen, Sari Johanna; Lumme-Sandt, Kirsi

2013-04-01

In this paper a transnational perspective is used to explain whether and how older migrants construct and sustain their social networks. The paper uses a transnational viewpoint on older migrants' lives by analysing their engagement with their former homeland, and the intensity and habitualness of those engagements in old age. The aim of this article is to study the transnational connections of later-life migrants'. Attention is especially paid to the features of old age while maintaining these connections. These considerations are based on analyses of transnational networks in the everyday lives of later-life migrants from the former Soviet Union residing in Finland. The data were collected from 11 later-life migrants. It is found that transnational relationships are a vital part of the everyday lives of older migrants, and that they are sustained in varied ways. These connections mean a concrete source of help, family affiliations, the sharing of emotions, and a larger social network. Economic limitations affect the frequency and type of communication, and various physical limitations may also cause inability to maintain contacts across borders. In these circumstances, family members or other close relatives or friends are needed to deliver messages on the older person's behalf. Old age and immigration status affect the amount and direction of communication across borders, thereby shaping these networks. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The anatomy of cognitive impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: more than frontal lobe dysfunction.

PubMed

Tsermentseli, Stella; Leigh, P Nigel; Goldstein, Laura H

2012-02-01

Cognitive and behavioural impairments accompanying amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have been reported since the early 20th century. Typically, these changes can be associated with a dysexecutive syndrome or manifest as a frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Although the nature of specific frontotemporal dysfunction in ALS remains to be refined, as with the clinical presentation, there is likely to be significant heterogeneity. This article will review the current state of knowledge regarding the neuropathological and neuroanatomical basis for cognitive dysfunction in ALS. Neuropathological findings suggest that ALS does not selectively affect the frontotemporal network but rather is part of a broad clinico-pathological spectrum now known as TAR-DNA binding protein (TDP)-43 proteinopathies. Functional neuroimaging has supported neuropsychological findings of frontotemporal dysfunction but has also implied the involvement of somatosensory areas. Structural neuroimaging has not been able to establish a specific hypothesis of extra-motor cortical atrophy beyond the combination of various frontal, temporal and limbic areas. The finding of reduction in the integrity of white matter in the frontal, temporal and parietal lobes including long association fibers suggests that subcortical involvement may underlie both cognitive and functional changes in ALS. Future perspectives for further investigations are highlighted. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

Confronting the Material Convoy in Later Life

PubMed Central

Smith, Gabriella V.; Ekerdt, David J.

2011-01-01

We adapt a metaphor from life course studies to designate the whole of one’s possessions, across time, as a convoy of material support. This dynamic collection of things supports daily life and the self, but it can also present difficulty in later life. To alleviate the purported burdens of the material convoy, a discourse has arisen that urges elders and their family members to reduce the volume of possessions. An analysis of 11 such possession management texts shows authors addressing two distinct audiences about elders’ need to downsize: family members and elders themselves. Authors who speak to family members do so with an urgent, unsentimental tone that echoes mainstream clutter-control advice about disorderly, overfull households. In texts for elders, the standard critique about consumption and unruly lives is gentler, more sensitive to the meaning of things, and underplays the emotions of divestment. There is stress on the responsibility to spare the next generation and control one’s legacy. These latter texts seem to respect that downsizing in later life symbolizes a narrowing of the life world. PMID:21822336

Lifespan Socioeconomic Context: Associations with Cognitive Functioning in Later Life.

PubMed

Scott, April B; Reed, Rebecca G; Garcia-Willingham, Natasha E; Lawrence, Karen A; Segerstrom, Suzanne C

2018-06-06

Early socioeconomic status (SES) correlates with later-life cognition. However, the effect of socioeconomic context (SEC), which reflects influences from broader ecological contexts, has not been examined. The present study developed a measure of SEC using lifetime residential addresses and examined SEC and residential mobility effects on later-life cognition. Older adults (N=117, Mage=75) reported addresses since birth. Latent SEC was constructed from census income, employment, and education (1920-2010) for each county and census year, extrapolated between census years. Controlling for current SES, SEC in childhood (ages 0-18) and adulthood (ages 19-60), with finer granulations in young adulthood (ages 19-39) and midlife (ages 40-60), predicted later-life cognition. Effects of residential mobility on later-life cognition were also examined. Higher childhood and adulthood SEC were associated with better Auditory Verbal Learning Test recognition (β=.24, p=.012) and immediate recall (β=.26, p=.008). Higher midlife SEC was associated with faster task switching (β=.26, p=.025) and better task switching efficiency (β=.27, p=.022). Higher residential mobility in childhood was associated with higher crystallized intelligence (β=.194, p=.040). Independent of current SES, childhood and adulthood SEC predicted later-life cognition, which may be sensitive to effects of social institutions and environmental health. SEC assessed across the lifespan, and related residential mobility information, may be important complements to SES in predicting later-life cognitive health.

Quality of life of the most severely vision-impaired.

PubMed

Crewe, Julie M; Morlet, Nigel; Morgan, William H; Spilsbury, Katrina; Mukhtar, Aqif; Clark, Antony; Ng, Jonathon Q; Crowley, Margaret; Semmens, James B

2011-01-01

To explore the interaction between vision impairment, perceived quality of life loss and willingness to trade remaining life for vision gain. Community-based cross-sectional study. Legally blind or severely vision-impaired people selected randomly from the Association for the Blind of Western Australia register. Individuals were examined by consultant ophthalmologists and completed the Impact of Vision Impairment profile quality of life assessment and a Time Trade-Off evaluation. Vision-related utility values were calculated. The results were analysed using univariate and multivariate regression methods. IVI Rasch Logits and TTO utility values (TTO UV). 156 people volunteered to contribute to the study. The median age was 80 (19-97) years, and 56% were female. Being legally blind (logMAR > 1) (95% CI 1.1 to 5.2, P = 0.003), clinically depressed (95% CI -11.2 to -1.8, P = 0.007) or more than 40 years of age (95% CI 0.9 to 8.1, P = 0.015) significantly lowered overall impact of vision impairment scores. The emotional domain of impact of vision impairment was associated with willingness to trade part of remaining life. A 5-Logit increase in impact of vision impairment emotional score resulted in a 21% (95% CI 10 to 31) decrease in the odds of being likely to trade life for sight. The Australian definition of blindness compared with World Health Organisation or USA best separates those with perceived loss and appears useful in identifying vision loss-related morbidity. These results suggest that emotional health and lack of depression are important determinants for quality and value of life. © 2011 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology © 2011 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.

Anosognosia in mild cognitive impairment: Relationship to activation of cortical midline structures involved in self-appraisal

PubMed Central

Ries, Michele L.; Jabbar, Britta M.; Schmitz, Taylor W.; Trivedi, Mehul A.; Gleason, Carey E.; Carlsson, Cynthia M.; Rowley, Howard A.; Asthana, Sanjay; Johnson, Sterling C.

2009-01-01

Awareness of cognitive dysfunction shown by individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a condition conferring risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), is variable. Anosognosia, or unawareness of loss of function, is beginning to be recognized as an important clinical symptom of MCI. However, little is known about the brain substrates underlying this symptom. We hypothesized that MCI participants’ activation of cortical midline structures (CMS) during self-appraisal would covary with level of insight into cognitive difficulties (indexed by a discrepancy score between patient and informant ratings of cognitive decline in each MCI participant). To address this hypothesis, we first compared 16 MCI participants and 16 age-matched controls, examining brain regions showing conjoint or differential BOLD response during self-appraisal. Second, we used regression to investigate the relationship between awareness of deficit in MCI and BOLD activity during self-appraisal, controlling for extent of memory impairment. Between-group comparisons indicated that MCI participants show subtly attenuated CMS activity during self-appraisal. Regression analysis revealed a highly-significant relationship between BOLD response during self-appraisal and self-awareness of deficit in MCI. This finding highlights the level of anosognosia in MCI as an important predictor of response to self-appraisal in cortical midline structures, brain regions vulnerable to changes in early AD. PMID:17445294

Distinct Laterality in Forelimb-Movement Representations of Rat Primary and Secondary Motor Cortical Neurons with Intratelencephalic and Pyramidal Tract Projections.

PubMed

Soma, Shogo; Saiki, Akiko; Yoshida, Junichi; Ríos, Alain; Kawabata, Masanori; Sakai, Yutaka; Isomura, Yoshikazu

2017-11-08

Two distinct motor areas, the primary and secondary motor cortices (M1 and M2), play crucial roles in voluntary movement in rodents. The aim of this study was to characterize the laterality in motor cortical representations of right and left forelimb movements. To achieve this goal, we developed a novel behavioral task, the Right-Left Pedal task, in which a head-restrained male rat manipulates a right or left pedal with the corresponding forelimb. This task enabled us to monitor independent movements of both forelimbs with high spatiotemporal resolution. We observed phasic movement-related neuronal activity (Go-type) and tonic hold-related activity (Hold-type) in isolated unilateral movements. In both M1 and M2, Go-type neurons exhibited bias toward contralateral preference, whereas Hold-type neurons exhibited no bias. The contralateral bias was weaker in M2 than M1. Moreover, we differentiated between intratelencephalic (IT) and pyramidal tract (PT) neurons using optogenetically evoked spike collision in rats expressing channelrhodopsin-2. Even in identified PT and IT neurons, Hold-type neurons exhibited no lateral bias. Go-type PT neurons exhibited bias toward contralateral preference, whereas IT neurons exhibited no bias. Our findings suggest a different laterality of movement representations of M1 and M2, in each of which IT neurons are involved in cooperation of bilateral movements, whereas PT neurons control contralateral movements. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In rodents, the primary and secondary motor cortices (M1 and M2) are involved in voluntary movements via distinct projection neurons: intratelencephalic (IT) neurons and pyramidal tract (PT) neurons. However, it remains unclear whether the two motor cortices (M1 vs M2) and the two classes of projection neurons (IT vs PT) have different laterality of movement representations. We optogenetically identified these neurons and analyzed their functional activity using a novel behavioral task to monitor movements

Decreased prefrontal cortical sensitivity to monetary reward is associated with impaired motivation and self-control in cocaine addiction

PubMed Central

Goldstein, Rita Z.; Alia-Klein, Nelly; Tomasi, Dardo; Zhang, Lei; Cottone, Lisa A.; Maloney, Thomas; Telang, Frank; Caparelli, Elisabeth C.; Chang, Linda; Ernst, Thomas; Samaras, Dimitris; Squires, Nancy K.; Volkow, Nora D.

2008-01-01

Objective To examine the brain’s sensitivity to monetary rewards of different magnitudes in cocaine abusers and to study its association with motivation and self-control. Method Sixteen cocaine abusers and 13 matched healthy comparison subjects performed a forced-choice task under three monetary value conditions while brain activation was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Objective measures of state motivation were assessed by reaction time and accuracy, and subjective measures were assessed by self-reports of task engagement. Measures of trait motivation and self-control were assessed with the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. Results The cocaine abusers demonstrated an overall reduced regional brain responsivity to differences between the monetary value conditions. Also, in comparison subjects but not in cocaine abusers reward-induced improvements in performance were associated with self-reports of task engagement, and money-induced activations in the lateral prefrontal cortex were associated with activations in the orbitofrontal cortex. For cocaine subjects, prefrontal cortex sensitivity to money was instead associated with motivation and self-control. Conclusions These findings suggest that in cocaine addiction (1) activation of the corticolimbic reward circuit to gradations of money is altered; (2) lack of a correlation between objective and subjective measures of state motivation may be indicative of disrupted perception of motivational drive, which could contribute to impairments in self-control; and (3) the lateral prefrontal cortex modulates trait motivation and deficits in self-control, and a possible underlying mechanism may encompass a breakdown in prefrontal-orbitofrontal cortical communication. PMID:17202543

Defining Swallowing-Related Quality of Life Profiles in Individuals with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

PubMed Central

Gaziano, Joy; Watts, Stephanie; Robison, Raele; Plowman, Emily K.

2016-01-01

Although it is known that dysphagia contributes to significant malnutrition, pneumonia, and mortality in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), it remains unclear how swallowing impairment impacts quality of life in this vulnerable patient population. The aim of the current study was to (1) delineate swallow-related quality of life (SR-QOL) profiles in individuals with ALS and (2) evaluate relationships between SR-QOL, degree of swallowing impairment, and ALS global disease progression. Eighty-one ALS patients underwent a standardized videofluoroscopic swallow study and completed the swallowing quality of life (SWAL-QOL) instrument and ALS functional rating scale-revised (ALSFRS-R). Penetration Aspiration Scale (PAS) scores were derived by a blinded rater. Correlation analyses and a between groups ANOVA (safe vs. penetrators vs. aspirators) were performed. Mean SWAL-QOL score for this cohort was 75.94 indicating a moderate degree of SR-QOL impairment with fatigue, eating duration, and communication representing the most affected domains. Correlations were revealed between the SWAL-QOL and (1) PAS (r = −0.39, p < 0.001) and (2) ALSFRS-R (r = 0.23, p < 0.05). Mean (SD) SWAL-QOL scores for safe versus penetrator versus aspirator groups were 81.2 (2.3) versus 77 (3.4) versus 58.7 (5.9), respectively, with a main effect observed [F(2,78) = 9.71, p < 0.001]. Post hoc testing revealed lower SWAL-QOL scores for aspirators versus safe swallowers (p < 0.001) and aspirators versus penetrators (p < 0.001). Overall, SR-QOL was moderately reduced in this cohort of ALS patients and profoundly impacted in ALS aspirators and individuals with advanced disease. These findings highlight the importance of early multidisciplinary intervention to not only avoid malnutrition, weight loss, and pulmonary sequelae but also the associated reduced QOL seen in these individuals. PMID:26837611

Early Developmental Disturbances of Cortical Inhibitory Neurons: Contribution to Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Volk, David W.; Lewis, David A.

2014-01-01

Cognitive dysfunction is a disabling and core feature of schizophrenia. Cognitive impairments have been linked to disturbances in inhibitory (gamma-aminobutyric acid [GABA]) neurons in the prefrontal cortex. Cognitive deficits are present well before the onset of psychotic symptoms and have been detected in early childhood with developmental delays reported during the first year of life. These data suggest that the pathogenetic process that produces dysfunction of prefrontal GABA neurons in schizophrenia may be related to altered prenatal development. Interestingly, adult postmortem schizophrenia brain tissue studies have provided evidence consistent with a disease process that affects different stages of prenatal development of specific subpopulations of prefrontal GABA neurons. Prenatal ontogeny (ie, birth, proliferation, migration, and phenotypic specification) of distinct subpopulations of cortical GABA neurons is differentially regulated by a host of transcription factors, chemokine receptors, and other molecular markers. In this review article, we propose a strategy to investigate how alterations in the expression of these developmental regulators of subpopulations of cortical GABA neurons may contribute to the pathogenesis of cortical GABA neuron dysfunction and consequently cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. PMID:25053651

Postnatal Ablation of Synaptic Retinoic Acid Signaling Impairs Cortical Information Processing and Sensory Discrimination in Mice.

PubMed

Park, Esther; Tjia, Michelle; Zuo, Yi; Chen, Lu

2018-06-06

Retinoic acid (RA) and its receptors (RARs) are well established essential transcriptional regulators during embryonic development. Recent findings in cultured neurons identified an independent and critical post-transcriptional role of RA and RARα in the homeostatic regulation of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission in mature neurons. However, the functional relevance of synaptic RA signaling in vivo has not been established. Here, using somatosensory cortex as a model system and the RARα conditional knock-out mouse as a tool, we applied multiple genetic manipulations to delete RARα postnatally in specific populations of cortical neurons, and asked whether synaptic RA signaling observed in cultured neurons is involved in cortical information processing in vivo Indeed, conditional ablation of RARα in mice via a CaMKIIα-Cre or a layer 5-Cre driver line or via somatosensory cortex-specific viral expression of Cre-recombinase impaired whisker-dependent texture discrimination, suggesting a critical requirement of RARα expression in L5 pyramidal neurons of somatosensory cortex for normal tactile sensory processing. Transcranial two-photon imaging revealed a significant increase in dendritic spine elimination on apical dendrites of somatosensory cortical layer 5 pyramidal neurons in these mice. Interestingly, the enhancement of spine elimination is whisker experience-dependent as whisker trimming rescued the spine elimination phenotype. Additionally, experiencing an enriched environment improved texture discrimination in RARα-deficient mice and reduced excessive spine pruning. Thus, RA signaling is essential for normal experience-dependent cortical circuit remodeling and sensory processing. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The importance of synaptic RA signaling has been demonstrated in in vitro studies. However, whether RA signaling mediated by RARα contributes to neural circuit functions in vivo remains largely unknown. In this study, using a RARα conditional

Differential longitudinal changes in cortical thickness, surface area and volume across the adult life span: regions of accelerating and decelerating change.

PubMed

Storsve, Andreas B; Fjell, Anders M; Tamnes, Christian K; Westlye, Lars T; Overbye, Knut; Aasland, Hilde W; Walhovd, Kristine B

2014-06-18

Human cortical thickness and surface area are genetically independent, emerge through different neurobiological events during development, and are sensitive to different clinical conditions. However, the relationship between changes in the two over time is unknown. Additionally, longitudinal studies have almost invariably been restricted to older adults, precluding the delineation of adult life span trajectories of change in cortical structure. In this longitudinal study, we investigated changes in cortical thickness, surface area, and volume after an average interval of 3.6 years in 207 well screened healthy adults aged 23-87 years. We hypothesized that the relationships among metrics are dynamic across the life span, that the primary contributor to cortical volume reductions in aging is cortical thinning, and that magnitude of change varies with age and region. Changes over time were seen in cortical area (mean annual percentage change [APC], -0.19), thickness (APC, -0.35), and volume (APC, -0.51) in most regions. Volume changes were primarily explained by changes in thickness rather than area. A negative relationship between change in thickness and surface area was found across several regions, where more thinning was associated with less decrease in area, and vice versa. Accelerating changes with increasing age was seen in temporal and occipital cortices. In contrast, decelerating changes were seen in prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices. In conclusion, a dynamic relationship between cortical thickness and surface area changes exists throughout the adult life span. The mixture of accelerating and decelerating changes further demonstrates the importance of studying these metrics across the entire adult life span. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/348488-11$15.00/0.

Early Life Conditions, Adverse Life Events, and Chewing Ability at Middle and Later Adulthood

PubMed Central

Watt, Richard G.; Tsakos, Georgios

2014-01-01

Objectives. We sought to determine the extent to which early life conditions and adverse life events impact chewing ability in middle and later adulthood. Methods. Secondary analyses were conducted based on data from waves 2 and 3 of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), collected in the years 2006 to 2009 and encompassing information on current chewing ability and the life history of persons aged 50 years or older from 13 European countries. Logistic regression models were estimated with sequential inclusion of explanatory variables representing living conditions in childhood and adverse life events. Results. After controlling for current determinants of chewing ability at age 50 years or older, certain childhood and later life course socioeconomic, behavioral, and cognitive factors became evident as correlates of chewing ability at age 50 years or older. Specifically, childhood financial hardship was identified as an early life predictor of chewing ability at age 50 years or older (odds ratio = 1.58; 95% confidence interval = 1.22, 2.06). Conclusions. Findings suggest a potential enduring impact of early life conditions and adverse life events on oral health in middle and later adulthood and are relevant for public health decision-makers who design strategies for optimal oral health. PMID:24625140

Reduced Cortical Complexity in Children with Prader-Willi Syndrome and Its Association with Cognitive Impairment and Developmental Delay

PubMed Central

Lukoshe, Akvile; Hokken-Koelega, Anita C.; van der Lugt, Aad; White, Tonya

2014-01-01

Background Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a complex neurogenetic disorder with symptoms involving not only hypothalamic, but also a global, central nervous system dysfunction. Previously, qualitative studies reported polymicrogyria in adults with PWS. However, there have been no quantitative neuroimaging studies of cortical morphology in PWS and no studies to date in children with PWS. Thus, our aim was to investigate and quantify cortical complexity in children with PWS compared to healthy controls. In addition, we investigated differences between genetic subtypes of PWS and the relationship between cortical complexity and intelligence within the PWS group. Methods High-resolution structural magnetic resonance images were acquired in 24 children with genetically confirmed PWS (12 carrying a deletion (DEL), 12 with maternal uniparental disomy (mUPD)) and 11 age- and sex-matched typically developing siblings as healthy controls. Local gyrification index (lGI) was obtained using the FreeSurfer software suite. Results Four large clusters, two in each hemisphere, comprising frontal, parietal and temporal lobes, had lower lGI in children with PWS, compared to healthy controls. Clusters with lower lGI also had significantly lower cortical surface area in children with PWS. No differences in cortical thickness of the clusters were found between the PWS and healthy controls. lGI correlated significantly with cortical surface area, but not with cortical thickness. Within the PWS group, lGI in both hemispheres correlated with Total IQ and Verbal IQ, but not with Performance IQ. Children with mUPD, compared to children with DEL, had two small clusters with lower lGI in the right hemisphere. lGI of these clusters correlated with cortical surface area, but not with cortical thickness or IQ. Conclusions These results suggest that lower cortical complexity in children with PWS partially underlies cognitive impairment and developmental delay, probably due to alterations in gene

Absence of bone sialoprotein (BSP) impairs cortical defect repair in mouse long bone.

PubMed

Malaval, Luc; Monfoulet, Laurent; Fabre, Thierry; Pothuaud, Laurent; Bareille, Reine; Miraux, Sylvain; Thiaudiere, Eric; Raffard, Gerard; Franconi, Jean-Michel; Lafage-Proust, Marie-Hélène; Aubin, Jane E; Vico, Laurence; Amédée, Joëlle

2009-11-01

Matrix proteins of the SIBLING family interact with bone cells and with bone mineral and are thus in a key position to regulate bone development, remodeling and repair. Within this family, bone sialoprotein (BSP) is highly expressed by osteoblasts, hypertrophic chondrocytes and osteoclasts. We recently reported that mice lacking BSP (BSP-/-) have very low trabecular bone turnover. In the present study, we set up an experimental model of bone repair by drilling a 1 mm diameter hole in the cortical bone of femurs in both BSP-/- and +/+ mice. A non-invasive MRI imaging and bone quantification procedure was designed to follow bone regeneration, and these data were extended by microCT imaging and histomorphometry on undecalcified sections for analysis at cellular level. These combined approaches revealed that the repair process as reflected in defect-refilling in the cortical area was significantly delayed in BSP-/- mice compared to +/+ mice. Concomitantly, histomorphometry showed that formation, mineralization and remodeling of repair (primary) bone in the medulla were delayed in BSP-/- mice, with lower osteoid and osteoclast surfaces at day 15. In conclusion, the absence of BSP delays bone repair at least in part by impairing both new bone formation and osteoclast activity.

Is language impairment more common than executive dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?

PubMed

Taylor, Lorna J; Brown, Richard G; Tsermentseli, Stella; Al-Chalabi, Ammar; Shaw, Christopher E; Ellis, Catherine M; Leigh, P Nigel; Goldstein, Laura H

2013-05-01

Systematic explorations of language abilities in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are lacking in the context of wider cognitive change. Neuropsychological assessment data were obtained from 51 patients with ALS and 35 healthy controls matched for age, gender and IQ. Composite scores were derived for the domains of language and executive functioning. Domain impairment was defined as a composite score ≤5th centile relative to the control mean. Cognitive impairment was also classified using recently published consensus criteria. The patients with ALS were impaired on language and executive composite scores. Language domain impairment was found in 43% of patients with ALS, and executive domain impairment in 31%. Standardised language and executive composite scores correlated in the ALS group (r=0.68, p<0.001). Multiple regression analyses indicated that scores on the executive composite accounted for 44% of the variance in language composite scores. Language impairments are at least as prevalent as executive dysfunction in ALS. While the two domains are strongly associated, executive dysfunction does not fully account for the profile of language impairments observed, further highlighting the heterogeneity of cognitive impairment in non-demented patients with ALS.

Functional reorganization during cognitive function tasks in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Keller, Jürgen; Böhm, Sarah; Aho-Özhan, Helena E A; Loose, Markus; Gorges, Martin; Kassubek, Jan; Uttner, Ingo; Abrahams, Sharon; Ludolph, Albert C; Lulé, Dorothée

2018-06-01

Cognitive deficits, especially in the domains of social cognition and executive function including verbal fluency, are common in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. There is yet sparse understanding of pathogenesis of the underlying, possibly adaptive, cortical patterns. To address this issue, 65 patients with ALS and 33 age-, gender- and education-matched healthy controls were tested on cognitive and behavioral deficits with the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), cortical activity during social cognition and executive function tasks (theory of mind, verbal fluency, alternation) adapted from the ECAS was determined in a 3 Tesla scanner. Compared to healthy controls, ALS patients performed worse in the ECAS overall (p < 0.001) and in all of its subdomains (p < 0.02), except memory. Imaging revealed altered cortical activation during all tasks, with patients consistently showing a hyperactivation in relevant brain areas compared to healthy controls. Additionally, cognitively high performing ALS patients consistently exhibited more activation in frontal brain areas than low performing patients and behaviorally unimpaired patients presented with more neuronal activity in orbitofrontal areas than behaviorally impaired patients. In conclusion, hyperactivation in fMRI cognitive tasks seems to represent an early adaptive process to overcome neuronal cell loss in relevant brain areas. The hereby presented cortical pattern change might suggest that, once this loss passes a critical threshold and no cortical buffering is possible, clinical representation of cognitive and behavioral impairment evolves. Future studies might shed light on the pattern of cortical pattern change in the course of ALS.

Microstructural Correlates of Emotional Attribution Impairment in Non-Demented Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

PubMed

Crespi, Chiara; Cerami, Chiara; Dodich, Alessandra; Canessa, Nicola; Iannaccone, Sandro; Corbo, Massimo; Lunetta, Christian; Falini, Andrea; Cappa, Stefano F

2016-01-01

Impairments in the ability to recognize and attribute emotional states to others have been described in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and linked to the dysfunction of key nodes of the emotional empathy network. Microstructural correlates of such disorders are still unexplored. We investigated the white-matter substrates of emotional attribution deficits in a sample of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients without cognitive decline. Thirteen individuals with either probable or definite amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 14 healthy controls were enrolled in a Diffusion Tensor Imaging study and administered the Story-based Empathy Task, assessing the ability to attribute mental states to others (i.e., Intention and Emotion attribution conditions). As already reported, a significant global reduction of empathic skills, mainly driven by a failure in Emotion Attribution condition, was found in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients compared to healthy subjects. The severity of this deficit was significantly correlated with fractional anisotropy along the forceps minor, genu of corpus callosum, right uncinate and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi. The involvement of frontal commissural fiber tracts and right ventral associative fronto-limbic pathways is the microstructural hallmark of the impairment of high-order processing of socio-emotional stimuli in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These results support the notion of the neurofunctional and neuroanatomical continuum between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia.

Impaired cortical activation in autistic children: is the mirror neuron system involved?

PubMed

Martineau, Joëlle; Cochin, Stéphanie; Magne, Rémy; Barthelemy, Catherine

2008-04-01

The inability to imitate becomes obvious early in autistic children and seems to contribute to learning delay and to disorders of communication and contact. Posture, motility and imitation disorders in autistic syndrome might be the consequence of an abnormality of sensori-motor integration, related to the visual perception of movement, and could reflect impairment of the mirror neuron system (MNS). We compared EEG activity during the observation of videos showing actions or still scenes in 14 right-handed autistic children and 14 right-handed, age- and gender-matched control children (3 girls and 11 boys, aged 5 years 3 months-7 years 11 months). We showed desynchronisation of the EEG in the motor cerebral cortex and the frontal and temporal areas during observation of human actions in the group of healthy children. No such desynchronisation was found in autistic children. Moreover, inversion of the pattern of hemispheric activation was found in autistic children, with increased cortical activity in the right hemisphere in the posterior region, including the centro-parietal and temporo-occipital sites. These results are in agreement with the hypothesis of impairment of the mirror neuron system in autistic disorder.

Class and Health Inequality in Later Life: Patterns, Mechanisms and Implications for Policy

PubMed Central

Nazroo, James

2017-01-01

The growth of the post-retirement population, which has occurred as a result of rapid growth in life expectancy coupled with the ageing of the baby boomer cohort, has led to significant concern. This concern, however, typically neglects the heterogeneity of later life experiences and how these are patterned by inequalities that reflect how process of social stratification continue to operate into later life. This paper draws on a programme of work, based on analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, to empirically examine questions of inequality in later life. It begins by illustrating the patterning of health inequality. It then investigates the importance of later life contexts and events in shaping inequality through and after the retirement process. In doing so it examines the extent to which later life continues to reflect stable social structures that shape inequalities and, consequently, health and wellbeing in later life. The paper then illustrates how the effects of socioeconomic position on health in later life can be theorised as a product of class processes, borrowing in part from Bourdieu. Other dimensions of inequality, such as gender, ethnicity, area and sexuality, are not discussed here. The paper concludes with a discussion of the need for a close focus on inequalities in later life in research, policy and practice. PMID:29292775

Cortical thickness in neuropsychologically near-normal schizophrenia.

PubMed

Cobia, Derin J; Csernansky, John G; Wang, Lei

2011-12-01

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric illness with widespread impairments of cognitive functioning; however, a certain percentage of subjects are known to perform in the normal range on neuropsychological measures. While the cognitive profiles of these individuals have been examined, there has been relatively little attention to the neuroanatomical characteristics of this important subgroup. The aims of this study were to statistically identify schizophrenia subjects with relatively normal cognition, examine their neuroanatomical characteristics relative to their more impaired counterparts using cortical thickness mapping, and to investigate relationships between these characteristics and demographic variables to better understand the nature of cognitive heterogeneity in schizophrenia. Clinical, neuropsychological, and MRI data were collected from schizophrenia (n = 79) and healthy subjects (n = 65). A series of clustering algorithms on neuropsychological scores was examined, and a 2-cluster solution that separated subjects into neuropsychologically near-normal (NPNN) and neuropsychologically impaired (NPI) groups was determined most appropriate. Surface-based cortical thickness mapping was utilized to examine differences in thinning among schizophrenia subtypes compared with the healthy participants. A widespread cortical thinning pattern characteristic of schizophrenia emerged in the NPI group, while NPNN subjects demonstrated very limited thinning relative to healthy comparison subjects. Analysis of illness duration indicated minimal effects on subtype classification and cortical thickness results. Findings suggest a strong link between cognitive impairment and cortical thinning in schizophrenia, where subjects with near-normal cognitive abilities also demonstrate near-normal cortical thickness patterns. While generally supportive of distinct etiological processes for cognitive subtypes, results provide direction for further examination of additional

Exploratory study of Australian aged care staff knowledge and attitudes of later life sexuality.

PubMed

Chen, Yung-Hui; Jones, Cindy; Osborne, Debora

2017-06-01

To explore aged care staff knowledge and attitudes towards later life sexuality and attitudes about intimacy in people with dementia. Fifty-two care staff working in two aged care facilities with secure dementia care units were recruited. Knowledge and attitudes on later life sexuality and attitudes towards later life sexuality in people with dementia were surveyed using the Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale and the selected eight items of the Staff Attitudes about Intimacy and Dementia, respectively. The results indicated that aged care staff knowledge of later life sexuality is inadequate, but attitudes towards later life sexuality and about intimacy and dementia were relatively permissive. Improving aged care staff knowledge of later life sexuality is needed. Continuing education and training should provide to support the expression of later life sexuality including those with dementia. © 2017 AJA Inc.

Cortical atrophy patterns in early Parkinson's disease patients using hierarchical cluster analysis.

PubMed

Uribe, Carme; Segura, Barbara; Baggio, Hugo Cesar; Abos, Alexandra; Garcia-Diaz, Anna Isabel; Campabadal, Anna; Marti, Maria Jose; Valldeoriola, Francesc; Compta, Yaroslau; Tolosa, Eduard; Junque, Carme

2018-05-01

Cortical brain atrophy detectable with MRI in non-demented advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) is well characterized, but its presence in early disease stages is still under debate. We aimed to investigate cortical atrophy patterns in a large sample of early untreated PD patients using a hypothesis-free data-driven approach. Seventy-seven de novo PD patients and 50 controls from the Parkinson's Progression Marker Initiative database with T1-weighted images in a 3-tesla Siemens scanner were included in this study. Mean cortical thickness was extracted from 360 cortical areas defined by the Human Connectome Project Multi-Modal Parcellation version 1.0, and a hierarchical cluster analysis was performed using Ward's linkage method. A general linear model with cortical thickness data was then used to compare clustering groups using FreeSurfer software. We identified two patterns of cortical atrophy. Compared with controls, patients grouped in pattern 1 (n = 33) were characterized by cortical thinning in bilateral orbitofrontal, anterior cingulate, and lateral and medial anterior temporal gyri. Patients in pattern 2 (n = 44) showed cortical thinning in bilateral occipital gyrus, cuneus, superior parietal gyrus, and left postcentral gyrus, and they showed neuropsychological impairment in memory and other cognitive domains. Even in the early stages of PD, there is evidence of cortical brain atrophy. Neuroimaging clustering analysis is able to detect two subgroups of cortical thinning, one with mainly anterior atrophy, and the other with posterior predominance and worse cognitive performance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Extinction of cued fear memory involves a distinct form of depotentiation at cortical input synapses onto the lateral amygdala.

PubMed

Hong, Ingie; Song, Beomjong; Lee, Sukwon; Kim, Jihye; Kim, Jeongyeon; Choi, Sukwoo

2009-12-03

The amygdala is known to be a critical storage site of conditioned fear memory. Among the two major pathways to the lateral amygdala (LA), the cortical pathway is known to display a presynaptic long-term potentiation which is occluded with fear conditioning. Here we show that fear extinction results in a net depression of conditioning-induced potentiation at cortical input synapses onto the LA (C-LA synapses). Fear conditioning induced a significant potentiation of excitatory postsynaptic currents at C-LA synapses compared with naïve and unpaired controls, whereas extinction apparently reversed this potentiation. Paired-pulse low-frequency stimulation (pp-LFS) induced synaptic depression in the C-LA pathway of fear-conditioned rats, but not in naïve or unpaired controls, indicating that the pp-LFS-induced depression is specific to associative learning-induced changes (pp-LFS-induced depotentiation(ex vivo)). Importantly, extinction occluded pp-LFS-induced depotentiation(ex vivo), suggesting that extinction shares some mechanisms with the depotentiation. pp-LFS-induced depotentiation(ex vivo) required NMDA receptor (NMDAR) activity, consistent with a previous finding that blockade of amygdala NMDARs impaired fear extinction. In addition, pp-LFS-induced depotentiation(ex vivo) required activity of group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), known to be present at presynaptic terminals, but not AMPAR internalization, consistent with a presynaptic mechanism for pp-LFS-induced depotentiation(ex vivo). This result is in contrast with another form of ex vivo depotentiation in the thalamic pathway that requires both group I mGluR activity and AMPAR internalization. We thus suggest that extinction of conditioned fear involves a distinct form of depotentiation at C-LA synapses, which depends upon both NMDARs and group II mGluRs.

Early-Life State-of-Residence Characteristics and Later Life Hypertension, Diabetes, and Ischemic Heart Disease.

PubMed

Rehkopf, David H; Eisen, Ellen A; Modrek, Sepideh; Mokyr Horner, Elizabeth; Goldstein, Benjamin; Costello, Sadie; Cantley, Linda F; Slade, Martin D; Cullen, Mark R

2015-08-01

We examined how state characteristics in early life are associated with individual chronic disease later in life. We assessed early-life state of residence using the first 3 digits of social security numbers from blue- and white-collar workers from a US manufacturing company. Longitudinal data were available from 1997 to 2012, with 305 936 person-years of observation. Disease was assessed using medical claims. We modeled associations using pooled logistic regression with inverse probability of censoring weights. We found small but statistically significant associations between early-state-of-residence characteristics and later life hypertension, diabetes, and ischemic heart disease. The most consistent associations were with income inequality, percentage non-White, and education. These associations were similar after statistically controlling for individual socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and current state characteristics. Characteristics of the state in which an individual lives early in life are associated with prevalence of chronic disease later in life, with a strength of association equivalent to genetic associations found for these same health outcomes.

Impairment and quality of life in individuals with generalized anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Henning, Eric R; Turk, Cynthia L; Mennin, Douglas S; Fresco, David M; Heimberg, Richard G

2007-01-01

Once considered to be a disorder associated with minimal impairment, the link between generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and impairment across a broad constellation of domains is now well established. However, less is known about how comorbidity affects these relationships or how GAD impacts one's perceived life satisfaction or quality of life. To investigate these questions, data from 52 treatment-seeking individuals with GAD (33 with comorbid Axis I diagnoses) were compared to data from 55 nonanxious controls. Individuals with GAD reported more impairment at work and in their social functioning than they did with home and family responsibilities. They also reported lower quality of life than nonanxious controls, particularly in regard to self-esteem, goals and values, money, work, play, learning, creativity, friends, and relatives. Trait worry was positively correlated with impairment and inversely related to life satisfaction within the clinical sample. Individuals with GAD, with and without comorbid Axis I diagnoses, showed few differences on measures of impairment (differing only on impairment in social functioning). However, individuals with GAD and comorbid disorders perceived their lives as less satisfying than did individuals with GAD without comorbid diagnoses.

Altered fetal skeletal muscle nutrient metabolism following an adverse in utero environment and the modulation of later life insulin sensitivity.

PubMed

Dunlop, Kristyn; Cedrone, Megan; Staples, James F; Regnault, Timothy R H

2015-02-12

The importance of the in utero environment as a contributor to later life metabolic disease has been demonstrated in both human and animal studies. In this review, we consider how disruption of normal fetal growth may impact skeletal muscle metabolic development, ultimately leading to insulin resistance and decreased insulin sensitivity, a key precursor to later life metabolic disease. In cases of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) associated with hypoxia, where the fetus fails to reach its full growth potential, low birth weight (LBW) is often the outcome, and early in postnatal life, LBW individuals display modifications in the insulin-signaling pathway, a critical precursor to insulin resistance. In this review, we will present literature detailing the classical development of insulin resistance in IUGR, but also discuss how this impaired development, when challenged with a postnatal Western diet, may potentially contribute to the development of later life insulin resistance. Considering the important role of the skeletal muscle in insulin resistance pathogenesis, understanding the in utero programmed origins of skeletal muscle deficiencies in insulin sensitivity and how they may interact with an adverse postnatal environment, is an important step in highlighting potential therapeutic options for LBW offspring born of pregnancies characterized by placental insufficiency.

Defining Mental Health in Later Life.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qualls, Sara Honn

2002-01-01

Traditional models for defining mental health have used statistical definitions and symptom-based definitions. In a lifespan psychological approach, mental health in later life is defined as acceptance of the aging self as an active being who creates meaning, maintains maximum autonomy, and sustains positive relationships. (Contains 12…

Paternal programming of offspring cardiometabolic diseases in later life

PubMed Central

Li, Jian; Tsuprykov, Oleg; Yang, Xiaoping; Hocher, Berthold

2016-01-01

Early – intrauterine – environmental factors are linked to the development of cardiovascular disease in later life. Traditionally, these factors are considered to be maternal factors such as maternal under and overnutrition, exposure to toxins, lack of micronutrients, and stress during pregnancy. However, in the recent years, it became obvious that also paternal environmental factors before conception and during sperm development determine the health of the offspring in later life. We will first describe clinical observational studies providing evidence for paternal programming of adulthood diseases in progeny. Next, we describe key animal studies proving this relationship, followed by a detailed analysis of our current understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of paternal programming. Alterations of noncoding sperm micro-RNAs, histone acetylation, and targeted as well as global DNA methylation seem to be in particular involved in paternal programming of offspring's diseases in later life. PMID:27457668

Progression of language decline and cortical atrophy in subtypes of primary progressive aphasia.

PubMed

Rogalski, E; Cobia, D; Harrison, T M; Wieneke, C; Weintraub, S; Mesulam, M-M

2011-05-24

To examine the longitudinal course of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) over a 2-year period and to offer quantitative ranges of expected change that could be used to guide the design and evaluation of therapeutic intervention trials. Regional changes of cortical thickness and whole-brain cortical volume loss as well as neuropsychological language performance were assessed at baseline and 2 years later in 13 rigorously characterized patients who fulfilled research criteria for logopenic, agrammatic, and semantic PPA subtypes (6 PPA-L, 3 PPA-G, and 4 PPA-S). There was substantial progression of clinical deficits and cortical atrophy over 2 years. Neuropsychological language performance patterns lost the sharp distinctions that differentiated one PPA variant from another. Nonetheless, the subtype-specific differential impairment of word comprehension vs grammatical processing was largely maintained. Peak atrophy sites spread beyond the initial distinctive locations that characterized each of the 3 subtypes and displayed a more convergent distribution encompassing all 3 major components of the language network: the inferior frontal gyrus, the temporoparietal junction, and lateral temporal cortex. Despite the progression, overall peak atrophy remained lateralized to the left hemisphere. The results suggest that the unique features, which sharply differentiate the PPA variants at the early to middle stages, may lose their distinctiveness as the degeneration becomes more severe. Given the substantial atrophy over 2 years, PPA clinical trials may require fewer patients and shorter study durations than Alzheimer disease trials to detect significant therapeutic effects.

Progression of language decline and cortical atrophy in subtypes of primary progressive aphasia

PubMed Central

Cobia, D.; Harrison, T.M.; Wieneke, C.; Weintraub, S.; Mesulam, M.-M.

2011-01-01

Objectives: To examine the longitudinal course of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) over a 2-year period and to offer quantitative ranges of expected change that could be used to guide the design and evaluation of therapeutic intervention trials. Methods: Regional changes of cortical thickness and whole-brain cortical volume loss as well as neuropsychological language performance were assessed at baseline and 2 years later in 13 rigorously characterized patients who fulfilled research criteria for logopenic, agrammatic, and semantic PPA subtypes (6 PPA-L, 3 PPA-G, and 4 PPA-S). Results: There was substantial progression of clinical deficits and cortical atrophy over 2 years. Neuropsychological language performance patterns lost the sharp distinctions that differentiated one PPA variant from another. Nonetheless, the subtype-specific differential impairment of word comprehension vs grammatical processing was largely maintained. Peak atrophy sites spread beyond the initial distinctive locations that characterized each of the 3 subtypes and displayed a more convergent distribution encompassing all 3 major components of the language network: the inferior frontal gyrus, the temporoparietal junction, and lateral temporal cortex. Despite the progression, overall peak atrophy remained lateralized to the left hemisphere. Conclusions: The results suggest that the unique features, which sharply differentiate the PPA variants at the early to middle stages, may lose their distinctiveness as the degeneration becomes more severe. Given the substantial atrophy over 2 years, PPA clinical trials may require fewer patients and shorter study durations than Alzheimer disease trials to detect significant therapeutic effects. PMID:21606451

Microstructural Correlates of Emotional Attribution Impairment in Non-Demented Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

PubMed Central

Cerami, Chiara; Dodich, Alessandra; Canessa, Nicola; Iannaccone, Sandro; Corbo, Massimo; Lunetta, Christian; Falini, Andrea; Cappa, Stefano F.

2016-01-01

Impairments in the ability to recognize and attribute emotional states to others have been described in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and linked to the dysfunction of key nodes of the emotional empathy network. Microstructural correlates of such disorders are still unexplored. We investigated the white-matter substrates of emotional attribution deficits in a sample of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients without cognitive decline. Thirteen individuals with either probable or definite amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and 14 healthy controls were enrolled in a Diffusion Tensor Imaging study and administered the Story-based Empathy Task, assessing the ability to attribute mental states to others (i.e., Intention and Emotion attribution conditions). As already reported, a significant global reduction of empathic skills, mainly driven by a failure in Emotion Attribution condition, was found in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients compared to healthy subjects. The severity of this deficit was significantly correlated with fractional anisotropy along the forceps minor, genu of corpus callosum, right uncinate and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi. The involvement of frontal commissural fiber tracts and right ventral associative fronto-limbic pathways is the microstructural hallmark of the impairment of high-order processing of socio-emotional stimuli in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These results support the notion of the neurofunctional and neuroanatomical continuum between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia. PMID:27513746

Noninvasive ventilation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: effects on sleep quality and quality of life.

PubMed

Vandoorne, Eva; Vrijsen, Bart; Belge, Catharina; Testelmans, Dries; Buyse, Bertien

2016-12-01

Little is known about the effects of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) on sleep quality in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We aim to evaluate the long-term effects of NIV on sleep quality and quality of life in patients with ALS. In this prospective observational study, 13 ALS patients were followed for one year after initiating NIV. We evaluated sleep quality, quality of life and functional status with several questionnaires: Epworth sleepiness Scale (ESS), Pittsburg sleep quality index (PSQI), Short Form 36 Health Questionnaire (SF-36), McGill Quality of Life questionnaire (McGillQoL) and revised Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale scores (ALSFRS-R). Median and interquartile range (IQR) at the start of NIV was 59 (53-65) years. The ALSFRS-R at start was 30 (24-37) (median, IQR), with three patients having severe bulbar impairment (ALSFRS-R-bulbar ≤ 9). The P a CO 2 at start of NIV treatment was 48 (43-52) mmHg (median, IQR). During the one-year follow-up period, a significant decrease in the ALSFRS-R was observed. The impact of NIV in a short term (1 month) revealed a statistically significant decrease in ESS, decrease in total PSQI and of four PSQI subscales and improvement of almost all subscales of the McGill questionnaire. Long-term analyses (9 months to 1 year) revealed that amelioration in ESS and total PSQI was sustained. We conclude that accurately titrated NIV in ALS patients can stabilize sleep quality and quality of life for at least one year, despite significant disease progression.

Differential impact of partial cortical blindness on gaze strategies when sitting and walking - an immersive virtual reality study

PubMed Central

Iorizzo, Dana B.; Riley, Meghan E.; Hayhoe, Mary; Huxlin, Krystel R.

2011-01-01

The present experiments aimed to characterize the visual performance of subjects with long-standing, unilateral cortical blindness when walking in a naturalistic, virtual environment. Under static, seated testing conditions, cortically blind subjects are known to exhibit compensatory eye movement strategies. However, they still complain of significant impairment in visual detection during navigation. To assess whether this is due to a change in compensatory eye movement strategy between sitting and walking, we measured eye and head movements in subjects asked to detect peripherally-presented, moving basketballs. When seated, cortically blind subjects detected ~80% of balls, while controls detected almost all balls. Seated blind subjects did not make larger head movements than controls, but they consistently biased their fixation distribution towards their blind hemifield. When walking, head movements were similar in the two groups, but the fixation bias decreased to the point that fixation distribution in cortically blind subjects became similar to that in controls - with one major exception: at the time of basketball appearance, walking controls looked primarily at the far ground, in upper quadrants of the virtual field of view; cortically blind subjects looked significantly more at the near ground, in lower quadrants of the virtual field. Cortically blind subjects detected only 58% of the balls when walking while controls detected ~90%. Thus, the adaptive gaze strategies adopted by cortically blind individuals as a compensation for their visual loss are strongest and most effective when seated and stationary. Walking significantly alters these gaze strategies in a way that seems to favor walking performance, but impairs peripheral target detection. It is possible that this impairment underlies the experienced difficulty of those with cortical blindness when navigating in real life. PMID:21414339

Differential impact of partial cortical blindness on gaze strategies when sitting and walking - an immersive virtual reality study.

PubMed

Iorizzo, Dana B; Riley, Meghan E; Hayhoe, Mary; Huxlin, Krystel R

2011-05-25

The present experiments aimed to characterize the visual performance of subjects with long-standing, unilateral cortical blindness when walking in a naturalistic, virtual environment. Under static, seated testing conditions, cortically blind subjects are known to exhibit compensatory eye movement strategies. However, they still complain of significant impairment in visual detection during navigation. To assess whether this is due to a change in compensatory eye movement strategy between sitting and walking, we measured eye and head movements in subjects asked to detect peripherally-presented, moving basketballs. When seated, cortically blind subjects detected ∼80% of balls, while controls detected almost all balls. Seated blind subjects did not make larger head movements than controls, but they consistently biased their fixation distribution towards their blind hemifield. When walking, head movements were similar in the two groups, but the fixation bias decreased to the point that fixation distribution in cortically blind subjects became similar to that in controls - with one major exception: at the time of basketball appearance, walking controls looked primarily at the far ground, in upper quadrants of the virtual field of view; cortically blind subjects looked significantly more at the near ground, in lower quadrants of the virtual field. Cortically blind subjects detected only 58% of the balls when walking while controls detected ∼90%. Thus, the adaptive gaze strategies adopted by cortically blind individuals as a compensation for their visual loss are strongest and most effective when seated and stationary. Walking significantly alters these gaze strategies in a way that seems to favor walking performance, but impairs peripheral target detection. It is possible that this impairment underlies the experienced difficulty of those with cortical blindness when navigating in real life. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Early detection of AD using cortical thickness measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spjuth, M.; Gravesen, F.; Eskildsen, S. F.; Østergaard, L. R.

2007-03-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes cortical atrophy and impaired cognitive functions. The diagnosis is difficult to make and is often made over a longer period of time using a combination of neuropsychological tests, and structural and functional imaging. Due to the impact of early intervention the challenge of distinguishing early AD from normal ageing has received increasing attention. This study uses cortical thickness measurements to characterize the atrophy in nine mild AD patients (mean MMSE-score 23.3 (std: 2.6)) compared to five healthy middle-aged subjects. A fully automated method based on deformable models is used for delineation of the inner and outer boundaries of the cerebral cortex from Magnetic Resonance Images. This allows observer independent high-resolution quantification of the cortical thickness. The cortex analysis facilitates detection of alterations throughout the entire cortical mantle. To perform inter-subject thickness comparison in which the spatial information is retained, a feature-based registration algorithm is developed which uses local cortical curvature, normal vector, and a distance measure. A comparison of the two study groups reveals that the lateral side of the hemispheres shows diffuse thinner areas in the mild AD group but especially the medial side shows a pronounced thinner area which can be explained by early limbic changes in AD. For classification principal component analysis is applied to reduce the high number of thickness measurements (>200,000) into fewer features. All mild AD and healthy middle-aged subjects are classified correctly (sensitivity and specificity 100%).

Lateral Entorhinal Cortex Lesions Impair Local Spatial Frameworks

PubMed Central

Kuruvilla, Maneesh V.; Ainge, James A.

2017-01-01

A prominent theory in the neurobiology of memory processing is that episodic memory is supported by contextually gated spatial representations in the hippocampus formed by combining spatial information from medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) with non-spatial information from lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC). However, there is a growing body of evidence from lesion and single-unit recording studies in rodents suggesting that LEC might have a role in encoding space, particularly the current and previous locations of objects within the local environment. Landmarks, both local and global, have been shown to control the spatial representations hypothesized to underlie cognitive maps. Consequently, it has recently been suggested that information processing within this network might be organized with reference to spatial scale with LEC and MEC providing information about local and global spatial frameworks respectively. In the present study, we trained animals to search for food using either a local or global spatial framework. Animals were re-tested on both tasks after receiving excitotoxic lesions of either the MEC or LEC. LEC lesioned animals were impaired in their ability to learn a local spatial framework task. LEC lesioned animals were also impaired on an object recognition (OR) task involving multiple local features but unimpaired at recognizing a single familiar object. Together, this suggests that LEC is involved in associating features of the local environment. However, neither LEC nor MEC lesions impaired performance on the global spatial framework task. PMID:28567006

Later Life Marital Dissolution and Repartnership Status: A National Portrait.

PubMed

Brown, Susan L; Lin, I-Fen; Hammersmith, Anna M; Wright, Matthew R

2016-04-30

Our study compares two types of later life marital dissolution that occur after age 50-divorce and widowhood-and their associations with repartnership status (i.e., remarried, cohabiting, or unpartnered). We used data from the Health and Retirement Study to provide a portrait of later life divorce and widowhood for women and men. Next, we tested whether marital dissolution type is related to women's and men's repartnered status, distinguishing among remarrieds, cohabitors, and unpartnereds, net of key sociodemographic indicators. Divorcees are more often repartnered through either remarriage or cohabitation than are widoweds. This gap persists among women net of an array of sociodemographic factors. For men, the differential is reduced to nonsignificance with the inclusion of these factors. Later life marital dissolution increasingly occurs through divorce rather than widowhood, and divorce is more often followed by repartnership. The results from this study suggest that gerontological research should not solely focus on widowhood but also should pay attention to divorce and repartnering during later life. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Trade-off of cerebello-cortical and cortico-cortical functional networks for planning in 6-year-old children.

PubMed

Kipping, Judy A; Margulies, Daniel S; Eickhoff, Simon B; Lee, Annie; Qiu, Anqi

2018-08-01

Childhood is a critical period for the development of cognitive planning. There is a lack of knowledge on its neural mechanisms in children. This study aimed to examine cerebello-cortical and cortico-cortical functional connectivity in association with planning skills in 6-year-olds (n = 76). We identified the cerebello-cortical and cortico-cortical functional networks related to cognitive planning using activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis on existing functional imaging studies on spatial planning, and data-driven independent component analysis (ICA) of children's resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI). We investigated associations of cerebello-cortical and cortico-cortical functional connectivity with planning ability in 6-year-olds, as assessed using the Stockings of Cambridge task. Long-range functional connectivity of two cerebellar networks (lobules VI and lateral VIIa) with the prefrontal and premotor cortex were greater in children with poorer planning ability. In contrast, cortico-cortical association networks were not associated with the performance of planning in children. These results highlighted the key contribution of the lateral cerebello-frontal functional connectivity, but not cortico-cortical association functional connectivity, for planning ability in 6-year-olds. Our results suggested that brain adaptation to the acquisition of planning ability during childhood is partially achieved through the engagement of the cerebello-cortical functional connectivity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rewriting age to overcome misaligned age and gender norms in later life.

PubMed

Morelock, Jeremiah C; Stokes, Jeffrey E; Moorman, Sara M

2017-01-01

In this paper we suggest that older adults undergo a misalignment between societal age norms and personal lived experience, and attempt reconciliation through discursive strategies: They rewrite how they frame chronological age as well as their subjective relations to it. Using a sample of 4041 midlife and older adults from the 2004-2006 wave of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS II), we explore associations of age and gender with subjective age and at what age respondents felt people enter later life. Our results confirm that as men and women age, they push up the age at which they think people enter later life, and slow down subjective aging (there is a growing gap between subjective and chronological age). Relations between a person's age and at what age they think people enter later life were stronger for men than for women. For every year they get older get older, men push up when they think people enter later life by 0.24years, women by 0.16years. Age norms surrounding the transition to later life may be more prominent for men than for women, and the difference in their tendencies to push up when they mark entry into later life may be a reflection of this greater prominence. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Changes in cognition and behaviour in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: nature of impairment and implications for assessment.

PubMed

Goldstein, Laura H; Abrahams, Sharon

2013-04-01

Increased awareness of cognitive and behavioural change in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis has been driven by various clinic-based and population-based studies. A frontotemporal syndrome occurs in a substantial proportion of patients, a subgroup of whom present with frontotemporal dementia. Deficits are characterised by executive and working-memory impairments, extending to changes in language and social cognition. Behaviour and social cognition abnormalities are closely similar to those reported in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, implying a clinical spectrum linking amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia. Cognitive impairment should be considered in clinical management, but few specialist assessment resources are available, and thus the cognitive status of most patients is unknown. Standard assessment procedures are not appropriate to detect dysfunction due to progressive physical disability; techniques that better measure the problems encountered by this group of patients are needed to further establish disease effects. Screening instruments are needed that are validated specifically for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, encompass the heterogeneity of impairment, and accommodate physical disability. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hearing handicap, rather than measured hearing impairment, predicts poorer quality of life over 10 years in older adults.

PubMed

Gopinath, Bamini; Schneider, Julie; Hickson, Louise; McMahon, Catherine M; Burlutsky, George; Leeder, Stephen R; Mitchell, Paul

2012-06-01

We aimed to determine the prospective association between measured hearing impairment, self-reported hearing handicap and hearing aid use with quality of life. 829 Blue Mountains Hearing Study participants (≥ 55 years) were examined between 1997-1999 and 2007-2009. The shortened version of the hearing handicap inventory was administered. Hearing levels were measured using pure-tone audiometry. Quality of life was assessed using the 36-Item Short-Form Survey (SF-36); higher scores reflect better quality of life. Hearing impairment at baseline compared with no impairment was associated with lower mean SF-36 mental composite score 10 years later (multivariable-adjusted p=0.03). Physical composite score and mean scores for seven of the eight SF-36 domains after 10-year follow-up were significantly lower among participants who self-reported hearing handicap at baseline. Differences in the adjusted means between participants with and without hearing handicap ranged from 2.7 (physical composite score) to 10.4 units ('role limitations due to physical problems' domain). Individuals who developed incident hearing impairment compared to those who did not, had adjusted mean scores 9.5- and 7.7-units lower in the 'role limitation due to physical problems', and 'bodily pain' domains, respectively, at the 10-year follow-up. Hearing aid users versus non-users at baseline showed a 1.82-point (p=0.03) and 3.32-point (p=0.01) increase in SF-36 mental composite score and mental health domain over the 10-year follow-up, respectively. Older adults with self-perceived hearing handicap constitute a potential risk group for overall deterioration in quality of life, while hearing aid use could help improve the well-being of hearing impaired adults. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

AMPA receptor antagonist NBQX attenuates later-life epileptic seizures and autistic-like social deficits following neonatal seizures.

PubMed

Lippman-Bell, Jocelyn J; Rakhade, Sanjay N; Klein, Peter M; Obeid, Makram; Jackson, Michele C; Joseph, Annelise; Jensen, Frances E

2013-11-01

To determine whether AMPA receptor (AMPAR) antagonist NBQX can prevent early mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway activation and long-term sequelae following neonatal seizures in rats, including later-life spontaneous recurrent seizures, CA3 mossy fiber sprouting, and autistic-like social deficits. Long-Evans rats experienced hypoxia-induced neonatal seizures (HS) at postnatal day (P)10. NBQX (20 mg/kg) was administered immediately following HS (every 12 h × 4 doses). Twelve hours post-HS, we assessed mTOR activation marker phosphorylated p70-S6 kinase (p-p70S6K) in hippocampus and cortex of vehicle (HS + V) or NBQX-treated post-HS rats (HS + N) versus littermate controls (C + V). Spontaneous seizure activity was compared between groups by epidural cortical electroencephalography (EEG) at P70-100. Aberrant mossy fiber sprouting was measured using Timm staining. Finally, we assessed behavior between P30 and P38. Postseizure NBQX treatment significantly attenuated seizure-induced increases in p-p70S6K in the hippocampus (p < 0.01) and cortex (p < 0.001). Although spontaneous recurrent seizures increased in adulthood in HS + V rats compared to controls (3.22 ± 1 seizures/h; p = 0.03), NBQX significantly attenuated later-life seizures (0.14 ± 0.1 seizures/h; p = 0.046). HS + N rats showed less aberrant mossy fiber sprouting (115 ± 8.0%) than vehicle-treated post-HS rats (174 ± 10%, p = 0.004), compared to controls (normalized to 100%). Finally, NBQX treatment prevented alterations in later-life social behavior; post-HS rats showed significantly decreased preference for a novel over a familiar rat (71.0 ± 12 s) compared to controls (99.0 ± 15.6 s; p < 0.01), whereas HS + N rats showed social novelty preference similar to controls (114.3 ± 14.1 s). Brief NBQX administration during the 48 h postseizure in P10 Long-Evans rats suppresses transient mTOR pathway activation and attenuates spontaneous recurrent seizures, social preference deficits, and mossy

AMPA Receptor antagonist NBQX attenuates later-life epileptic seizures and autistic-like social deficits following neonatal seizures

PubMed Central

Lippman-Bell, Jocelyn J.; Rakhade, Sanjay N.; Klein, Peter M.; Obeid, Makram; Jackson, Michele C.; Joseph, Annelise; Jensen, Frances E.

2013-01-01

Summary Purpose To determine whether AMPA receptor (AMPAR) antagonist NBQX can prevent early mTOR pathway activation and long-term sequelae following neonatal seizures in rats, including later-life spontaneous recurrent seizures, CA3 mossy fiber sprouting, and autistic-like social deficits. Methods Long-Evans rats experienced hypoxia-induced neonatal seizures (HS) at postnatal day (P)10. NBQX (20 mg/kg) was administered immediately following HS (every 12h x 4 doses). 12h post-HS, we assessed mTOR activation marker phosphorylated p70-S6 kinase (p-p70S6K) in hippocampus and cortex of vehicle (HS+V) or NBQX-treated post-HS rats (HS+N) versus littermate controls (C+V). Spontaneous seizure activity was compared between groups by epidural cortical electroencephalography (EEG) at P70-100. Aberrant mossy fiber sprouting was measured using Timm staining. Finally, we assessed behavior between P30-38. Key findings Post-seizure NBQX treatment significantly attenuated seizure-induced increases in p-P70S6K in the hippocampus (p<0.01) and cortex (p<0.001). While spontaneous recurrent seizures increased in adulthood in HS+V rats compared to controls (3.22±1seizures/hour; p=0.03), NBQX significantly attenuated later-life seizures (0.14±0.1 seizures/hour; p=0.046). HS+N rats showed less aberrant mossy fiber sprouting (115±8.0%) than vehicle-treated post-HS rats (174±10%, p=0.004), compared to controls (normalized to 100%). Finally, NBQX treatment prevented alterations in later-life social behavior; post-HS rats showed significantly decreased preference for a novel over a familiar rat (71.0±12 sec) compared to controls (99.0±15.6 sec; p<0.01), while HS+N rats showed social novelty preference similar to controls (114.3±14.1 sec). Significance Brief NBQX administration during the 48 hours post-seizure in P10 Long-Evans rats suppresses transient mTOR pathway activation and attenuates spontaneous recurrent seizures, social preference deficits and mossy fiber sprouting observed in

Abnormal functional lateralization and activity of language brain areas in typical specific language impairment (developmental dysphasia)

PubMed Central

De Guibert, Clément; Maumet, Camille; Jannin, Pierre; Ferré, Jean-Christophe; Tréguier, Catherine; Barillot, Christian; Le Rumeur, Elisabeth; Allaire, Catherine; Biraben, Arnaud

2011-01-01

Atypical functional lateralization and specialization for language have been proposed to account for developmental language disorders, yet results from functional neuroimaging studies are sparse and inconsistent. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study compared children with a specific subtype of specific language impairment affecting structural language (n=21), to a matched group of typically-developing children using a panel of four language tasks neither requiring reading nor metalinguistic skills, including two auditory lexico-semantic tasks (category fluency and responsive naming) and two visual phonological tasks based on picture naming. Data processing involved normalizing the data with respect to a matched pairs pediatric template, groups and between-groups analysis, and laterality indexes assessment within regions of interest using single and combined task analysis. Children with specific language impairment exhibited a significant lack of left lateralization in all core language regions (inferior frontal gyrus-opercularis, inferior frontal gyrus-triangularis, supramarginal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus), across single or combined task analysis, but no difference of lateralization for the rest of the brain. Between-group comparisons revealed a left hypoactivation of Wernicke’s area at the posterior superior temporal/supramarginal junction during the responsive naming task, and a right hyperactivation encompassing the anterior insula with adjacent inferior frontal gyrus and the head of the caudate nucleus during the first phonological task. This study thus provides evidence that this specific subtype of specific language impairment is associated with atypical lateralization and functioning of core language areas. PMID:21719430

Life Course Pathways to Racial Disparities in Cognitive Impairment among Older Americans*

PubMed Central

Zhang, Zhenmei; Hayward, Mark D.; Yu, Yan-Liang

2016-01-01

Blacks are especially hard hit by cognitive impairment at older ages compared to whites. Here, we take advantage of the Health and Retirement Study (1998–2010) to assess how this racial divide in cognitive impairment is associated with the racial stratification of life course exposures and resources over a 12-year period among 8,946 non-Hispanic whites and blacks aged 65 and older in 1998. We find that blacks suffer from a higher risk of moderate/severe cognitive impairment at baseline and during the follow-up. Blacks are also more likely to report childhood adversity and to have grown up in the segregated South, and these early-life adversities put blacks at a significantly higher risk of cognitive impairment. Adulthood socioeconomic status is strongly associated with the risk of cognitive impairment, net of childhood conditions. However, racial disparities in cognitive impairment, though substantially reduced, are not eliminated when controlling for these life course factors. PMID:27247126

Rehabilitation of cortical blindness secondary to stroke.

PubMed

Gaber, Tarek A-Z K

2010-01-01

Cortical blindness is a rare complication of posterior circulation stroke. However, its complex presentation with sensory, physical, cognitive and behavioural impairments makes it one of the most challenging. Appropriate approach from a rehabilitation standpoint was never reported. Our study aims to discuss the rehabilitation methods and outcomes of a cohort of patients with cortical blindness. The notes of all patients with cortical blindness referred to a local NHS rehabilitation service in the last 6~years were examined. Patients' demographics, presenting symptoms, scan findings, rehabilitation programmes and outcomes were documented. Seven patients presented to our service, six of them were males. The mean age was 63. Patients 1, 2 and 3 had total blindness with severe cognitive and behavioural impairments, wandering and akathisia. All of them failed to respond to any rehabilitation effort and the focus was on damage limitation. Pharmacological interventions had a modest impact on behaviour and sleep pattern. The 3 patients were discharged to a nursing facility. Patients 4, 5, 6 and 7 had partial blindness with variable severity. All of them suffered from significant memory impairment. However, none suffered from any behavioural, physical or other cognitive impairment. Rehabilitation efforts on 3 patients were carried out collaboratively between brain injury occupational therapists and sensory disability officers. All patients experienced significant improvement in handicap and they all maintained community placements. This small cohort of patients suggests that the rehabilitation philosophy and outcomes of these 2 distinct groups of either total or partial cortical blindness differ significantly.

Religious Attendance and Loneliness in Later Life

PubMed Central

Rote, Sunshine; Hill, Terrence D.; Ellison, Christopher G.

2013-01-01

Purpose of the Study:  Studies show that loneliness is a major risk factor for health issues in later life. Although research suggests that religious involvement can protect against loneliness, explanations for this general pattern are underdeveloped and undertested. In this paper, we propose and test a theoretical model, which suggests that social integration and social support are key mechanisms that link religious attendance and loneliness. Design and Methods:  To formally test our theoretical model, we use data from the National Social Life Health and Aging Project (2005/2006), a large national probability sample of older adults aged 57–85 years. Results:  We find that religious attendance is associated with higher levels of social integration and social support and that social integration and social support are associated with lower levels of loneliness. A series of mediation tests confirm our theoretical model. Implications:  Taken together, our results suggest that involvement in religious institutions may protect against loneliness in later life by integrating older adults into larger and more supportive social networks. Future research should test whether these processes are valid across theoretically relevant subgroups. PMID:22555887

Sexuality in later life: examining beliefs and perceptions of undergraduate students.

PubMed

Freeman, Shannon; Sousa, Sarah; Neufeld, Eva

2014-01-01

Understanding students' beliefs and perceptions of sex/sexuality in later life can reduce and prevent ageist myths and stereotypes. The objective of this study was to gauge undergraduate students' knowledge of several myths, stereotypes, and facts regarding sex/sexuality in later life, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) older adults. More than 85% of students held a positive view of sex/sexuality in later life with 65% believing that they would engage in sexual activity past age 80 (N=125). Correct responses to true/false questions were higher for those with a positive perspective on aging, and recognizing that sexual behavior does not cease to be important with aging was the strongest predictor of holding a positive view on sexuality in later life. No significant differences were observed from responses regarding LGBT older adults or constraints to sexuality in long term care facilities. The positive perceptions among students in the current study suggest an increased acceptance of sexuality and diversity that should be maintained in university curricula.

The interplay between women's life course work patterns and financial planning for later life.

PubMed

Berger, Ellie D; Denton, Margaret A

2004-01-01

In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between women's life course work patterns and their financial planning for later life, we examined data from semi-structured interviews with retired women (n = 28) aged 59 to 92. The majority of women disrupted their careers at some point in time, for an average of 14 years, primarily for child-rearing responsibilities. We found that financial preparedness and income security in later life are structured by women's life course work patterns. However, individuals also have the ability to shape their own lives and many of the women took the initiative to acquire financial knowledge irrespective of their work situation. Financial-planning advice that participants gave to future generations of older women was also explored and centred on the importance of saving, avoiding debt, maintaining financial independence, and planning ahead.

Atrophic Patterns of the Frontal-Subcortical Circuits in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease

PubMed Central

Zhao, Hui; Li, Xiaoxi; Wu, Wenbo; Li, Zheng; Qian, Lai; Li, ShanShan; Zhang, Bing; Xu, Yun

2015-01-01

Atrophy of the cortical thickness and gray matter volume are regarded as sensitive markers for the early clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study aimed to investigate differences in atrophy patterns in the frontal-subcortical circuits between MCI and AD, assess whether these differences were essential for the pathologic basis of cognitive impairment. A total of 131 individuals were recruited, including 45 with cognitively normal controls (CN), 46 with MCI, and 40 with AD. FreeSurfer software was used to perform volumetric measurements of the frontal-subcortical circuits from 3.0T magnetic resonance (MR) scans. Data revealed that both MCI and AD subjects had a thinner cortex in the left caudal middle frontal gyrus and the left lateral orbitofrontal gyrus compared with CN individuals. The left lateral orbitofrontal gyrus was also thinner in AD compared with MCI patients. There were no statistically significant differences in the cortical mean curvature among the three groups. Both MCI and AD subjects exhibited smaller bilateral hippocampus volumes compared with CN individuals. The volumes of the bilateral hippocampus and the right putamen were also smaller in AD compared with MCI patients. Logistic regression analyses revealed that the left lateral orbitofrontal gyrus and bilateral hippocampus were risk factors for cognitive impairment. These current results suggest that atrophy was heterogeneous in subregions of the frontal-subcortical circuits in MCI and AD patients. Among these subregions, the reduced thickness of the left lateral orbitofrontal and the smaller volume of the bilateral hippocampus seemed to be markers for predicting cognitive impairment. PMID:26066658

Association between childhood asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in later life.

PubMed

Hirayama, Fumi; Lee, Andy H

2015-03-01

Persistent chronic inflammation and impaired lung growth due to asthma in childhood may have long-term impact on pulmonary function and increase susceptibility to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in later life. To investigate whether childhood asthma is associated with adult lung function and the risk of developing COPD among Japanese older adults, a case-control study was conducted in central Japan. A total of 300 patients with COPD aged 50 to 75 years were referred by respiratory physicians, while 400 controls were recruited from the community. All participants underwent spirometric measurements of lung function. Information on childhood asthma, demographic characteristics, and lifestyle characteristics was obtained by face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. The prevalence of childhood asthma was higher (P = .015) among the cases (6.3%) than among the control group (2.4%). Childhood asthma was significantly associated with the risk of COPD (adjusted odds ratio 3.32, 95% confidence interval 1.05-10.45). Participants with childhood asthma had lower (P = .010) forced expiratory volume in 1 second (mean 1.63 L, standard deviation [SD] 0.64 L) than those without (mean 2.04 L, SD 0.75 L). However, the adjusted lung function difference did not attain statistical significance after controlling for confounding variables such as age and cumulative smoking exposure. The epidemiological evidence suggested a positive association between childhood asthma and COPD in later life. Further study of the effect of adequate childhood asthma treatment on future risk of COPD should be undertaken. © 2012 APJPH.

Gendered emotion work around physical health problems in mid- and later-life marriages☆

PubMed Central

Thomeer, Mieke Beth; Reczek, Corinne; Umberson, Debra

2015-01-01

The provision and receipt of emotion work—defined as intentional activities done to promote another’s emotional well-being—are central dimensions of marriage. However, emotion work in response to physical health problems is a largely unexplored, yet likely important, aspect of the marital experience. We analyze dyadic in-depth interviews with husbands and wives in 21 mid-to later-life couples to examine the ways that health-impaired people and their spouses provide, interpret, and explain emotion work. Because physical health problems, emotion work, and marital dynamics are gendered, we consider how these processes differ for women and men. We find that wives provide emotion work regardless of their own health status. Husbands provide emotion work less consistently, typically only when the husbands see themselves as their wife’s primary source of stability or when the husbands view their marriage as balanced. Notions of traditional masculinity preclude some husbands from providing emotion work even when their wife is health-impaired. This study articulates emotion work around physical health problems as one factor that sustains and exacerbates gender inequalities in marriage with implications for emotional and physical well-being. PMID:25661852

Gendered emotion work around physical health problems in mid- and later-life marriages.

PubMed

Thomeer, Mieke Beth; Reczek, Corinne; Umberson, Debra

2015-01-01

The provision and receipt of emotion work-defined as intentional activities done to promote another's emotional well-being-are central dimensions of marriage. However, emotion work in response to physical health problems is a largely unexplored, yet likely important, aspect of the marital experience. We analyze dyadic in-depth interviews with husbands and wives in 21 mid- to later-life couples to examine the ways that health-impaired people and their spouses provide, interpret, and explain emotion work. Because physical health problems, emotion work, and marital dynamics are gendered, we consider how these processes differ for women and men. We find that wives provide emotion work regardless of their own health status. Husbands provide emotion work less consistently, typically only when the husbands see themselves as their wife's primary source of stability or when the husbands view their marriage as balanced. Notions of traditional masculinity preclude some husbands from providing emotion work even when their wife is health-impaired. This study articulates emotion work around physical health problems as one factor that sustains and exacerbates gender inequalities in marriage with implications for emotional and physical well-being. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of neurocognitive function in major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia in later life: A cross-sectional study of euthymic or remitted, non-demented patients using the Japanese version of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS-J).

PubMed

Terachi, Sayaka; Yamada, Takeshi; Pu, Shenghong; Yokoyama, Katsutoshi; Matsumura, Hiroshi; Kaneko, Koichi

2017-08-01

Major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD), and schizophrenia (SZ) are associated with cognitive dysfunction both in adulthood and in later life. In this study, we directly compared neurocognitive function between these three conditions in later life, employing stringent definitions of euthymia and symptomatic remission. Cognitive function in 60 elderly outpatients with MDD, BD, or SZ (20 patients per group) was assessed using the Japanese version of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia. Patients with MDD had significantly higher z scores than both the other groups with large or moderately large effect sizes, for verbal fluency, attention and speed of information processing, and composite scores. In contrast, there were no significant differences in the degree of neurocognitive impairment between patients with BD and SZ. In later life, patients with BD and SZ showed a similar degree of neurocognitive impairment, while patients with MDD showed smaller impairments in several neurocognitive domains compared to patients with either of the other two disorders. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Early-Life Characteristics, Psychiatric History, and Cognition Trajectories in Later Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Maria Teresa

2010-01-01

Purpose of the Study: Although considerable attention has been paid to the relationship between later-life depression and cognitive function, the relationship between a history of psychiatric problems and cognitive function is not very well documented. Few studies of relationships between childhood health, childhood disadvantage, and cognitive…

Measuring Risk Perception in Later Life: The Perceived Risk Scale.

PubMed

Lifshitz, Rinat; Nimrod, Galit; Bachner, Yaacov G

2016-11-01

Risk perception is a subjective assessment of the actual or potential threat to one's life or, more broadly, to one's psychological well-being. Given the various risks associated with later life, a valid and reliable integrative screening tool for assessing risk perception among the elderly is warranted. The study examined the psychometric properties and factor structure of a new integrative risk perception instrument, the Perceived Risk Scale. This eight-item measure refers to various risks simultaneously, including terror, health issues, traffic accidents, violence, and financial loss, and was developed specifically for older adults. An online survey was conducted with 306 participants aged 50 years and older. The scale was examined using exploratory factor analysis and concurrent validity testing. Factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure: later-life risks and terror risks A high percentage of explained variance, as well as internal consistency, was found for the entire scale and for both factors. Concurrent validity was supported by significant positive associations with participants' depression and negative correlations with their life satisfaction. These findings suggest that the Perceived Risk Scale is internally reliable, valid, and appropriate for evaluating risk perception in later life. The scale's potential applications are discussed. © The Author(s) 2016.

Constructing Narratives in Later Life: Autoethnography beyond the Academy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Golding, Barry; Foley, Annette

2017-01-01

Learning through life experiences as distinct from learning through the academy and courses have become increasingly important themes in later life adult education research and practice. Whilst the dominant discourse for most younger people is still about education and training for students in standardised and accredited courses, there is…

In Vivo Voltage-Sensitive Dye Study of Lateral Spreading of Cortical Activity in Mouse Primary Visual Cortex Induced by a Current Impulse

PubMed Central

Fehérvári, Tamás Dávid; Sawai, Hajime; Yagi, Tetsuya

2015-01-01

In the mammalian primary visual cortex (V1), lateral spreading of excitatory potentials is believed to be involved in spatial integrative functions, but the underlying cortical mechanism is not well understood. Visually-evoked population-level responses have been shown to propagate beyond the V1 initial activation site in mouse, similar to higher mammals. Visually-evoked responses are, however, affected by neuronal circuits prior to V1 (retina, LGN), making the separate analysis of V1 difficult. Intracortical stimulation eliminates these initial processing steps. We used in vivo RH1691 voltage-sensitive dye (VSD) imaging and intracortical microstimulation in adult C57BL/6 mice to elucidate the spatiotemporal properties of population-level signal spreading in V1 cortical circuits. The evoked response was qualitatively similar to that measured in single-cell electrophysiological experiments in rodents: a fast transient fluorescence peak followed by a fast and a slow decrease or hyperpolarization, similar to EPSP and fast and slow IPSPs in single cells. The early cortical response expanded at speeds commensurate with long horizontal projections (at 5% of the peak maximum, 0.08–0.15 m/s) however, the bulk of the VSD signal propagated slowly (at half-peak maximum, 0.05–0.08 m/s) suggesting an important role of regenerative multisynaptic transmission through short horizontal connections in V1 spatial integrative functions. We also found a tendency for a widespread and fast cortical response suppression in V1, which was eliminated by GABAA-antagonists gabazine and bicuculline methiodide. Our results help understand the neuronal circuitry involved in lateral spreading in V1. PMID:26230520

Reorganization of motor cortex and impairment of motor performance induced by hindlimb unloading are partially reversed by cortical IGF-1 administration.

PubMed

Mysoet, Julien; Canu, Marie-Hélène; Gillet, Christophe; Fourneau, Julie; Garnier, Cyril; Bastide, Bruno; Dupont, Erwan

2017-01-15

Immobilization, bed rest, or sedentary lifestyle, are known to induce a profound impairment in sensorimotor performance. These alterations are due to a combination of peripheral and central factors. Previous data conducted on a rat model of disuse (hindlimb unloading, HU) have shown a profound reorganization of motor cortex and an impairment of motor performance. Recently, our interest was turned towards the role of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in cerebral plasticity since this growth factor is considered as the mediator of beneficial effects of exercise on the central nervous system, and its cortical level is decreased after a 14-day period of HU. In the present study, we attempted to determine whether a chronic subdural administration of IGF-1 in HU rats could prevent deleterious effects of HU on the motor cortex and on motor activity. We demonstrated that HU induces a shrinkage of hindlimb cortical representation and an increase in current threshold to elicit a movement. Administration of IGF-1 in HU rats partially reversed these changes. The functional evaluation revealed that IGF-1 prevents the decrease in spontaneous activity found in HU rats and the changes in hip kinematics during overground locomotion, but had no effect of challenged locomotion (ladder rung walking test). Taken together, these data clearly indicate the implication of IGF-1 in cortical plastic mechanisms and in behavioral alteration induced by a decreased in sensorimotor activity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

More Education May Limit Disability and Extend Life For People With Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Laditka, Sarah B; Laditka, James N

2014-08-01

Education is associated with longer life and less disability. Living longer increases risks of cognitive impairment, often producing disability. We examined associations among education, disability, and life expectancy for people with cognitive impairment, following a 1992 cohort ages 55+ for 23 063 person-years (Panel Study of Income Dynamics, n = 2165). We estimated monthly probabilities of disability and death for 7 education levels, adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, and cognitive status. We used the probabilities to simulate populations with age-specific cognitive impairment incidence and monthly disability status through death. For those with cognitive impairment, education was associated with longer life and less disability. Among them, college-educated white women lived 3.2 more years than those with <8 years education, disabled 24.4% of life from age 55 compared with 36.7% (P< .0001). Increasing education will lengthen lives. Living longer, more people will have cognitive impairment. Education may limit their risk of disability and its duration. © The Author(s) 2014.

Predictors of depression and life satisfaction in visually impaired people.

PubMed

Kurtović, Ana; Ivančić, Helena

2017-12-18

Visual impairment can lead loss of functional ability, necessity of accommodations and assistive technologies or having to rely on others for help. This can bring about feelings of sadness, dependency, inadequacy, and fear, which can put a person at risk for depression and affect one's satisfaction with life. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of socio-demographic factors, disability-related factors, optimism, pessimism, self-esteem and social support on depression, and life satisfaction in visually impaired people. A total of 94 visually impaired people completed the measures of socio-demographic and disability-related characteristics, optimism and pessimism, self-esteem, social support, depression and life satisfaction, administered by the authors. Correlational and hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the relations and test the model for predicting depression and life satisfaction. The results have shown that depression was negatively related to the level of education, optimism, self-liking, self-competence, support from friends, family and coworkers, and positively related to comorbidity and pessimism. Life satisfaction was positively related to education, socio-economic status, optimism, self-liking, self-competence and support from friends, family and coworkers, and negatively to pessimism. Results have further shown that depression levels were predicted by education, comorbidity, optimism and self-liking, and that self-liking mediated the relationship between optimism and depression. Life satisfaction was predicted by optimism, pessimism, self-liking, friends' support, and depression. Further analysis suggested that the path from optimism to life satisfaction goes through self-liking, friends' support, and depression. Pessimism showed indirect effects through self-liking but also had direct effects on life satisfaction. Focusing on optimism, pessimism, self-esteem, and social functioning of visually impaired is important in

The Paradox of Leisure in Later Life

PubMed Central

Nimrod, Galit; Shrira, Amit

2016-01-01

Objective. Numerous studies have shown that involvement in leisure activity has a significant impact on older adults’ physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being. This study explores whether the association between leisure involvement and well-being in later life changes over time. Method. Data were drawn from the first 4 waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Growth curve models were applied to examine whether leisure moderated change in quality of life (QoL) over time among 7,875 retirees aged 60 and older. Results. Findings indicated that the association between leisure and QoL increased with time, as nonactive respondents displayed a decline in QoL over time, whereas those with high levels of leisure involvement showed an increase. Findings remained significant after controlling for sociodemographics, health, and cognitive functioning. Discussion. Results indicated that the significance of leisure to well-being increases throughout the later life course, and that leisure may act as a resource for resilience in old age. They also pointed out a paradoxical situation in which the older seniors, who may benefit from leisure involvement more than their younger peers, are precisely the ones who face the greater number of constraints to beneficial use of leisure. PMID:25315158

The Company of Others: Generating Knowhow in Later Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimberley, Helen; Golding, Barry; Simons, Bonnie

2016-01-01

This paper explores some important aspects of the generation of practical knowledge through later life. It is about the relationship between knowledge generation, agency and capability, developed informally through the life experiences in and through the Company of Others. It emphasises how the everyday processes of socialisation create invaluable…

Spatial contrast sensitivity vision loss in children with cortical visual impairment.

PubMed

Good, William V; Hou, Chuan; Norcia, Anthony M

2012-11-19

Although cortical visual impairment (CVI) is the leading cause of bilateral vision impairment in children in Western countries, little is known about the effects of CVI on visual function. The aim of this study was to compare visual evoked potential measures of contrast sensitivity and grating acuity in children with CVI with those of age-matched typically developing controls. The swept parameter visual evoked potential (sVEP) was used to measure contrast sensitivity and grating acuity in 34 children with CVI at 5 months to 5 years of age and in 16 age-matched control children. Contrast thresholds and spatial frequency thresholds (grating acuities) were derived by extrapolating the tuning functions to zero amplitude. These thresholds and maximal suprathreshold response amplitudes were compared between groups. Among 34 children with CVI, 30 had measurable but reduced contrast sensitivity with a median threshold of 10.8% (range 5.0%-30.0% Michelson), and 32 had measurable but reduced grating acuity with median threshold 0.49 logMAR (9.8 c/deg, range 5-14 c/deg). These thresholds were significantly reduced, compared with age-matched control children. In addition, response amplitudes over the entire sweep range for both measures were significantly diminished in children with CVI compared with those of control children. Our results indicate that spatial contrast sensitivity and response amplitudes are strongly affected by CVI. The substantial degree of loss in contrast sensitivity suggests that contrast is a sensitive measure for evaluating vision deficits in patients with CVI.

Executive dysfunction predicts social cognition impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Watermeyer, Tamlyn J; Brown, Richard G; Sidle, Katie C L; Oliver, David J; Allen, Christopher; Karlsson, Joanna; Ellis, Catherine M; Shaw, Christopher E; Al-Chalabi, Ammar; Goldstein, Laura H

2015-07-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder of the motor system with recognised extra-motor and cognitive involvement. This cross-sectional study examined ALS patients' performance on measures requiring social inference, and determined the relationship between such changes and variations in mood, behaviour, personality, empathy and executive function. Fifty-five ALS patients and 49 healthy controls were compared on tasks measuring social cognition and executive function. ALS patients also completed measures examining mood, behaviour and personality. Regression analyses explored the contribution of executive function, mood, behaviour and personality to social cognition scores within the ALS sample. A between-group MANOVA revealed that, the ALS group was impaired relative to controls on two composite scores for social cognition and executive function. Patients also performed worse on individual tests of executive function measuring cognitive flexibility, response inhibition and concept formation, and on individual aspects of social cognition assessing the attribution of emotional and mental states. Regression analyses indicated that ALS-related executive dysfunction was the main predictor of social cognition performance, above and beyond demographic variables, behaviour, mood and personality. On at least some aspects of social cognition, impaired performance in ALS appears to be secondary to executive dysfunction. The profile of cognitive impairment in ALS supports a cognitive continuum between ALS and frontotemporal dementia.

Spectrotemporal Dynamics of Auditory Cortical Synaptic Receptive Field Plasticity

PubMed Central

Froemke, Robert C.; Martins, Ana Raquel O.

2011-01-01

The nervous system must dynamically represent sensory information in order for animals to perceive and operate within a complex, changing environment. Receptive field plasticity in the auditory cortex allows cortical networks to organize around salient features of the sensory environment during postnatal development, and then subsequently refine these representations depending on behavioral context later in life. Here we review the major features of auditory cortical receptive field plasticity in young and adult animals, focusing on modifications to frequency tuning of synaptic inputs. Alteration in the patterns of acoustic input, including sensory deprivation and tonal exposure, leads to rapid adjustments of excitatory and inhibitory strengths that collectively determine the suprathreshold tuning curves of cortical neurons. Long-term cortical plasticity also requires co-activation of subcortical neuromodulatory control nuclei such as the cholinergic nucleus basalis, particularly in adults. Regardless of developmental stage, regulation of inhibition seems to be a general mechanism by which changes in sensory experience and neuromodulatory state can remodel cortical receptive fields. We discuss recent findings suggesting that the microdynamics of synaptic receptive field plasticity unfold as a multi-phase set of distinct phenomena, initiated by disrupting the balance between excitation and inhibition, and eventually leading to wide-scale changes to many synapses throughout the cortex. These changes are coordinated to enhance the representations of newly-significant stimuli, possibly for improved signal processing and language learning in humans. PMID:21426927

Special Issue: "Getting of Wisdom", Learning in Later Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krašovec, Sabina Jelenc; Golding, Barry; Findsen, Brian; Schmidt-Hertha, Bernhard

2017-01-01

This specially themed ""Getting of Wisdom," Learning in Later Life" Edition of the "Australian Journal of Adult Learning" ("AJAL") is not so much concerned with the issue of ageing itself, but more about quality of life regardless of age. It is about taking, but also giving back as best as possible at any…

Religious Attendance and Loneliness in Later Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rote, Sunshine; Hill, Terrence D.; Ellison, Christopher G.

2013-01-01

Purpose of the Study: Studies show that loneliness is a major risk factor for health issues in later life. Although research suggests that religious involvement can protect against loneliness, explanations for this general pattern are underdeveloped and undertested. In this paper, we propose and test a theoretical model, which suggests that social…

Aging, mobility impairments and subjective wellbeing.

PubMed

Freedman, Vicki A; Carr, Deborah; Cornman, Jennifer C; Lucas, Richard E

2017-10-01

Wellbeing is often described as U-shaped over the life course, suggesting an apparent paradox that wellbeing remains high at older ages despite increases in impairments. We explore associations among age, lower body impairments-one of the most common late-life impairments-and three measures of wellbeing: life satisfaction, emotional wellbeing and somatic wellbeing. We hypothesize that age effects are positive, become stronger once lower body impairments are controlled, and are concentrated among those who have maintained their mobility. Net of confounding factors, we hypothesize that lower body impairments are associated with worse wellbeing and these effects diminish with advancing age. We analyze the 2013 Disability and Use of Time supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N = 1607 adults ages 60 and older). We estimate nested regression models that include age, severity of lower body impairments and confounding demographic, psychological, and socioeconomic factors and activities; test age-impairment interactions; and estimate age- and impairment-stratified models. Positive age effects were observed after controlling for lower body impairments for life satisfaction (β = 0.90; p < 0.05), although statistical significance weakened (p = 0.07) in fully adjusted models. For emotional wellbeing, adjusted age effects were negative (β = -0.05; p < 0.05) and were concentrated among those with limitations (β = -0.14; p < 0.01). For all three outcomes, severity of impairments reduced wellbeing in adjusted models. These effects were strongest for somatic wellbeing, especially for 65-74 year olds. Our study challenges the notion that wellbeing is U-shaped throughout the life course and underscores the critical role of mobility across wellbeing domains in later life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Increased homocysteine levels impair reference memory and reduce cortical levels of acetylcholine in a mouse model of vascular cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Dam, Kevin; Füchtemeier, Martina; Farr, Tracy D; Boehm-Sturm, Philipp; Foddis, Marco; Dirnagl, Ulrich; Malysheva, Olga; Caudill, Marie A; Jadavji, Nafisa M

2017-03-15

Folates are B-vitamins that are vital for normal brain function. Deficiencies in folates either genetic (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, MTHFR) or dietary intake of folic acid result in elevated levels of homocysteine. Clinical studies have shown that elevated levels of homocysteine (Hcy) may be associated with the development of dementia, however this link remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of increased Hcy levels on a mouse model of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) produced by chronic hypoperfusion. Male and female Mthfr +/+ and Mthfr +/- mice were placed on either control (CD) or folic acid deficient (FADD) diets after which all animals underwent microcoil implantation around each common carotid artery or a sham procedure. Post-operatively animals were tested on the Morris water maze (MWM), y-maze, and rotarod. Animals had no motor impairments on the rotarod, y-maze, and could learn the location of the platform on the MWM. However, on day 8 of testing of MWM testing during the probe trial, Mthfr +/- FADD microcoil mice spent significantly less time in the target quadrant when compared to Mthfr +/- CD sham mice, suggesting impaired reference memory. All FADD mice had elevated levels of plasma homocysteine. MRI analysis revealed arterial remodeling was present in Mthfr +/- microcoil mice not Mthfr +/+ mice. Acetylcholine and related metabolites were reduced in cortical tissue because of microcoil implantation and elevated levels of homocysteine. Deficiencies in folate metabolism resulting in increased Hcy levels yield a metabolic profile that increases susceptibility to neurodegeneration in a mouse model of VCI. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Changing Roles of Neurons in the Cortical Subplate

PubMed Central

Friedlander, Michael J.; Torres-Reveron, Juan

2009-01-01

Neurons may serve different functions over the course of an organism's life. Recent evidence suggests that cortical subplate (SP) neurons including those that reside in the white matter may perform longitudinal multi-tasking at different stages of development. These cells play a key role in early cortical development in coordinating thalamocortical reciprocal innervation. At later stages of development, they become integrated within the cortical microcircuitry. This type of longitudinal multi-tasking can enhance the capacity for information processing by populations of cells serving different functions over the lifespan. Subplate cells are initially derived when cells from the ventricular zone underlying the cortex migrate to the cortical preplate that is subsequently split by the differentiating neurons of the cortical plate with some neurons locating in the marginal zone and others settling below in the SP. While the cortical plate neurons form most of the cortical layers (layers 2–6), the marginal zone neurons form layer 1 and the SP neurons become interstitial cells of the white matter as well as forming a compact sublayer along the bottom of layer 6. After serving as transient innervation targets for thalamocortical axons, most of these cells die and layer 4 neurons become innervated by thalamic axons. However, 10–20% survives, remaining into adulthood along the bottom of layer 6 and as a scattered population of interstitial neurons in the white matter. Surviving SP cells' axons project throughout the overlying laminae, reaching layer 1 and issuing axon collaterals within white matter and in lower layer 6. This suggests that they participate in local synaptic networks, as well. Moreover, they receive excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs, potentially monitoring outputs from axon collaterals of cortical efferents, from cortical afferents and/or from each other. We explore our understanding of the functional connectivity of these cells at different

Health promotion for mid- and later-life women.

PubMed

Zurakowski, Tamara L

2004-01-01

Health outcomes in later life are dependent in part on activities started in midlife. Primary and secondary prevention strategies include seeking healthier life choices, early detection of disease, and specific disease avoidance through immunization and other activities. The recommendations for various screenings and health care for postmenopausal women have changed rapidly over the past 2 years but still include the basics of nutrition, exercise, testing for common illnesses, and control of existing health problems.

Depression in Later Life: Recognition and Treatment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmall, Vicki L.; And Others

This guide is designed to help readers understand depression and factors related to its onset in later life; recognize signs of depression and potential suicide; and know actions they can take if they suspect an older family member or friend may be depressed or contemplating suicide. Following a brief introduction, a chapter on depression…

Effects of non-invasive ventilation on survival and quality of life in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Bourke, Stephen C; Tomlinson, Mark; Williams, Tim L; Bullock, Robert E; Shaw, Pamela J; Gibson, G John

2006-02-01

Few patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis currently receive non-invasive ventilation (NIV), reflecting clinical uncertainty about the role of this intervention. We aimed to assess the effect of NIV on quality of life and survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in a randomised controlled trial. 92 of 102 eligible patients participated. They were assessed every 2 months and randomly assigned to NIV (n=22) or standard care (n=19) when they developed either orthopnoea with maximum inspiratory pressure less than 60% of that predicted or symptomatic hypercapnia. Primary validated quality-of-life outcome measures were the short form 36 mental component summary (MCS) and the sleep apnoea quality-of-life index symptoms domain (sym). Both time maintained above 75% of baseline (T(i)MCS and T(i)sym) and mean improvement (microMCS and microsym) were measured. NIV improved T(i)MCS, T(i)sym, microMCS, microsym, and survival in all patients and in the subgroup with better bulbar function (n=20). This subgroup showed improvement in several measures of quality of life and a median survival benefit of 205 days (p=0.006) with maintained quality of life for most of this period. NIV improved some quality-of-life indices in those with poor bulbar function, including microsym (p=0.018), but conferred no survival benefit. In patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis without severe bulbar dysfunction, NIV improves survival with maintenance of, and improvement in, quality of life. The survival benefit from NIV in this group is much greater than that from currently available neuroprotective therapy. In patients with severe bulbar impairment, NIV improves sleep-related symptoms, but is unlikely to confer a large survival advantage.

Outline of a novel architecture for cortical computation.

PubMed

Majumdar, Kaushik

2008-03-01

In this paper a novel architecture for cortical computation has been proposed. This architecture is composed of computing paths consisting of neurons and synapses. These paths have been decomposed into lateral, longitudinal and vertical components. Cortical computation has then been decomposed into lateral computation (LaC), longitudinal computation (LoC) and vertical computation (VeC). It has been shown that various loop structures in the cortical circuit play important roles in cortical computation as well as in memory storage and retrieval, keeping in conformity with the molecular basis of short and long term memory. A new learning scheme for the brain has also been proposed and how it is implemented within the proposed architecture has been explained. A few mathematical results about the architecture have been proposed, some of which are without proof.

Continued 26S proteasome dysfunction in mouse brain cortical neurons impairs autophagy and the Keap1-Nrf2 oxidative defence pathway.

PubMed

Ugun-Klusek, Aslihan; Tatham, Michael H; Elkharaz, Jamal; Constantin-Teodosiu, Dumitru; Lawler, Karen; Mohamed, Hala; Paine, Simon M L; Anderson, Glen; John Mayer, R; Lowe, James; Ellen Billett, E; Bedford, Lynn

2017-01-05

The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and macroautophagy (autophagy) are central to normal proteostasis and interdependent in that autophagy is known to compensate for the UPS to alleviate ensuing proteotoxic stress that impairs cell function. UPS and autophagy dysfunctions are believed to have a major role in the pathomechanisms of neurodegenerative disease. Here we show that continued 26S proteasome dysfunction in mouse brain cortical neurons causes paranuclear accumulation of fragmented dysfunctional mitochondria, associated with earlier recruitment of Parkin and lysine 48-linked ubiquitination of mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM) proteins, including Mitofusin-2. Early events also include phosphorylation of p62/SQSTM1 (p62) and increased optineurin, as well as autophagosomal LC3B and removal of some mitochondria, supporting the induction of selective autophagy. Inhibition of the degradation of ubiquitinated MOM proteins with continued 26S proteasome dysfunction at later stages may impede efficient mitophagy. However, continued 26S proteasome dysfunction also decreases the levels of essential autophagy proteins ATG9 and LC3B, which is characterised by decreases in their gene expression, ultimately leading to impaired autophagy. Intriguingly, serine 351 phosphorylation of p62 did not enhance its binding to Keap1 or stabilise the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) transcription factor in this neuronal context. Nrf2 protein levels were markedly decreased despite transcriptional activation of the Nrf2 gene. Our study reveals novel insights into the interplay between the UPS and autophagy in neurons and is imperative to understanding neurodegenerative disease where long-term proteasome inhibition has been implicated.

Your Face is Your Fortune: Does Adolescent Attractiveness Predict Intimate Relationships Later in Life?

PubMed Central

Sicinski, Kamil; Moynihan, Donald

2017-01-01

Objective: A growing literature documents the importance of physical attractiveness in young and middle adulthood for romantic, marital, and sexual relationships, but little is known about how attractiveness in adolescence matters to intimate relationships in later life. We ask: does attractiveness early in life convey ongoing benefits late in life, or do such benefits erode over time? Methods: We use multivariate regression models and more than 50 years of data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study to examine the connections between adolescent physical attractiveness and intimate relationships (i.e., sexual activity and access to potential sexual partners) in later life. Results: We find that adolescent attractiveness facilitates sexual activity in later life. This relationship is largely driven by attractiveness increasing the probability of having access to potential sexual partners. However, attractiveness is not related to sexual activity among married couples, even after controlling for marital duration. Men, those in good health, and wealthier individuals are also more likely to engage in several facets of intimate relationships. Discussion: These findings highlight the importance of relationship context for later life sexual activity and begin to explicate the pathways through which factors across the life course—particularly attractiveness—influence sexual activity in later life. PMID:26655646

Robust Formation and Maintenance of Continuous Stratified Cortical Neuroepithelium by Laminin-Containing Matrix in Mouse ES Cell Culture

PubMed Central

Nasu, Makoto; Takata, Nozomu; Danjo, Teruko; Sakaguchi, Hideya; Kadoshima, Taisuke; Futaki, Sugiko; Sekiguchi, Kiyotoshi; Eiraku, Mototsugu; Sasai, Yoshiki

2012-01-01

In the mammalian cortex, the dorsal telencephalon exhibits a characteristic stratified structure. We previously reported that three-dimensional (3D) culture of mouse ES cells (mESCs) can efficiently generate cortical neuroepithelium (NE) and layer-specific cortical neurons. However, the cortical NE generated in this mESC culture was structurally unstable and broke into small neural rosettes by culture day 7, suggesting that some factors for reinforcing the structural integrity were missing. Here we report substantial supporting effects of the extracellular matrix (ECM) protein laminin on the continuous formation of properly polarized cortical NE in floating aggregate culture of mESCs. The addition of purified laminin and entactin (a laminin-associated protein), even at low concentrations, stabilized the formation of continuous cortical NE as well as the maintenance of basement membrane and prevented rosette formation. Treatment with the neutralizing ß1-integrin antibody impaired the continuous NE formation. The stabilized cortical NE exhibited typical interkinetic nuclear migration of cortical progenitors, as seen in the embryonic cortex. The laminin-treated cortical NE maintained a continuous structure even on culture days 12 and 15, and contained ventricular, basal-progenitor, cortical-plate and Cajal-Retzius cell layers. The cortical NE in this culture was flanked by cortical hem-like tissue. Furthermore, when Shh was added, ventral telencephalic structures such as lateral ganglionic eminence–like tissue formed in the region adjacent to the cortical NE. Thus, our results indicate that laminin-entactin ECM promotes the formation of structurally stable telencephalic tissues in 3D ESC culture, and supports the morphogenetic recapitulation of cortical development. PMID:23300850

Gray matter trophism, cognitive impairment, and depression in patients with multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Pravatà, Emanuele; Rocca, Maria A; Valsasina, Paola; Riccitelli, Gianna C; Gobbi, Claudio; Comi, Giancarlo; Falini, Andrea; Filippi, Massimo

2017-12-01

Cognitive impairment and depression frequently affects patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the relationship between the occurrence of depression and cognitive impairment and the development of cortical atrophy has not been fully elucidated yet. To investigate the association of cortical and deep gray matter (GM) volume with depression and cognitive impairment in MS. Three-dimensional (3D) T1-weighted scans were obtained from 126 MS patients and 59 matched healthy controls. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests and depression with the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Using FreeSurfer and FIRST software, we assessed cortical thickness (CTh) and deep GM volumetry. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) variables explaining depression and cognitive impairment were investigated using factorial and classification analysis. Multivariate regression models correlated GM abnormalities with symptoms severity. Compared with controls, MS patients exhibited widespread bilateral cortical thinning involving all brain lobes. Depressed MS showed selective CTh decrease in fronto-temporal regions, whereas cognitive impairment MS exhibited widespread fronto-parietal cortical and subcortical GM atrophy. Frontal cortical thinning was the best predictor of depression ( C-statistic = 0.7), whereas thinning of the right precuneus and high T2 lesion volume best predicted cognitive impairment ( C-statistic = 0.8). MADRS severity correlated with right entorhinal cortex thinning, whereas cognitive impairment severity correlated with left entorhinal and thalamus atrophy. MS-related depression is linked to circumscribed CTh changes in areas deputed to emotional behavior, whereas cognitive impairment is correlated with cortical and subcortical GM atrophy of circuits involved in cognition.

Quality of life in patients with visual impairment in Ibadan: a clinical study in primary care.

PubMed

Adigun, Kehinde; Oluleye, Tunji S; Ladipo, Modupe Ma; Olowookere, Samuel Anu

2014-01-01

Visual function is important for optimal orientation in functional and social life, and has an effect on physical and emotional well-being. Visual impairment, therefore, leads to restrictions in all aspects of daily living and is related to quality of life. The aim of this study was to provide information on the causes of visual impairment in patients presenting to their family physician, the spectrum of impairment, and its impact on quality of life for these patients. This descriptive cross-sectional study of 375 adult patients with ocular symptoms was performed in the general outpatient department of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, from July to September, 2009. After checking their presenting visual acuity, the patients were interviewed using the Vision-Related Quality of Life questionnaire to determine the impact of visual impairment on their quality of life. Ophthalmic examinations were performed to determine the causes of visual impairment. The results were analyzed using proportions and percentages. The main causes of visual impairment were cataracts (58.7%), refractive error (19.4%), and glaucoma (2.9%). Visual impairment was found to be associated with advancing age, low education, and unemployment (P<0.001). Most patients (85.1%) were found to have good quality of life overall. Quality of life was found to be poor in the domains of visual function (64.2%) and social interaction (50.9%). Quality of life was found to be related to the degree of visual impairment, ie, blind patients reported poor quality of life (41.4%) when compared with those having low vision (8.6%) or near normal vision (2.4%, P<0.001). This study identified poor quality of life in patients with a higher degree of visual impairment. Family physicians need to identify these visually impaired patients early and make timely referrals.

Early life stress impairs social recognition due to a blunted response of vasopressin release within the septum of adult male rats.

PubMed

Lukas, Michael; Bredewold, Remco; Landgraf, Rainer; Neumann, Inga D; Veenema, Alexa H

2011-07-01

Early life stress poses a risk for the development of psychopathologies characterized by disturbed emotional, social, and cognitive performance. We used maternal separation (MS, 3h daily, postnatal days 1-14) to test whether early life stress impairs social recognition performance in juvenile (5-week-old) and adult (16-week-old) male Wistar rats. Social recognition was tested in the social discrimination test and defined by increased investigation by the experimental rat towards a novel rat compared with a previously encountered rat. Juvenile control and MS rats demonstrated successful social recognition at inter-exposure intervals of 30 and 60 min. However, unlike adult control rats, adult MS rats failed to discriminate between a previously encountered and a novel rat after 60 min. The social recognition impairment of adult MS rats was accompanied by a lack of a rise in arginine vasopressin (AVP) release within the lateral septum seen during social memory acquisition in adult control rats. This blunted response of septal AVP release was social stimulus-specific because forced swimming induced a rise in septal AVP release in both control and MS rats. Retrodialysis of AVP (1 μg/ml, 3.3 μl/min, 30 min) into the lateral septum during social memory acquisition restored social recognition in adult MS rats at the 60-min interval. These studies demonstrate that MS impairs social recognition performance in adult rats, which is likely caused by blunted septal AVP activation. Impaired social recognition may be linked to MS-induced changes in other social behaviors like aggression as shown previously. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Paradox of Leisure in Later Life.

PubMed

Nimrod, Galit; Shrira, Amit

2016-01-01

Numerous studies have shown that involvement in leisure activity has a significant impact on older adults' physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being. This study explores whether the association between leisure involvement and well-being in later life changes over time. Data were drawn from the first 4 waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Growth curve models were applied to examine whether leisure moderated change in quality of life (QoL) over time among 7,875 retirees aged 60 and older. Findings indicated that the association between leisure and QoL increased with time, as nonactive respondents displayed a decline in QoL over time, whereas those with high levels of leisure involvement showed an increase. Findings remained significant after controlling for sociodemographics, health, and cognitive functioning. Results indicated that the significance of leisure to well-being increases throughout the later life course, and that leisure may act as a resource for resilience in old age. They also pointed out a paradoxical situation in which the older seniors, who may benefit from leisure involvement more than their younger peers, are precisely the ones who face the greater number of constraints to beneficial use of leisure. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Enhanced limbic/impaired cortical-loop connection onto the hippocampus of NHE rats: Application of resting-state functional connectivity in a preclinical ADHD model.

PubMed

Zoratto, F; Palombelli, G M; Ruocco, L A; Carboni, E; Laviola, G; Sadile, A G; Adriani, W; Canese, R

2017-08-30

Due to a hyperfunctioning mesocorticolimbic system, Naples-High-Excitability (NHE) rats have been proposed to model for the meso-cortical variant of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Compared to Naples Random-Bred (NRB) controls, NHE rats show hyperactivity, impaired non-selective attention (Aspide et al., 1998), and impaired selective spatial attention (Ruocco et al., 2009a, 2014). Alteration in limbic functions has been proposed; however, resulting unbalance among forebrain areas has not been assessed yet. By resting-state functional Magnetic-Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in vivo, we investigated the connectivity of neuronal networks belonging to limbic vs. cortical loops in NHE and NRB rats (n=10 each). Notably, resting-state fMRI was applied using a multi-slice sagittal, gradient-echo sequence. Voxel-wise connectivity maps at rest, based on temporal correlation among fMRI time-series, were computed by seeding the hippocampus (Hip), nucleus accumbens (NAcc), dorsal striatum (dStr), amygdala (Amy) and dorsal/medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), both hemispheres. To summarize patterns of altered connection, clearly directional connectivity was evident within the cortical loop: bilaterally and specularly, from orbital and dorsal PFCs through dStr and hence towards Hip. Such network communication was reduced in NHE rats (also, with less mesencephalic/pontine innervation). Conversely, enhanced network activity emerged within the limbic loop of NHE rats: from left PFC, both through the NAcc and directly, to the Hip (all of which received greater ventral tegmental innervation, likely dopamine). Together with tuned-down cortical loop, this potentiated limbic loop may serve a major role in controlling ADHD-like behavioral symptoms in NHE rats. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spatial localization deficits and auditory cortical dysfunction in schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Perrin, Megan A.; Butler, Pamela D.; DiCostanzo, Joanna; Forchelli, Gina; Silipo, Gail; Javitt, Daniel C.

2014-01-01

Background Schizophrenia is associated with deficits in the ability to discriminate auditory features such as pitch and duration that localize to primary cortical regions. Lesions of primary vs. secondary auditory cortex also produce differentiable effects on ability to localize and discriminate free-field sound, with primary cortical lesions affecting variability as well as accuracy of response. Variability of sound localization has not previously been studied in schizophrenia. Methods The study compared performance between patients with schizophrenia (n=21) and healthy controls (n=20) on sound localization and spatial discrimination tasks using low frequency tones generated from seven speakers concavely arranged with 30 degrees separation. Results For the sound localization task, patients showed reduced accuracy (p=0.004) and greater overall response variability (p=0.032), particularly in the right hemifield. Performance was also impaired on the spatial discrimination task (p=0.018). On both tasks, poorer accuracy in the right hemifield was associated with greater cognitive symptom severity. Better accuracy in the left hemifield was associated with greater hallucination severity on the sound localization task (p=0.026), but no significant association was found for the spatial discrimination task. Conclusion Patients show impairments in both sound localization and spatial discrimination of sounds presented free-field, with a pattern comparable to that of individuals with right superior temporal lobe lesions that include primary auditory cortex (Heschl’s gyrus). Right primary auditory cortex dysfunction may protect against hallucinations by influencing laterality of functioning. PMID:20619608

Interictal epileptiform discharges induce hippocampal-cortical coupling in temporal lobe epilepsy

PubMed Central

Gelinas, Jennifer N.; Khodagholy, Dion; Thesen, Thomas; Devinsky, Orrin; Buzsáki, György

2016-01-01

Interactions between the hippocampus and cortex are critical for memory. Interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) identify epileptic brain regions and can impair memory, but how they interact with physiological patterns of network activity is mostly undefined. We show in a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy that spontaneous hippocampal IEDs correlate with impaired memory consolidation and are precisely coordinated with spindle oscillations in the prefrontal cortex during NREM sleep. This coordination surpasses the normal physiological ripple-spindle coupling and is accompanied by decreased ripple occurrence. IEDs also induce spindles during REM sleep and wakefulness, behavioral states that do not naturally express these oscillations, by generating a cortical ‘DOWN’ state. We confirm a similar correlation of temporofrontal IEDs with spindles over anatomically restricted cortical regions in a pilot clinical examination of four subjects with focal epilepsy. These findings imply that IEDs may impair memory via misappropriation of physiological mechanisms for hippocampal-cortical coupling, suggesting a target to treat memory impairment in epilepsy. PMID:27111281

The Interplay between Women's Life Course Work Patterns and Financial Planning for Later Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Ellie D.; Denton, Margaret A.

2004-01-01

In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between women's life course work patterns and their financial planning for later life, we examined data from semi-structured interviews with retired women (n = 28) aged 59 to 92. The majority of women disrupted their careers at some point in time, for an average of 14 years, primarily…

Your Face is Your Fortune: Does Adolescent Attractiveness Predict Intimate Relationships Later in Life?

PubMed

Karraker, Amelia; Sicinski, Kamil; Moynihan, Donald

2017-01-01

A growing literature documents the importance of physical attractiveness in young and middle adulthood for romantic, marital, and sexual relationships, but little is known about how attractiveness in adolescence matters to intimate relationships in later life. We ask: does attractiveness early in life convey ongoing benefits late in life, or do such benefits erode over time? We use multivariate regression models and more than 50 years of data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study to examine the connections between adolescent physical attractiveness and intimate relationships (i.e., sexual activity and access to potential sexual partners) in later life. We find that adolescent attractiveness facilitates sexual activity in later life. This relationship is largely driven by attractiveness increasing the probability of having access to potential sexual partners. However, attractiveness is not related to sexual activity among married couples, even after controlling for marital duration. Men, those in good health, and wealthier individuals are also more likely to engage in several facets of intimate relationships. These findings highlight the importance of relationship context for later life sexual activity and begin to explicate the pathways through which factors across the life course-particularly attractiveness-influence sexual activity in later life. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Boy with cortical visual impairment and unilateral hemiparesis in Jeff Huntington's "Slip" (2011).

PubMed

Bianucci, R; Perciaccante, A; Appenzeller, O

2016-11-15

Face recognition is strongly associated with the human face and face perception is an important part in identifying health qualities of a person and is an integral part of so called spot diagnosis in clinical neurology. Neurology depends in part on observation, description and interpretation of visual information. Similar skills are required in visual art. Here we report a case of eye cortical visual impairment (CVI) and unilateral facial weakness in a boy depicted by the painter Jeff Huntington (2011). The corollary of this is that art serves medical clinical exercise. Art interpretation helps neurology students to apply the same skills they will use in clinical experience and to develop their observational and interpretive skills in non-clinical settings. Furthermore, the development of an increased awareness of emotional and character expression in the human face may facilitate successful doctor-patient relationships. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Retrieval of high-fidelity memory arises from distributed cortical networks.

PubMed

Wais, Peter E; Jahanikia, Sahar; Steiner, Daniel; Stark, Craig E L; Gazzaley, Adam

2017-04-01

Medial temporal lobe (MTL) function is well established as necessary for memory of facts and events. It is likely that lateral cortical regions critically guide cognitive control processes to tune in high-fidelity details that are most relevant for memory retrieval. Here, convergent results from functional and structural MRI show that retrieval of detailed episodic memory arises from lateral cortical-MTL networks, including regions of inferior frontal and angular gyrii. Results also suggest that recognition of items based on low-fidelity, generalized information, rather than memory arising from retrieval of relevant episodic details, is not associated with functional connectivity between MTL and lateral cortical regions. Additionally, individual differences in microstructural properties in white matter pathways, associated with distributed MTL-cortical networks, are positively correlated with better performance on a mnemonic discrimination task. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials in (Un)aided Normal-Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Adults

PubMed Central

Van Dun, Bram; Kania, Anna; Dillon, Harvey

2016-01-01

Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) are influenced by the characteristics of the stimulus, including level and hearing aid gain. Previous studies have measured CAEPs aided and unaided in individuals with normal hearing. There is a significant difference between providing amplification to a person with normal hearing and a person with hearing loss. This study investigated this difference and the effects of stimulus signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and audibility on the CAEP amplitude in a population with hearing loss. Twelve normal-hearing participants and 12 participants with a hearing loss participated in this study. Three speech sounds—/m/, /g/, and /t/—were presented in the free field. Unaided stimuli were presented at 55, 65, and 75 dB sound pressure level (SPL) and aided stimuli at 55 dB SPL with three different gains in steps of 10 dB. CAEPs were recorded and their amplitudes analyzed. Stimulus SNRs and audibility were determined. No significant effect of stimulus level or hearing aid gain was found in normal hearers. Conversely, a significant effect was found in hearing-impaired individuals. Audibility of the signal, which in some cases is determined by the signal level relative to threshold and in other cases by the SNR, is the dominant factor explaining changes in CAEP amplitude. CAEPs can potentially be used to assess the effects of hearing aid gain in hearing-impaired users. PMID:27587919

Later learning stages in procedural memory are impaired in children with Specific Language Impairment.

PubMed

Desmottes, Lise; Meulemans, Thierry; Maillart, Christelle

2016-01-01

According to the Procedural Deficit Hypothesis (PDH), difficulties in the procedural memory system may contribute to the language difficulties encountered by children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Most studies investigating the PDH have used the sequence learning paradigm; however these studies have principally focused on initial sequence learning in a single practice session. The present study sought to extend these investigations by assessing the consolidation stage and longer-term retention of implicit sequence-specific knowledge in 42 children with or without SLI. Both groups of children completed a serial reaction time task and were tested 24h and one week after practice. Results showed that children with SLI succeeded as well as children with typical development (TD) in the early acquisition stage of the sequence learning task. However, as training blocks progressed, only TD children improved their sequence knowledge while children with SLI did not appear to evolve any more. Moreover, children with SLI showed a lack of the consolidation gains in sequence knowledge displayed by the TD children. Overall, these results were in line with the predictions of the PDH and suggest that later learning stages in procedural memory are impaired in SLI. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Age-Related Impairments in Object-Place Associations Are Not Due to Hippocampal Dysfunction

PubMed Central

Hernandez, Abigail R.; Maurer, Andrew P.; Reasor, Jordan E.; Turner, Sean M.; Barthle, Sarah E.; Johnson, Sarah A.; Burke, Sara N.

2016-01-01

Age-associated cognitive decline can reduce an individual’s quality of life. As no single neurobiological deficit can account for the wide spectrum of behavioral impairments observed in old age, it is critical to develop an understanding of how interactions between different brain regions change over the life span. The performance of young and aged animals on behaviors that require the hippocampus and cortical regions to interact, however, has not been well characterized. Specifically, the ability to link a spatial location with specific features of a stimulus, such as object identity, relies on the hippocampus, perirhinal and prefrontal cortices. Although aging is associated with dysfunction in each of these brain regions, behavioral measures of functional change within the hippocampus, perirhinal and prefrontal cortices in individual animals are often not correlated. Thus, how dysfunction of a single brain region within this circuit, such as the hippocampus, impacts behaviors that require communication with the perirhinal and prefrontal cortices remains unknown. To address this question, young and aged rats were tested on the interregion dependent object-place paired association task, as well as a hippocampal-dependent test of spatial reference memory. This particular cohort of aged rats did not show deficits on the hippocampal-dependent task, but were significantly impaired at acquiring object-place associations relative to young. These data suggest that behaviors requiring functional connectivity across different regions of the memory network may be particularly sensitive to aging, and can be used to develop models that will clarify the impact of systems-level dysfunction in the elderly. PMID:26413723

Cortical Thickness of Neural Substrates Supporting Cognitive Empathy in Individuals with Schizophrenia

PubMed Central

Massey, Suena H.; Stern, Daniel; Alden, Eva C.; Petersen, Julie E.; Cobia, Derin J.; Wang, Lei; Csernansky, John G.; Smith, Matthew J.

2016-01-01

Background Cognitive empathy is supported by the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC), insula (INS), supplementary motor area (SMA), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), and precuneus (PREC). In healthy controls, cortical thickness in these regions has been linked to cognitive empathy. As cognitive empathy is impaired in schizophrenia, we examined whether reduced cortical thickness in these regions was associated with poorer cognitive empathy in this population. Methods 41 clinically-stable community-dwelling individuals with schizophrenia and 46 healthy controls group-matched on demographic variables completed self-report empathy questionnaires, a cognitive empathy task, and structural magnetic resonance imaging. We examined between-group differences in study variables using t-tests and analyses of variance. Next, we used Pearson correlations to evaluate the relationship between cognitive empathy and cortical thickness in the mPFC, IFG, aMCC, INS, SMA, TPJ, and PREC in both groups. Results Individuals with schizophrenia demonstrated cortical thinning in the IFG, INS, SMA, TPJ, and PREC (all p<0.05) and impaired cognitive empathy across all measures (all p<0.01) relative to controls. While cortical thickness in the mPFC, IFC, aMCC, and INS (all p<0.05) was related to cognitive empathy in controls, we did not observe these relationships in individuals with schizophrenia (all p>0.10). Conclusions Individuals with schizophrenia have reduced cortical thickness in empathy-related neural regions and significant impairments in cognitive empathy. Interestingly, cortical thickness was related to cognitive empathy in controls but not in the schizophrenia group. We discuss other mechanisms that may account for cognitive empathy impairment in schizophrenia. PMID:27665257

Cortical thickness of neural substrates supporting cognitive empathy in individuals with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Massey, Suena H; Stern, Daniel; Alden, Eva C; Petersen, Julie E; Cobia, Derin J; Wang, Lei; Csernansky, John G; Smith, Matthew J

2017-01-01

Cognitive empathy is supported by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC), insula (INS), supplementary motor area (SMA), right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), and precuneus (PREC). In healthy controls, cortical thickness in these regions has been linked to cognitive empathy. As cognitive empathy is impaired in schizophrenia, we examined whether reduced cortical thickness in these regions was associated with poorer cognitive empathy in this population. 41 clinically-stable community-dwelling individuals with schizophrenia and 46 healthy controls group-matched on demographic variables completed self-report empathy questionnaires, a cognitive empathy task, and structural magnetic resonance imaging. We examined between-group differences in study variables using t-tests and analyses of variance. Next, we used Pearson correlations to evaluate the relationship between cognitive empathy and cortical thickness in the mPFC, IFG, aMCC, INS, SMA, TPJ, and PREC in both groups. Individuals with schizophrenia demonstrated cortical thinning in the IFG, INS, SMA, TPJ, and PREC (all p<0.05) and impaired cognitive empathy across all measures (all p<0.01) relative to controls. While cortical thickness in the mPFC, IFC, aMCC, and INS (all p<0.05) was related to cognitive empathy in controls, we did not observe these relationships in individuals with schizophrenia (all p>0.10). Individuals with schizophrenia have reduced cortical thickness in empathy-related neural regions and significant impairments in cognitive empathy. Interestingly, cortical thickness was related to cognitive empathy in controls but not in the schizophrenia group. We discuss other mechanisms that may account for cognitive empathy impairment in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Cholinergic nature of hypothalamo-cortical excitatory effects].

PubMed

Kozhechkin, S N

1982-05-01

Excitatory effect of electric stimulation of the ventro-caudal area of the lateral hypothalamus on the neurons of the rabbit optic cortex was seen mainly in the cells whose activity increased under the influence of acetylcholine applied microiontophoretically. Meanwhile atropine applied microiontophoretically decreased or completely blocked the hypothalamic excitatory effect as well as that of acetylcholine. Atropine did not change the depressing influence of the rostral region of the lateral hypothalamus on the neuronal cortical activity. It is concluded that the hypothalamo-cortical excitatory relationships are M-cholinergic in nature.

Spectrotemporal dynamics of auditory cortical synaptic receptive field plasticity.

PubMed

Froemke, Robert C; Martins, Ana Raquel O

2011-09-01

The nervous system must dynamically represent sensory information in order for animals to perceive and operate within a complex, changing environment. Receptive field plasticity in the auditory cortex allows cortical networks to organize around salient features of the sensory environment during postnatal development, and then subsequently refine these representations depending on behavioral context later in life. Here we review the major features of auditory cortical receptive field plasticity in young and adult animals, focusing on modifications to frequency tuning of synaptic inputs. Alteration in the patterns of acoustic input, including sensory deprivation and tonal exposure, leads to rapid adjustments of excitatory and inhibitory strengths that collectively determine the suprathreshold tuning curves of cortical neurons. Long-term cortical plasticity also requires co-activation of subcortical neuromodulatory control nuclei such as the cholinergic nucleus basalis, particularly in adults. Regardless of developmental stage, regulation of inhibition seems to be a general mechanism by which changes in sensory experience and neuromodulatory state can remodel cortical receptive fields. We discuss recent findings suggesting that the microdynamics of synaptic receptive field plasticity unfold as a multi-phase set of distinct phenomena, initiated by disrupting the balance between excitation and inhibition, and eventually leading to wide-scale changes to many synapses throughout the cortex. These changes are coordinated to enhance the representations of newly-significant stimuli, possibly for improved signal processing and language learning in humans. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Feelings of Hopelessness in Midlife and Cognitive Health in Later Life: A Prospective Population-Based Cohort Study.

PubMed

Håkansson, Krister; Soininen, Hilkka; Winblad, Bengt; Kivipelto, Miia

2015-01-01

Several studies have found depression and depressive feelings to be associated with subsequent dementia. As dementias typically have a long preclinical development phase, it has been difficult to determine whether depression and depressive feelings reflect a concurrent underlying dementia disease, rather than playing a causative role. Our aim was to investigate hopelessness, one dimension of depressive feelings, and evaluate the likelihood of a prodromal versus a causative role of hopelessness feelings in dementia development. We invited a random sample of 2000 survivors from a representative population in Eastern Finland, originally investigated in midlife between 1972 and 1987, for re-examination an average of 21 years later. The age of the 1449 persons who accepted the invitation was between 39 and 64 years (mean 50.4 years) in midlife and between 65 and 80 (mean 71.3) at follow-up. To measure feelings of hopelessness in midlife and at follow-up, the participants indicated their level of agreement to two statements about their own possible future. We used logistic regression to investigate the association between the combined scores from these two items and cognitive health at follow-up, while adjusting for several health and life-style variables from midlife and for apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4) status, depression and hopelessness feelings at follow-up. We compared the associations with late-life cognitive health when feelings of hopelessness were either measured in midlife or at the follow-up. In addition we analyzed the changes in hopelessness scores from midlife to follow-up in participants who were either cognitively healthy or impaired at follow-up. We found higher levels of hopelessness in midlife, but not at follow-up, to be associated with cognitive impairment at follow-up; the adjusted odds ratio for each step of the five-level hopelessness scale was 1.30 (95% confidence interval 1.11-1.51) for any cognitive impairment and 1.37 (1.05-1.78) for Alzheimer

Quality of life in childhood epilepsy with lateralized epileptogenic foci.

PubMed

Mathiak, Krystyna A; Luba, Małgorzata; Mathiak, Klaus; Karzel, Katarzyna; Wolańczyk, Tomasz; Szczepanik, Elzbieta; Ostaszewski, Paweł

2010-08-17

Measuring quality of life (QOL) helps to delineate mechanisms underlying the interaction of disease and psychosocial factors. In adults, epileptic foci in the left temporal lobe led to lower QOL and higher depression and anxiety as compared to the right-sided foci. No study addressed the development of QOL disturbances depending on the lateralization of epileptogenic focus. The objective of our study was to examine QOL in children with lateralized epileptiform discharges. Thirty-one parents of children with epilepsy filled the Health-Related Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE). Fifteen children had foci in the left hemisphere and sixteen in the right, as verified with Electroencephalography (EEG) examinations. We found a significant correlation between foci lateralization and reduced QOL (Spearman's rho = 0.361, p < 0.046). Children with right hemispheric foci exhibited lower overall QOL, particularly in five areas: anxiety, social-activities, stigma, general-health, and quality-of-life. We demonstrated for the first time that in children left- and right-hemispheric foci were associated with discordant QOL scores. Unlike in adults, foci in the right hemisphere led to worse emotional and social functioning demonstrating that seizures impact the brain differentially during development.

Visual cortical activity reflects faster accumulation of information from cortically blind fields

PubMed Central

Martin, Tim; Das, Anasuya; Huxlin, Krystel R.

2012-01-01

Brain responses (from functional magnetic resonance imaging) and components of information processing were investigated in nine cortically blind observers performing a global direction discrimination task. Three of these subjects had responses in perilesional cortex in response to blind field stimulation, whereas the others did not. We used the EZ-diffusion model of decision making to understand how cortically blind subjects make a perceptual decision on stimuli presented within their blind field. We found that these subjects had slower accumulation of information in their blind fields as compared with their good fields and to intact controls. Within cortically blind subjects, activity in perilesional tissue, V3A and hMT+ was associated with a faster accumulation of information for deciding direction of motion of stimuli presented in the blind field. This result suggests that the rate of information accumulation is a critical factor in the degree of impairment in cortical blindness and varies greatly among affected individuals. Retraining paradigms that seek to restore visual functions might benefit from focusing on increasing the rate of information accumulation. PMID:23169923

Change in Quality of Life after Rehabilitation: Prognostic Factors for Visually Impaired Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langelaan, Maaike; de Boer, Michiel R.; van Nispen, Ruth M. A.; Wouters, Bill; Moll, Annette C.; van Rens, Ger H. M. B.

2009-01-01

The overall aim of rehabilitation for visually impaired adults is to improve the quality of life and (societal) participation. The objectives of this study were to obtain the short-term and long-term outcome of a comprehensive rehabilitation programme on quality of life for visually impaired adults, and prognostic baseline factors responsible for…

Sensory Impairment and Health-Related Quality of Life

PubMed Central

KWON, Hye-Jin; KIM, Ji-su; KIM, Yoon-jung; KWON, Su-jin; YU, Jin-Na

2015-01-01

Background: Sensory impairment is a common condition that exerts negative effects on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the elderly. This study aimed to determine the relationship between sensory impairment and HRQoL and identify sensory-specific differences in the HRQoL of elderly. Methods: This study used data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V (2010–2012), analyzing 5,260 subjects over 60 years of age who completed ophthalmic and otologic examinations. Vision and hearing impairment were measured and classified. HRQoL was determined according to the European QoL five dimension test (EQ-5D). Multivariate logistic regression analysis and analysis of covariance were performed to identify relationships between sensory impairment and HRQoL dimensions as well as differences in HRQoL scores. Results: In the final adjusted multivariate model, there was a statistically higher proportion of those with dual sensory impairment who reported problems with mobility (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.45–5.03), usual activities (aOR 2.32, 95% CI 1.16–4.64), and pain/discomfort among EQ-5D subcategories (aOR 1.79, 95% CI 1.07–2.97). In the EQ-5D dimensions, the means and standard deviations of vision impairment (0.86 [0.01]) and dual sensory impairment (0.84 [0.02]) appeared meaningfully lower than those for no sensory impairment (0.88 [0.00]) or hearing impairment (0.88 [0.01]); P = .02). Conclusion: Sensory impairment reduces HRQoL in the elderly. Improvement of HRQoL in the elderly thus requires regular screening and appropriate management of sensory impairment. PMID:26258089

Quality of life impairment in generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, and panic disorder.

PubMed

Barrera, Terri L; Norton, Peter J

2009-12-01

Interest in the assessment of quality of life in the anxiety disorders is growing. The present study examined quality of life impairments in individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia, and panic disorder. Results showed that individuals with these disorders reported less satisfaction with their quality of life than non-anxious adults in the community. However, the degree of quality of life impairment is similar across these three disorders. Additionally, comorbid depression, but not anxiety, was found to negatively impact quality of life in these individuals. Finally, diagnostic symptom severity was not found to influence quality of life, indicating that subjective measures of quality of life offer unique information on the effects of anxiety disorders.

Altered behavior in experimental cortical dysplasia.

PubMed

Zhou, Fu-Wen; Rani, Asha; Martinez-Diaz, Hildabelis; Foster, Thomas C; Roper, Steven N

2011-12-01

Developmental delay and cognitive impairment are common comorbidities in people with epilepsy associated with malformations of cortical development (MCDs). We studied cognition and behavior in an animal model of diffuse cortical dysplasia (CD), in utero irradiation, using a battery of behavioral tests for neuromuscular and cognitive function. Fetal rats were exposed to 2.25 Gy external radiation on embryonic day 17 (E17). At 1 month of age they were tested using an open field task, a grip strength task, a grid walk task, inhibitory avoidance, an object recognition task, and the Morris water maze task. Rats with CD showed reduced nonlocomotor activity in the open field task and impaired motor coordination for grid walking but normal grip strength. They showed a reduced tendency to recognize novel objects and reduced retention in an inhibitory avoidance task. Water maze testing showed that learning and memory were impaired in irradiated rats for both cue discrimination and spatially oriented tasks. These results demonstrate significant deficits in cortex- and hippocampus-dependent cognitive functions associated with the diffuse abnormalities of cortical and hippocampal development that have been documented in this model. This study documents multimodal cognitive deficits associated with CD and can serve as the foundation for future investigations into the mechanisms of and possible therapeutic interventions for this problem. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2011 International League Against Epilepsy.

Functional changes in the cortical semantic network in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Pineault, Jessica; Jolicoeur, Pierre; Grimault, Stephan; Bermudez, Patrick; Brambati, Simona Maria; Lacombe, Jacinthe; Villalpando, Juan Manuel; Kergoat, Marie-Jeanne; Joubert, Sven

2018-05-01

Semantic memory impairment has been documented in individuals with amnestic Mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), who are at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet little is known about the neural basis of this breakdown. The aim of this study was to investigate the brain mechanisms associated with semantic performance in aMCI patients. A group of aMCI patients and a group of healthy controls carried out a semantic categorization task while their brain activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG). During the task, participants were shown famous faces and had to determine whether each famous person matched a given occupation. The main hypotheses were that (a) semantic processing should be compromised for aMCI patients, and (b) these deficits should be associated with cortical dysfunctions within specific areas of the semantic network. Behavioral results showed that aMCI participants were significantly slower and less accurate than controls at the semantic task. Additionally, relative to controls, a significant pattern of hyperactivation was found in the aMCI group within specific regions of the extended semantic network, including the right anterior temporal lobe (ATL) and fusiform gyrus. Abnormal functional activation within key areas of the semantic network suggests that it is compromised early in the disease process. Moreover, this pattern of right ATL and fusiform gyrus hyperactivation was positively associated with gray matter integrity in specific areas, but was not associated with any pattern of atrophy, suggesting that this pattern of hyperactivation may precede structural alteration of the semantic network in aMCI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Social impairment of children with autism spectrum disorder affects parental quality of life in different ways.

PubMed

Wang, Ying; Xiao, Lu; Chen, Run-Sen; Chen, Chen; Xun, Guang-Lei; Lu, Xiao-Zi; Shen, Yi-Dong; Wu, Ren-Rong; Xia, Kun; Zhao, Jing-Ping; Ou, Jian-Jun

2018-05-25

This study evaluated the life quality of Chinese parents of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their association with child social impairment and childcare burden. The participants included 406 families of children with ASD and 513 families with typically developing (TD) children. The findings indicated that parents in the ASD group had a lower quality of life than parents in the TD group, whereas only mother of children with ASD experienced a greater childcare burden than mother with TD children. Lower parental quality of life were associated with higher social impairment of children. To further clarify the correlativity of child social impairment, parental quality of life and childcare burden, the mediation analyses were conducted. The results showed that childcare burden mediated the influence of child social impairment on maternal quality of life, while it has no mediating effect on fathers. It implies that social impairment of children affects parental quality of life in different ways. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

For Men: Tips for Good Health in Later Life

MedlinePlus

For Men: Tips for Good Health in Later Life Expert information from Healthcare Professionals Who Specialize in the Care ... Americans are living longer than ever, but American men still aren’t living as long as American ...

The relationship between quality of life and psychiatric impairment for a Taiwanese community post-earthquake.

PubMed

Choul, F H-C; Chou, P; Lin, C; Su, Tom T-P; Ou-Yang, W-C; Chien, I C; Su, C-Y; Lui, M-K; Chen, M-C

2004-08-01

This purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between quality of life and psychiatric impairment in a Taiwanese community located near the epicenter of the 1999 earthquake, as assessed four to six months after the natural catastrophe. Trained assistants interviewed the 4223 respondents using the disaster-related psychological screening test (DRPST), an instrument specifically designed and validated by senior psychiatrists for assessment of psychiatric impairment after natural catastrophe. Additionally, the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) was used to evaluate quality of life. The collected results were analyzed using Windows SPSS 10.0 software. Psychiatric impairment rated moderate to severe was assessed for 1448 (34.3%) of the responding residents. The 4223 respondents were divided into 4 psychiatric-impairment groups based on DPRST score: healthy (n = 952); mild impairment (n = 1823); moderate impairment (n = 1126); and, severe impairment (n = 322). The four groups were compared for a number of salient factors, including gender, age, current marital status and psychiatric-impairment score, to determine impact on quality of life. Respondents assessed as psychiatrically impaired tended to be older, female, divorced/widowed, and less educated, and they were more likely to have experienced major familial financial loss as an immediate consequence of the earthquake. Further, the greater the severity of the psychiatric impairment, the lower the scores for quality of life, for both the physical and mental aspects of this important general indicator.

Modifiable Midlife Risk Factors for Late-Life Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

PubMed Central

Hughes, Tiffany F.; Ganguli, Mary

2009-01-01

The baby boom generation is approaching the age of greatest risk for cognitive impairment and dementia. There is growing interest in strategies to modify the environment in midlife to increase the probability of maintaining cognitive health in late life. Several potentially modifiable risk factors have been studied in relation to cognitive impairment and dementia in late life, but methodological limitations of observational research have resulted in some inconsistencies across studies. The most promising strategies are maintaining cardiovascular health, engagement in mental, physical, and social activities, using alcohol in moderation, abstaining from tobacco use, and following a heart-healthy diet. Other factors that may influence cognitive health are occupational attainment, depression, personality, exposure to general anesthesia, head injury, postmenopausal hormone therapy, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, and nutritional supplements such as antioxidants. Some long-term observational studies initiated in midlife or earlier, and some randomized controlled trials, have examined the effects of specific cognitive health promotion behaviors in midlife on the risk of cognitive impairment in late life. Overall, these studies provide limited support for risk reduction at this time. Recommendations and challenges for developing effective strategies to reduce the burden of cognitive impairment and dementia in the future are discussed. PMID:19946443

Cortical and subcortical gray matter bases of cognitive deficits in REM sleep behavior disorder.

PubMed

Rahayel, Shady; Postuma, Ronald B; Montplaisir, Jacques; Génier Marchand, Daphné; Escudier, Frédérique; Gaubert, Malo; Bourgouin, Pierre-Alexandre; Carrier, Julie; Monchi, Oury; Joubert, Sven; Blanc, Frédéric; Gagnon, Jean-François

2018-05-15

To investigate cortical and subcortical gray matter abnormalities underlying cognitive impairment in patients with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) with or without mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Fifty-two patients with RBD, including 17 patients with MCI, were recruited and compared to 41 controls. All participants underwent extensive clinical assessments, neuropsychological examination, and 3-tesla MRI acquisition of T1 anatomical images. Vertex-based cortical analyses of volume, thickness, and surface area were performed to investigate cortical abnormalities between groups, whereas vertex-based shape analysis was performed to investigate subcortical structure surfaces. Correlations were performed to investigate associations between cortical and subcortical metrics, cognitive domains, and other markers of neurodegeneration (color discrimination, olfaction, and autonomic measures). Patients with MCI had cortical thinning in the frontal, cingulate, temporal, and occipital cortices, and abnormal surface contraction in the lenticular nucleus and thalamus. Patients without MCI had cortical thinning restricted to the frontal cortex. Lower patient performance in cognitive domains was associated with cortical and subcortical abnormalities. Moreover, impaired performance on olfaction, color discrimination, and autonomic measures was associated with thinning in the occipital lobe. Cortical and subcortical gray matter abnormalities are associated with cognitive status in patients with RBD, with more extensive patterns in patients with MCI. Our results highlight the importance of distinguishing between subgroups of patients with RBD according to cognitive status in order to better understand the neurodegenerative process in this population. © 2018 American Academy of Neurology.

Quality of life in childhood epilepsy with lateralized epileptogenic foci

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Measuring quality of life (QOL) helps to delineate mechanisms underlying the interaction of disease and psychosocial factors. In adults, epileptic foci in the left temporal lobe led to lower QOL and higher depression and anxiety as compared to the right-sided foci. No study addressed the development of QOL disturbances depending on the lateralization of epileptogenic focus. The objective of our study was to examine QOL in children with lateralized epileptiform discharges. Methods Thirty-one parents of children with epilepsy filled the Health-Related Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE). Fifteen children had foci in the left hemisphere and sixteen in the right, as verified with Electroencephalography (EEG) examinations. Results We found a significant correlation between foci lateralization and reduced QOL (Spearman's rho = 0.361, p < 0.046). Children with right hemispheric foci exhibited lower overall QOL, particularly in five areas: anxiety, social-activities, stigma, general-health, and quality-of-life. Conclusions We demonstrated for the first time that in children left- and right-hemispheric foci were associated with discordant QOL scores. Unlike in adults, foci in the right hemisphere led to worse emotional and social functioning demonstrating that seizures impact the brain differentially during development. PMID:20716372

Neuronal loss associated with cognitive performance in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: an (11C)-flumazenil PET study.

PubMed

Wicks, Paul; Turner, Martin R; Abrahams, Sharon; Hammers, Alexander; Brooks, David J; Leigh, P Nigel; Goldstein, Laura H

2008-02-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a multi-system disorder. Mild cognitive deficits are present in a subgroup of non-demented patients with ALS. Detailed neuropsychological assessments reveal deficits of word retrieval including impairments on tests of verbal fluency and confrontation naming. The PET GABA(A) receptor ligand [11C]-flumazenil is a marker of neuronal dysfunction in ALS. This study used [11C]-flumazenil PET to identify correlations between cortical regions and impairments in word retrieval. Twelve patients with ALS underwent [11C]-flumazenil PET and neuropsychological assessment, including tests of written letter fluency and confrontation naming. Poorer performance on verbal fluency correlated with decreased [11C]-flumazenil binding in a region including the right inferior frontal gyrus, superior temporal gyrus, and anterior insula. Poorer performance on a test of confrontation naming correlated with decreased binding in the left middle frontal gyrus (extending to Broca's area) and left cuneus. This study indicates that [11C]-flumazenil PET can be used to help localize cortical regions associated with cognitive deficits in ALS.

Life Impairments in Adults with Medication-Treated ADHD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Safren, Steven A.; Sprich, Susan E.; Cooper-Vince, Christine; Knouse, Laura E.; Lerner, Jonathan A.

2010-01-01

Objective: In developing psychosocial approaches to augment outcomes for medication-treated adults with ADHD, it is important to understand what types of life-impairments are most affected by continued ADHD symptoms that occur despite medication treatment. This may assist in delineating targets for interventions, as well as assessments of…

Cortical thickness and surface area in neonates at high risk for schizophrenia.

PubMed

Li, Gang; Wang, Li; Shi, Feng; Lyall, Amanda E; Ahn, Mihye; Peng, Ziwen; Zhu, Hongtu; Lin, Weili; Gilmore, John H; Shen, Dinggang

2016-01-01

Schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with subtle abnormal cortical thickness and cortical surface area. However, it is unclear whether these abnormalities exist in neonates associated with genetic risk for schizophrenia. To this end, this preliminary study was conducted to identify possible abnormalities of cortical thickness and surface area in the high-genetic-risk neonates. Structural magnetic resonance images were acquired from offspring of mothers (N = 21) who had schizophrenia (N = 12) or schizoaffective disorder (N = 9), and also matched healthy neonates of mothers who were free of psychiatric illness (N = 26). Neonatal cortical surfaces were reconstructed and parcellated as regions of interest (ROIs), and cortical thickness for each vertex was computed as the shortest distance between the inner and outer surfaces. Comparisons were made for the average cortical thickness and total surface area in each of 68 cortical ROIs. After false discovery rate (FDR) correction, it was found that the female high-genetic-risk neonates had significantly thinner cortical thickness in the right lateral occipital cortex than the female control neonates. Before FDR correction, the high-genetic-risk neonates had significantly thinner cortex in the left transverse temporal gyrus, left banks of superior temporal sulcus, left lingual gyrus, right paracentral cortex, right posterior cingulate cortex, right temporal pole, and right lateral occipital cortex, compared with the control neonates. Before FDR correction, in comparison with control neonates, male high-risk neonates had significantly thicker cortex in the left frontal pole, left cuneus cortex, and left lateral occipital cortex; while female high-risk neonates had significantly thinner cortex in the bilateral paracentral, bilateral lateral occipital, left transverse temporal, left pars opercularis, right cuneus, and right posterior cingulate cortices. The high-risk neonates also had significantly

Pathways to Well-Being in Later Life: Socioeconomic and Health Determinants Across the Life Course of Australian Baby Boomers.

PubMed

Kendig, Hal; Loh, Vanessa; O'Loughlin, Kate; Byles, Julie; Nazroo, James Y

2016-01-01

In many countries like Australia and the United States, baby boomers are referred to as the 'lucky cohort', yet there has been little research on the origins and extent of inequalities within this cohort. This study uses path analysis to investigate direct and indirect effects of childhood and adult socioeconomic status and health on two subjective well-being measures: quality of life and life satisfaction. Retrospective life course data were obtained for 1,261 people aged 60 to 64 in the 2011-12 Life Histories and Health survey, a sub-study of the Australian 45 and Up Study. Supporting an accumulation model, the number of negative childhood and adult exposures were inversely related to both types of well-being. Consistent with a critical period model, childhood exposures had small but significant effects on subjective well-being and were relatively more important for quality of life than for life satisfaction. However, these childhood effects were largely indirect and significantly mediated by more proximal adult exposures, providing support for a pathway model. A key implication of this research is that the critical period for later life well-being is significant in adulthood rather than childhood, suggesting that there may be key opportunities for improving individuals' later life well-being far beyond the early, formative years. This research highlights the importance of understanding how earlier life exposures impact experiences in later life, and investing in health and socioeconomic opportunities to reduce inequalities across all stages of life.

Dopaminergic Modulation of Cortical Plasticity in Alzheimer's Disease Patients

PubMed Central

Koch, Giacomo; Di Lorenzo, Francesco; Bonnì, Sonia; Giacobbe, Viola; Bozzali, Marco; Caltagirone, Carlo; Martorana, Alessandro

2014-01-01

In animal models of Alzheimer's disease (AD), mechanisms of cortical plasticity such as long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) are impaired. In AD patients, LTP-like cortical plasticity is abolished, whereas LTD seems to be preserved. Dopaminergic transmission has been hypothesized as a new player in ruling mechanisms of cortical plasticity in AD. We aimed at investigating whether administration of the dopamine agonist rotigotine (RTG) could modulate cortical plasticity in AD patients, as measured by theta burst stimulation (TBS) protocols of repetitive transcranial stimulation applied over the primary motor cortex. Thirty mild AD patients were tested in three different groups before and after 4 weeks of treatment with RTG, rivastigmine (RVT), or placebo (PLC). Each patient was evaluated for plasticity induction of LTP/LTD-like effects using respectively intermittent TBS (iTBS) or continuous TBS protocols. Short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI) protocol was performed to indirectly assess central cholinergic activity. A group of age-matched healthy controls was recruited for baseline comparisons. Results showed that at baseline, AD patients were characterized by impaired LTP-like cortical plasticity, as assessed by iTBS. These reduced levels of LTP-like cortical plasticity were increased and normalized after RTG administration. No effect was induced by RVT or PLC on LTP. LTD-like cortical plasticity was not modulated in any condition. Cholinergic activity was increased by both RTG and RVT. Our findings reveal that dopamine agonists may restore the altered mechanisms of LTP-like cortical plasticity in AD patients, thus providing novel implications for therapies based on dopaminergic stimulation. PMID:24859851

Genetic variants in autism-related CNTNAP2 impair axonal growth of cortical neurons.

PubMed

Canali, Giorgia; Garcia, Marta; Hivert, Bruno; Pinatel, Delphine; Goullancourt, Aline; Oguievetskaia, Ksenia; Saint-Martin, Margaux; Girault, Jean-Antoine; Faivre-Sarrailh, Catherine; Goutebroze, Laurence

2018-06-01

The CNTNAP2 gene, coding for the cell adhesion glycoprotein Caspr2, is thought to be one of the major susceptibility genes for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A large number of rare heterozygous missense CNTNAP2 variants have been identified in ASD patients. However, most of them are inherited from an unaffected parent, questioning their clinical significance. In the present study, we evaluate their impact on neurodevelopmental functions of Caspr2 in a heterozygous genetic background. Performing cortical neuron cultures from mouse embryos, we demonstrate that Caspr2 plays a dose-dependent role in axon growth in vitro. Loss of one Cntnap2 allele is sufficient to elicit axonal growth alteration, revealing a situation that may be relevant for CNTNAP2 heterozygosity in ASD patients. Then, we show that the two ASD variants I869T and G731S, which present impaired binding to Contactin2/TAG-1, do not rescue axonal growth deficits. We find that the variant R1119H leading to protein trafficking defects and retention in the endoplasmic reticulum has a dominant-negative effect on heterozygous Cntnap2 cortical neuron axon growth, through oligomerization with wild-type Caspr2. Finally, we identify an additional variant (N407S) with a dominant-negative effect on axon growth although it is well-localized at the membrane and properly binds to Contactin2. Thus, our data identify a new neurodevelopmental function for Caspr2, the dysregulation of which may contribute to clinical manifestations of ASD, and provide evidence that CNTNAP2 heterozygous missense variants may contribute to pathogenicity in ASD, through selective mechanisms.

Syntactic processing as a marker for cognitive impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

PubMed Central

Tsermentseli, Stella; Leigh, P. Nigel; Taylor, Lorna J.; Radunovic, Aleksandar; Catani, Marco; Goldstein, Laura H.

2016-01-01

Despite recent interest in cognitive changes in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), investigations of language function looking at the level of word, sentence and discourse processing are relatively scarce. Data were obtained from 26 patients with sporadic ALS and 26 healthy controls matched for age, education, gender, anxiety, depression and executive function performance. Standardized language tasks included confrontation naming, semantic access, and syntactic comprehension. Quantitative production analysis (QPA) was used to analyse connected speech samples of the Cookie Theft picture description task. Results showed that the ALS patients were impaired on standardized measures of grammatical comprehension and action/verb semantics. At the level of discourse, ALS patients were impaired on measures of syntactic complexity and fluency; however, the latter could be better explained by disease related factors. Discriminant analysis revealed that syntactic measures differentiated ALS patients from controls. In conclusion, patients with ALS exhibit deficits in receptive and expressive language on tasks of comprehension and connected speech production, respectively. Our findings suggest that syntactic processing deficits seem to be the predominant feature of language impairment in ALS and that these deficits can be detected by relatively simple language tests. PMID:26312952

Syntactic processing as a marker for cognitive impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Tsermentseli, Stella; Leigh, P Nigel; Taylor, Lorna J; Radunovic, Aleksandar; Catani, Marco; Goldstein, Laura H

2015-01-01

Despite recent interest in cognitive changes in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), investigations of language function looking at the level of word, sentence and discourse processing are relatively scarce. Data were obtained from 26 patients with sporadic ALS and 26 healthy controls matched for age, education, gender, anxiety, depression and executive function performance. Standardized language tasks included confrontation naming, semantic access, and syntactic comprehension. Quantitative production analysis (QPA) was used to analyse connected speech samples of the Cookie Theft picture description task. Results showed that the ALS patients were impaired on standardized measures of grammatical comprehension and action/verb semantics. At the level of discourse, ALS patients were impaired on measures of syntactic complexity and fluency; however, the latter could be better explained by disease related factors. Discriminant analysis revealed that syntactic measures differentiated ALS patients from controls. In conclusion, patients with ALS exhibit deficits in receptive and expressive language on tasks of comprehension and connected speech production, respectively. Our findings suggest that syntactic processing deficits seem to be the predominant feature of language impairment in ALS and that these deficits can be detected by relatively simple language tests.

Pre-SMA actively engages in conflict processing in human: a combined study of epicortical ERPs and direct cortical stimulation.

PubMed

Usami, Kiyohide; Matsumoto, Riki; Kunieda, Takeharu; Shimotake, Akihiro; Matsuhashi, Masao; Miyamoto, Susumu; Fukuyama, Hidenao; Takahashi, Ryosuke; Ikeda, Akio

2013-04-01

Previous non-invasive studies have proposed that the deeply seated region of the medial frontal cortex engages in conflict processing in humans, but its core region has remained to be elucidated. By means of direct cortical stimulation, which excels other techniques in temporal and spatial resolutions and in the capacity of producing transient, functional impairment even in the deeply located cortices, we attempted to obtain direct evidence that the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) actively engages in conflict processing. Subject was a patient with right frontal lobe epilepsy who underwent invasive presurgical evaluation with subdural electrodes placed on the medial and lateral frontal cortices. During a conflict task--modified Eriksen flanker task, direct cortical stimulation was delivered time-locked to the task at the inferior part of the medial superior frontal gyrus (inferior medial SFG), the superior part of the medial SFG, and the middle frontal gyrus. By adopting the session of sham stimulation that was employed as a within-block control, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from the medial and lateral frontal cortices. The inferior medial SFG showed a significant ERP difference between trials with more and less conflict, while the other frontal cortices did not. Among the three stimulus sites, only stimulation of the inferior medial SFG significantly prolonged reaction time in trials with more conflict. Anatomically, the inferior medial SFG corresponded with the pre-SMA (Brodmann area 8). It was located 1-2 cm rostral to the vertical anterior commissure line where cortical stimulation elicited arrest of motion (the supplementary negative motor area). Functionally, this area corresponded to the dorso-rostral portion of the activation loci in previous neuroimaging studies focusing on conflict processing. By combining epicortical ERP recording and direct cortical stimulation in a human brain, this study, for the first time, presented one direct

Decreased prefrontal cortical dopamine transmission in alcoholism.

PubMed

Narendran, Rajesh; Mason, Neale Scott; Paris, Jennifer; Himes, Michael L; Douaihy, Antoine B; Frankle, W Gordon

2014-08-01

Basic studies have demonstrated that optimal levels of prefrontal cortical dopamine are critical to various executive functions such as working memory, attention, inhibitory control, and risk/reward decisions, all of which are impaired in addictive disorders such as alcoholism. Based on this and imaging studies of alcoholism that have demonstrated less dopamine in the striatum, the authors hypothesized decreased dopamine transmission in the prefrontal cortex in persons with alcohol dependence. To test this hypothesis, amphetamine and [11C]FLB 457 positron emission tomography were used to measure cortical dopamine transmission in 21 recently abstinent persons with alcohol dependence and 21 matched healthy comparison subjects. [11C]FLB 457 binding potential, specific compared to nondisplaceable uptake (BPND), was measured in subjects with kinetic analysis using the arterial input function both before and after 0.5 mg kg-1 of d-amphetamine. Amphetamine-induced displacement of [11C]FLB 457 binding potential (ΔBPND) was significantly smaller in the cortical regions in the alcohol-dependent group compared with the healthy comparison group. Cortical regions that demonstrated lower dopamine transmission in the alcohol-dependent group included the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, orbital frontal cortex, temporal cortex, and medial temporal lobe. The results of this study, for the first time, unambiguously demonstrate decreased dopamine transmission in the cortex in alcoholism. Further research is necessary to understand the clinical relevance of decreased cortical dopamine as to whether it is related to impaired executive function, relapse, and outcome in alcoholism.

Dopaminergic neurotransmission dysfunction induced by amyloid-β transforms cortical long-term potentiation into long-term depression and produces memory impairment.

PubMed

Moreno-Castilla, Perla; Rodriguez-Duran, Luis F; Guzman-Ramos, Kioko; Barcenas-Femat, Alejandro; Escobar, Martha L; Bermudez-Rattoni, Federico

2016-05-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition manifested by synaptic dysfunction and memory loss, but the mechanisms underlying synaptic failure are not entirely understood. Although dopamine is a key modulator of synaptic plasticity, dopaminergic neurotransmission dysfunction in AD has mostly been associated to noncognitive symptoms. Thus, we aimed to study the relationship between dopaminergic neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity in AD models. We used a transgenic model of AD (triple-transgenic mouse model of AD) and the administration of exogenous amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers into wild type mice. We found that Aβ decreased cortical dopamine levels and converted in vivo long-term potentiation (LTP) into long-term depression (LTD) after high-frequency stimulation delivered at basolateral amygdaloid nucleus-insular cortex projection, which led to impaired recognition memory. Remarkably, increasing cortical dopamine and norepinephrine levels rescued both high-frequency stimulation -induced LTP and memory, whereas depletion of catecholaminergic levels mimicked the Aβ-induced shift from LTP to LTD. Our results suggest that Aβ-induced dopamine depletion is a core mechanism underlying the early synaptopathy and memory alterations observed in AD models and acts by modifying the threshold for the induction of cortical LTP and/or LTD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Contribution of the MTHFR gene to the causal pathway for depression, anxiety and cognitive impairment in later life.

PubMed

Almeida, Osvaldo P; Flicker, Leon; Lautenschlager, Nicola T; Leedman, Peter; Vasikaran, Samuel; van Bockxmeer, Frank M

2005-02-01

Homocysteine (Hcy) is harmful to neurons and blood vessels, including the cerebral microvasculature. It is possible that such effects contribute to the cascade of events that leads to cognitive decline, dementia, and depression in later life. Hcy is produced during the metabolism of the essential amino-acid methionine, which also involves a methyl group transfer derived from folate and choline metabolism. Its plasma level can be influenced by factors such as age, vitamin deficiency, renal function, and a common mutation in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, where cytosine is replaced by thymidine (C-->T) at nucleotide position 677. Subjects with the TT genotype have higher homocysteine levels and may be particularly prone to experiencing depression as a result of high plasma Hcy and dysfunction of methylation metabolic pathways critical to the synthesis of noradrenaline and serotonin. We designed the present study to investigate whether older women with the TT genotype would have higher depression and lower cognitive scores than women with CT and CC genotypes. A total of 240 community-dwelling women aged 70 years or over volunteered to take part in the study - 29 carried the TT genotype, 113 the CT and 98 the CC genotype. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score for subjects with the TT genotype was statistically similar to the other groups (P = 0.609). Plasma Hcy showed a modest and significant correlation with BDI scores (r = 0.21) that was independent from age, B12 and folate levels. There was no association between beck anxiety inventory (BAI) scores and MTHFR genotype or homocysteine levels. The cognitive assessment of participants included measures of verbal memory, memory for faces, verbal fluency, visuo-spatial abilities and the cognitive section of the Cambridge Examination For Mental Disorders Of The Elderly (CAMCOG)-MTHFR genotype had no clear association with cognitive scores. These results indicate that, in isolation, the MTHFR C677

Abnormal Functional Lateralization and Activity of Language Brain Areas in Typical Specific Language Impairment (Developmental Dysphasia)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Guibert, Clement; Maumet, Camille; Jannin, Pierre; Ferre, Jean-Christophe; Treguier, Catherine; Barillot, Christian; Le Rumeur, Elisabeth; Allaire, Catherine; Biraben, Arnaud

2011-01-01

Atypical functional lateralization and specialization for language have been proposed to account for developmental language disorders, yet results from functional neuroimaging studies are sparse and inconsistent. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study compared children with a specific subtype of specific language impairment affecting…

Effect of age at onset on cortical thickness and cognition in posterior cortical atrophy

PubMed Central

Suárez-González, Aida; Lehmann, Manja; Shakespeare, Timothy J.; Yong, Keir X.X.; Paterson, Ross W.; Slattery, Catherine F.; Foulkes, Alexander J.M.; Rabinovici, Gil D.; Gil-Néciga, Eulogio; Roldán-Lora, Florinda; Schott, Jonathan M.; Fox, Nick C.; Crutch, Sebastian J.

2016-01-01

Age at onset (AAO) has been shown to influence the phenotype of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but how it affects atypical presentations of AD remains unknown. Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is the most common form of atypical AD. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of AAO on cortical thickness and cognitive function in 98 PCA patients. We used Freesurfer (v5.3.0) to compare cortical thickness with AAO both as a continuous variable, and by dichotomizing the groups based on median age (58 years). In both the continuous and dichotomized analyses, we found a pattern suggestive of thinner cortex in precuneus and parietal areas in earlier-onset PCA, and lower cortical thickness in anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex in later-onset PCA. These cortical thickness differences between PCA subgroups were consistent with earlier-onset PCA patients performing worse on cognitive tests involving parietal functions. Our results provide a suggestion that AAO may not only affect the clinico-anatomical characteristics in AD but may also affect atrophy patterns and cognition within atypical AD phenotypes. PMID:27318138

SPECT in patients with cortical visual loss.

PubMed

Silverman, I E; Galetta, S L; Gray, L G; Moster, M; Atlas, S W; Maurer, A H; Alavi, A

1993-09-01

Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) was used to investigate changes in cerebral blood flow in seven patients with cortical visual impairment. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) was the cause of cortical damage in two patients, cerebral ischemia in two patients and carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, status epilepticus and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) each in three separate patients. The SPECT scans of the seven patients were compared to T2-weighted magnetic resonance image (MRI) scans of the brain to determine the correlation between functional and anatomical findings. In six of the seven patients, the qualitative interpretation of the SPECT studies supported the clinical findings (i.e., the visual field defect) by revealing altered regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the appropriate regions of the visual pathway. MR scans in all of the patients, on the other hand, were either normal or disclosed smaller lesions than those detected by SPECT. We conclude that SPECT may reveal altered rCBF in patients with cortical visual impairment of various etiologies, even when MRI studies are normal or nondiagnostic.

Quality of life impairments among adults with social phobia: the impact of subtype.

PubMed

Wong, Nina; Sarver, Dustin E; Beidel, Deborah C

2012-01-01

Social phobia is characterized by extreme fear in social or performance situations in which the individual may be exposed to embarrassment or scrutiny by others, which creates occupational, social and academic impairment. To date, there are few data examining the relationship of social phobia impairments to quality of life. In this investigation, we examined how demographic characteristics, comorbidity, and social competence are related to quality of life among patients with social phobia and normal controls. In addition, we examined the impact of social phobia subtype. Results indicated that individuals with generalized social phobia had significantly impaired quality of life when compared to individuals with no disorder or individuals with nongeneralized social phobia. Comorbid disorders decreased quality of life only for patients with nongeneralized social phobia. Hierarchical linear regression revealed that a diagnosis of social phobia and observer ratings of social effectiveness exerted strong and independent effects on quality of life scores. Results are discussed in terms of the role of social anxiety, social competence, and comorbidity on the quality of life for adults with social phobia. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prefrontal atrophy, disrupted NREM slow waves, and impaired hippocampal-dependent memory in aging

PubMed Central

Mander, Bryce A.; Rao, Vikram; Lu, Brandon; Saletin, Jared M.; Lindquist, John R.; Ancoli-Israel, Sonia; Jagust, William; Walker, Matthew P.

2014-01-01

Aging has independently been associated with regional brain atrophy, reduced non-rapid eye movement (NREM) slow-wave activity (SWA), and impaired long-term retention of episodic memories. However, that the interaction of these factors represents a neuropatholgical pathway associated with cognitive decline in later life remains unknown. Here, we show that age-related medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) grey-matter atrophy is associated with reduced NREM SWA activity in older adults, the extent to which statistically mediates the impairment of overnight sleep-dependent memory retention. Moreover, this memory impairment was further associated with persistent hippocampal activation and reduced task-related hippocampal-prefrontal cortex connectivity, potentially representing impoverished hippocampal-neocortical memory transformation. Together, these data support a model in which age-related mPFC atrophy diminishes SWA, the functional consequence of which is impaired long-term memory. Such findings suggest that sleep disruption in the elderly, mediated by structural brain changes, represent a novel contributing factor to age-related cognitive decline in later life. PMID:23354332

mGluR2/3 in the Lateral Amygdala is Required for Fear Extinction: Cortical Input Synapses onto the Lateral Amygdala as a Target Site of the mGluR2/3 Action

PubMed Central

Kim, Jihye; An, Bobae; Kim, Jeongyeon; Park, Sewon; Park, Sungmo; Hong, Ingie; Lee, Sukwon; Park, Kyungjoon; Choi, Sukwoo

2015-01-01

Various subtypes of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) have been implicated in fear extinction, but mGluR2/3 subtype has not been tested. Here, we found that microinjection of an mGluR2/3 antagonist, LY341495, into the lateral amygdala (LA), but not into the adjacent central amygdala (CeA), impaired extinction retention without affecting within-session extinction. In contrast, we failed to detect any significant changes in motility and anxiety during a period when extinction training or retention was performed after LY341495 injection, suggesting that the effect of LY341495 is specific to conditioned responses. Subsequently, on the basis of a previous finding that a long-term potentiation of presynaptic efficacy at cortical input synapses onto the lateral amygdala (C-LA synapses) supports conditioned fear, we tested the hypothesis that activation of mGluR2/3 leads to fear extinction via a long-term weakening of presynaptic functions at C-LA synapses. Fear extinction produced a decrease in C-LA synaptic efficacy, whereas LY341495 infusion into the LA blocked this extinction-induced C-LA efficacy decrease without altering synaptic efficacy at other LA synapses. Furthermore, extinction enhanced paired pulse ratio (PPR) of EPSCs, which inversely correlates with presynaptic release probability, whereas LY341495 infusion into the LA attenuated the extinction-induced increase in PPR, suggesting the presence of mGluR2/3-dependent presynaptic changes after extinction. Consistently, extinction occluded a presynaptic form of depression at C-LA synapses, whereas the LY341495 infusion into the LA rescued this occlusion. Together, our findings suggest that mGluR2/3 is required for extinction retention and that the mGluR2/3 action is mediated by the long-term weakening of release probability at C-LA synapses. PMID:26081171

Parity and parents' health in later life: the gendered case of Ismailia, Egypt.

PubMed

Engelman, Michal; Agree, Emily M; Yount, Kathryn M; Bishai, David

2010-07-01

We investigate the relationship between reproduction and functional health in later life among women and men in the resource-poor and gender-stratified setting of Ismailia governorate, Egypt. Analyses of survey data collected in 2003 show a statistically significant positive association between parity and difficulty with activities of daily living (ADLs), controlling for demographic and socio-economic factors and other co-morbid conditions. We also find that the number of daughters (but not sons) is associated with worse physical functioning, and this association is more pronounced for older fathers than for older mothers. Our results indicate that both biological and social pathways link fertility and later-life health in this context, and that prescribed familial roles may underlie the differential impact of sons and daughters on the health of mothers and fathers in later life.

Disciplinary perspectives on later-life migration in the core journals of social gerontology.

PubMed

Walters, William H; Wilder, Esther I

2003-10-01

The authors examine the bibliographic structure of recent research on later-life migration, highlighting the contributions of particular journals and disciplines. The authors identify the primary journals publishing research in this area, including a set of four core journals within the field of social gerontology. They evaluate the disciplinary affiliations of authors publishing in the core journals and the extent to which those journals cite relevant research published elsewhere. Geographical and economic perspectives on later-life migration are underrepresented within the core journals of social gerontology. In particular, major articles published outside the core journals are seldom cited within those journals. Although the core journals of social gerontology account for over a third of the recent literature on later-life migration, they present only a partial (chiefly sociological) perspective on the subject.

Assessing the clinical effect of residual cortical disconnection after ischemic strokes.

PubMed

Bonilha, Leonardo; Rorden, Chris; Fridriksson, Julius

2014-04-01

Studies assessing the relationship between chronic poststroke language impairment (aphasia) and ischemic brain damage usually rely on measuring the extent of brain necrosis observed on MRI. Nonetheless, clinical observation suggests that patients can exhibit deficits that are more severe than what would be expected based on lesion location and size. This phenomenon is commonly explained as being the result of cortical disconnection. To understand whether disconnection contributes to clinical symptoms, we assessed the relationship between language impairments and structural brain connectivity (the connectome) in patients with chronic aphasia after a stroke. Thirty-nine patients with chronic aphasia underwent language assessment and MRI scanning. Relying on MRI data, we reconstructed the individual connectome from T1-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging. Deterministic fiber tractography was used to assess connectivity between each possible pair of cortical Brodmann areas. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship between language performance and cortical necrosis and cortical disconnection. We observed that structural disconnection of Brodmann area 45 (spared by the necrotic tissue) was independently associated with naming performance, controlling for the extent of Brodmann area 45 necrosis (F=4.62; P<0.01; necrosis: β=0.43; P=0.03; disconnection β=1.21; P<0.001). We suggest that cortical disconnection, as measured by the structural connectome, is an independent predictor of naming impairment in patients with chronic aphasia. The full extent of clinically relevant brain damage after an ischemic stroke may be underappreciated by visual inspection of cortical necrosis alone.

Early Adolescent Affect Predicts Later Life Outcomes.

PubMed

Kansky, Jessica; Allen, Joseph P; Diener, Ed

2016-07-01

Subjective well-being as a predictor for later behavior and health has highlighted its relationship to health, work performance, and social relationships. However, the majority of such studies neglect the developmental nature of well-being in contributing to important changes across the transition to adulthood. To examine the potential role of subjective well-being as a long-term predictor of critical life outcomes, we examined indicators of positive and negative affect at age 14 as predictors of relationship, adjustment, self-worth, and career outcomes a decade later at ages 23 to 25, controlling for family income and gender. We utilised multi-informant methods including reports from the target participant, close friends, and romantic partners in a demographically diverse community sample of 184 participants. Early adolescent positive affect predicted fewer relationship problems (less self-reported and partner-reported conflict, and greater friendship attachment as rated by close peers) and healthy adjustment to adulthood (lower levels of depression, anxiety, and loneliness). It also predicted positive work functioning (higher levels of career satisfaction and job competence) and increased self-worth. Negative affect did not significantly predict any of these important life outcomes. In addition to predicting desirable mean levels of later outcomes, early positive affect predicted beneficial changes across time in many outcomes. The findings extend early research on the beneficial outcomes of subjective well-being by having an earlier assessment of well-being, including informant reports in measuring a large variety of outcome variables, and by extending the findings to a lower socioeconomic group of a diverse and younger sample. The results highlight the importance of considering positive affect as an important component of subjective well-being distinct from negative affect. © 2016 The International Association of Applied Psychology.

Early Adolescent Affect Predicts Later Life Outcomes

PubMed Central

Kansky, Jessica; Allen, Joseph P.; Diener, Ed

2016-01-01

Background Subjective well-being as a predictor for later behavior and health has highlighted its relationship to health, work performance, and social relationships. However, the majority of such studies neglect the developmental nature of well-being in contributing to important changes across the transition to adulthood. Methods To examine the potential role of subjective well-being as a long-term predictor of critical life outcomes, we examined indicators of positive and negative affect at age 14 as a predictor of relationship, adjustment, self worth, and career outcomes a decade later at ages 23 to 25, controlling for family income and gender. We utilized multi-informant methods including reports from the target participant, close friends, and romantic partners in a demographically diverse community sample of 184 participants. Results Early adolescent positive affect predicted less relationship problems (less self-reported and partner-reported conflict, greater friendship attachment as rated by close peers), healthy adjustment to adulthood (lower levels of depression, anxiety, and loneliness). It also predicted positive work functioning (higher levels of career satisfaction and job competence) and increased self-worth. Negative affect did not significantly predict any of these important life outcomes. In addition to predicting desirable mean levels of later outcomes, early positive affect predicted beneficial changes across time in many outcomes. Conclusions The findings extend early research on the beneficial outcomes of subjective well-being by having an earlier assessment of well-being, including informant reports in measuring a large variety of outcome variables, and by extending the findings to a lower socioeconomic group of a diverse and younger sample. The results highlight the importance of considering positive affect as an important component of subjective well-being distinct from negative affect. PMID:27075545

Impact of Pediatric Vision Impairment on Daily Life: Results of Focus Groups

PubMed Central

DeCarlo, Dawn K.; McGwin, Gerald; Bixler, Martha L.; Wallander, Jan; Owsley, Cynthia

2012-01-01

Purpose To identify through focus groups of visually impaired children and their parents, relevant content for a vision-targeted health-related quality of life questionnaire designed for children ages 6-12. Methods Six focus groups of children with vision impairment ages 6 -12 and six focus groups of their parents were conducted by trained facilitators using a guided script. Sessions were recorded, transcribed and coded per a standardized protocol for content analysis. Comments were placed in thematic categories and each coded as positive, negative or neutral. Results Twenty-four children (mean age 9.4 years) with vision impairment from a variety of causes and 23 parents participated. The child focus groups generated 1,163 comments, of which 52% (n=599) were negative, 12% (n=138) were neutral and 37% (n=426) were positive. The three most common topical areas among children were: glasses and adaptive equipment (18%), psychosocial (14%) and school (14%). The parent focus groups generated 1,952 comments of which 46% (n=895) were negative, 16% (n=323) were neutral and 38% (n=734) were positive. The three most common topical areas among parents were: school (21%), expectations or frustrations (14%) and psychosocial (13%). Conclusions Pediatric vision impairment has significant effects on health related quality of life, as reported by children with vision impairment and their parents in their own words. These findings will provide the content to guide construction of a survey instrument to assess vision-specific, health-related quality of life in children with vision impairment. PMID:22863790

Network Type and Mortality Risk in Later Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Litwin, Howard; Shiovitz-Ezra, Sharon

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the association of baseline network type and 7-year mortality risk in later life. Design and Methods: We executed secondary analysis of all-cause mortality in Israel using data from a 1997 national survey of adults aged 60 and older (N = 5,055) that was linked to records from the National Death…

Reduced frontal cortical thickness and increased caudate volume within fronto-striatal circuits in young adult smokers.

PubMed

Li, Yangding; Yuan, Kai; Cai, Chenxi; Feng, Dan; Yin, Junsen; Bi, Yanzhi; Shi, Sha; Yu, Dahua; Jin, Chenwang; von Deneen, Karen M; Qin, Wei; Tian, Jie

2015-06-01

Smoking during early adulthood results in neurophysiological and brain structural changes that may promote nicotine dependence later in life. Previous studies have revealed the important roles of fronto-striatal circuits in the pathology of nicotine dependence; however, few studies have focused on both cortical thickness and subcortical striatal volume differences between young adult smokers and nonsmokers. Twenty-seven young male adult smokers and 22 age-, education- and gender-matched nonsmokers were recruited in the present study. The cortical thickness and striatal volume differences of young adult smokers and age-matched nonsmokers were investigated in the present study and then correlated with pack-years and Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). The following results were obtained: (1) young adult smokers showed significant cortical thinning in the frontal cortex (left caudal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)), left insula, left middle temporal gyrus, right inferior parietal lobule, and right parahippocampus; (2) in regards to subcortical striatal volume, the volume of the right caudate was larger in young adult smokers than nonsmokers; and (3) the cortical thickness of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and OFC were associated with nicotine dependence severity (FTND) and cumulative amount of nicotine intake (pack-years) in smokers, respectively. This study revealed reduced frontal cortical thickness and increased caudate volume in the fronto-striatal circuits in young adult smokers compared to nonsmokers. These deficits suggest an imbalance between cognitive control (reduced protection factors) and reward drive behaviours (increased risk factors) associated with nicotine addiction and relapse. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impaired decision-making and selective cortical frontal thinning in Cushing's syndrome.

PubMed

Crespo, Iris; Esther, Granell-Moreno; Santos, Alicia; Valassi, Elena; Yolanda, Vives-Gilabert; De Juan-Delago, Manel; Webb, Susan M; Gómez-Ansón, Beatriz; Resmini, Eugenia

2014-12-01

Cushing's syndrome (CS) is caused by a glucocorticoid excess. This hypercortisolism can damage the prefrontal cortex, known to be important in decision-making. Our aim was to evaluate decision-making in CS and to explore cortical thickness. Thirty-five patients with CS (27 cured, eight medically treated) and thirty-five matched controls were evaluated using Iowa gambling task (IGT) and 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess cortical thickness. The IGT evaluates decision-making, including strategy and learning during the test. Cortical thickness was determined on MRI using freesurfer software tools, including a whole-brain analysis. There were no differences between medically treated and cured CS patients. They presented an altered decision-making strategy compared to controls, choosing a lower number of the safer cards (P < 0·05). They showed more difficulties than controls to learn the correct profiles of wins and losses for each card group (P < 0·05). In whole-brain analysis, patients with CS showed decreased cortical thickness in the left superior frontal cortex, left precentral cortex, left insular cortex, left and right rostral anterior cingulate cortex, and right caudal middle frontal cortex compared to controls (P < 0·001). Patients with CS failed to learn advantageous strategies and their behaviour was driven by short-term reward and long-term punishment, indicating learning problems because they did not use previous experience as a feedback factor to regulate their choices. These alterations in decision-making and the decreased cortical thickness in frontal areas suggest that chronic hypercortisolism promotes brain changes which are not completely reversible after endocrine remission. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Chronic methamphetamine self-administration disrupts cortical control of cognition.

PubMed

Bernheim, Aurelien; See, Ronald E; Reichel, Carmela M

2016-10-01

Methamphetamine (meth) is one of the most abused substances worldwide. Chronic use has been associated with repeated relapse episodes that may be exacerbated by cognitive impairments during drug abstinence. Growing evidence demonstrates that meth compromises prefrontal cortex activity, resulting in persisting attentional and memory impairments. After summarizing recent studies of meth-induced cognitive dysfunction using a translationally relevant model of self-administered meth, this review emphasizes the cortical brain changes contributing to cognitive dysregulation during abstinence. Finally, we propose the use of cognitive enhancers during abstinence that may promote a drug-free state by reversing cortical dysfunction linked with prolonged meth abuse. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sex Differences in Quality of Life Impairment Associated With Body Dissatisfaction in Adolescents.

PubMed

Griffiths, Scott; Murray, Stuart B; Bentley, Caroline; Gratwick-Sarll, Kassandra; Harrison, Carmel; Mond, Jonathan M

2017-07-01

Body dissatisfaction is strongly associated with quality of life impairment among both male and female adults, and the strength of this relationship is comparable between the sexes. Whether this is the case among adolescents, however, is unclear. Adolescent girls (n = 1,135) and boys (n = 531) aged 12-18 years were recruited from secondary schools located in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Students completed a survey that included measures of body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, and psychosocial health- and physical health-related quality of life. Girls reported higher levels of dissatisfaction than boys for each of the 12 body features assessed. The strength of the adverse associations between body dissatisfaction and quality of life impairment did not, however, differ by sex, and this was the case for both physical health-related and psychosocial quality of life domains. For both girls and boys, associations between body dissatisfaction and both quality of life impairment persisted after controlling for eating disorder symptoms, body mass index, and other covariates. While levels of body dissatisfaction remain higher in girls than in boys, the adverse impact of body dissatisfaction on adolescents' quality of life does not appear to differ by sex. This impact entails impairment in both physical health and psychosocial quality of life domains and does not appear to be accounted for by an association between body dissatisfaction and eating disorder pathology. The findings support the need to conceive of body dissatisfaction as a public health concern in its own right. Copyright © 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Contralateral cortical organisation of information in visual short-term memory: evidence from lateralized brain activity during retrieval.

PubMed

Fortier-Gauthier, Ulysse; Moffat, Nicolas; Dell'Acqua, Roberto; McDonald, John J; Jolicœur, Pierre

2012-07-01

We studied brain activity during retention and retrieval phases of two visual short-term memory (VSTM) experiments. Experiment 1 used a balanced memory array, with one color stimulus in each hemifield, followed by a retention interval and a central probe, at the fixation point that designated the target stimulus in memory about which to make a determination of orientation. Retrieval of information from VSTM was associated with an event-related lateralization (ERL) with a contralateral negativity relative to the visual field from which the probed stimulus was originally encoded, suggesting a lateralized organization of VSTM. The scalp distribution of the retrieval ERL was more anterior than what is usually associated with simple maintenance activity, which is consistent with the involvement of different brain structures for these distinct visual memory mechanisms. Experiment 2 was like Experiment 1, but used an unbalanced memory array consisting of one lateral color stimulus in a hemifield and one color stimulus on the vertical mid-line. This design enabled us to separate lateralized activity related to target retrieval from distractor processing. Target retrieval was found to generate a negative-going ERL at electrode sites found in Experiment 1, and suggested representations were retrieved from anterior cortical structures. Distractor processing elicited a positive-going ERL at posterior electrodes sites, which could be indicative of a return to baseline of retention activity for the discarded memory of the now-irrelevant stimulus, or an active inhibition mechanism mediating distractor suppression. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trajectories of the Framingham general cardiovascular risk profile in midlife and poor motor function later in life: the Whitehall II study.

PubMed

Elbaz, Alexis; Shipley, Martin J; Nabi, Hermann; Brunner, Eric J; Kivimaki, Mika; Singh-Manoux, Archana

2014-03-01

Vascular risk factors are associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, but their association with motor function, another key feature of aging, has received little research attention. We examined the association between trajectories of the Framingham general cardiovascular disease risk score (FRS) over midlife and motor function later in life. A total of 5376 participants of the Whitehall II cohort study (29% women) who had up to four repeat measures of FRS between 1991-1993 (mean age=48.6 years) and 2007-2009 (mean age=65.4 years) and without history of stroke or coronary heart disease in 2007-2009 were included. Motor function was assessed in 2007-2009 through objective tests (walking speed, chair rises, balance, finger tapping, grip strength). We used age- and sex-adjusted linear mixed models. Participants with poorer performances for walking speed, chair rises, and balance in 2007-2009 had higher FRS concurrently and also in 1991-1993, on average 16 years earlier. These associations were robust to adjustment for cognition, socio-economic status, height, and BMI, and not explained by incident mobility limitation prior to motor assessment. No association was found with finger tapping and grip strength. Cardiovascular risk early in midlife is associated with poor motor performances later in life. Vascular risk factors play an important and under-recognized role in motor function, independently of their impact on cognition, and suggest that better control of vascular risk factors in midlife may prevent physical impairment and disability in the elderly. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparing the Effects of Congenital and Late Visual Impairments on Visuospatial Mental Abilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monegato, Maura; Cattaneo, Zaira; Pece, Alfredo; Vecchi, Tomaso

2007-01-01

This study compared participants who were congenitally visually impaired and those who became visually impaired later in life in a spatial memory task. The latter showed less efficient visuospatial processes than did the former. However, these differences were of a quantitative nature only, indicating common cognitive mechanisms that can be…

Cortical visual dysfunction in children: a clinical study.

PubMed

Dutton, G; Ballantyne, J; Boyd, G; Bradnam, M; Day, R; McCulloch, D; Mackie, R; Phillips, S; Saunders, K

1996-01-01

Damage to the cerebral cortex was responsible for impairment in vision in 90 of 130 consecutive children referred to the Vision Assessment Clinic in Glasgow. Cortical blindness was seen in 16 children. Only 2 were mobile, but both showed evidence of navigational blind-sight. Cortical visual impairment, in which it was possible to estimate visual acuity but generalised severe brain damage precluded estimation of cognitive visual function, was observed in 9 children. Complex disorders of cognitive vision were seen in 20 children. These could be divided into five categories and involved impairment of: (1) recognition, (2) orientation, (3) depth perception, (4) perception of movement and (5) simultaneous perception. These disorders were observed in a variety of combinations. The remaining children showed evidence of reduced visual acuity and/ or visual field loss, but without detectable disorders of congnitive visual function. Early recognition of disorders of cognitive vision is required if active training and remediation are to be implemented.

Cortical Development and Neuroplasticity in Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder

PubMed Central

Sharma, Anu; Cardon, Garrett

2015-01-01

Cortical development is dependent to a large extent on stimulus-driven input. Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) is a recently described form of hearing impairment where neural dys-synchrony is the predominant characteristic. Children with ANSD provide a unique platform to examine the effects of asynchronous and degraded afferent stimulation on cortical auditory neuroplasticity and behavioral processing of sound. In this review, we describe patterns of auditory cortical maturation in children with ANSD. The disruption of cortical maturation that leads to these various patterns includes high levels of intra-individual cortical variability and deficits in cortical phase synchronization of oscillatory neural responses. These neurodevelopmental changes, which are constrained by sensitive periods for central auditory maturation, are correlated with behavioral outcomes for children with ANSD. Overall, we hypothesize that patterns of cortical development in children with ANSD appear to be markers of the severity of the underlying neural dys-synchrony, providing prognostic indicators of success of clinical intervention with amplification and/or electrical stimulation. PMID:26070426

Agency and Social Forces in the Life Course: The Case of Gender Transitions in Later Life

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Abstract Objectives: In order to bolster gerontology’s knowledge base about transgender issues and advance conceptualizations of agency and social forces in life course scholarship, this study explores the conditions under which people contemplate or pursue a gender transition in later life. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with male-to-female identified persons (N = 22) who have seriously contemplated or pursued a gender transition after the age of 50 years. Participant observation was also carried out at three national transgender conferences (N = 170 hours). Interpretive analyses utilized open and focused coding, analytical memo writing, and an iterative process of theory development. Results: Participants in this study faced unrelenting social pressures to conform to normative gender expectations throughout their lives, which were often internalized and experienced as part of themselves. Confronting these internalized forces often took the form of a “dam bursting,” an intense emotional process through which participants asserted agency in the face of constraining social forces in order to pursue a gender transition in later life. Discussion: The findings in this paper are used to extend the life course concept of agency within structure, which has implications for future life course research in aging, especially with respect to socially marginalized and oppressed minority groups. PMID:27582504

Effect of age at onset on cortical thickness and cognition in posterior cortical atrophy.

PubMed

Suárez-González, Aida; Lehmann, Manja; Shakespeare, Timothy J; Yong, Keir X X; Paterson, Ross W; Slattery, Catherine F; Foulkes, Alexander J M; Rabinovici, Gil D; Gil-Néciga, Eulogio; Roldán-Lora, Florinda; Schott, Jonathan M; Fox, Nick C; Crutch, Sebastian J

2016-08-01

Age at onset (AAO) has been shown to influence the phenotype of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but how it affects atypical presentations of AD remains unknown. Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is the most common form of atypical AD. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of AAO on cortical thickness and cognitive function in 98 PCA patients. We used Freesurfer (v5.3.0) to compare cortical thickness with AAO both as a continuous variable, and by dichotomizing the groups based on median age (58 years). In both the continuous and dichotomized analyses, we found a pattern suggestive of thinner cortex in precuneus and parietal areas in earlier-onset PCA, and lower cortical thickness in anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex in later-onset PCA. These cortical thickness differences between PCA subgroups were consistent with earlier-onset PCA patients performing worse on cognitive tests involving parietal functions. Our results provide a suggestion that AAO may not only affect the clinico-anatomical characteristics in AD but may also affect atrophy patterns and cognition within atypical AD phenotypes. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Motor cortex and hippocampus are the two main cortical targets in LGI1-antibody encephalitis.

PubMed

Navarro, Vincent; Kas, Aurélie; Apartis, Emmanuelle; Chami, Linda; Rogemond, Véronique; Levy, Pierre; Psimaras, Dimitri; Habert, Marie-Odile; Baulac, Michel; Delattre, Jean-Yves; Honnorat, Jérome

2016-04-01

Encephalitis associated with antibodies against leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1) protein is increasingly recognized as an auto-immune disorder associated with characteristic tonic-dystonic seizures. The cortical or subcortical origin of these motor events is not clear. Some patients also present with different epileptic seizures and with cognitive impairment. The frequency of these features and their timing during the natural history of this encephalitis have not been fully described. We therefore reviewed data from 34 patients harbouring antibodies against LGI1 protein (21-81 years, median age 64) referred to the French Reference Centre for Neurological Paraneoplastic Syndrome. Three types of evidence suggested tonic-dystonic seizures were of cortical origin: (i) a slow, unilateral, frontal electroencephalographic wave, of duration ∼580 ms and amplitude ∼71 µV, preceded the contralateral tonic-dystonic seizures in simultaneous electroencephalographic and myographic records from seven of seven patients tested; (ii) 18-Fluorodeoxyglucose imaging revealed a strong hypermetabolism in primary motor cortex, controlateral to the affected limb, during encephalitis for five patients tested, as compared with data from the same patients after remission or from 16 control subjects; and (iii) features of polymyographic records of tonic-dystonic seizure events pointed to a cortical origin. Myoclonic patterns with brief, rhythmic bursts were present in three of five patients tested and a premyoclonic potential was identified in the cortex of one patient. Initially during encephalitis, 11 of 34 patients exhibited tonic-dystonic seizures (32%). Distinct epileptic syndromes were evident in 13 patients (38%). They were typically simple, focal seizures from the temporal lobe, consisting of vegetative symptoms or fear. At later stages, 22 of 32 patients displayed tonic-dystonic seizures (68%) and 29 patients presented frequent seizures (91%) including status epilepticus

[Deficit of verbal recall caused by left dorso-lateral thalamic infarction].

PubMed

Rousseaux, M; Cabaret, M; Benaim, C; Steinling, M

1995-01-01

A case of amnesia with preferential disorder of verbal recall, associated to a limited infarct of the left superior, external and anterior thalamus, is reported. This lesion involved the anterior and middle dorso-lateral nuclei and the centrolateral nucleus, sparing most of the structures classically incriminated in diencephalic amnesia. At the initial stage, the patient presented discrete language impairment and severe deficit of semantic processing, which later recovered. At the late stage, the anterograde and retrograde amnesia principally concerned the recall of verbal information used in daily life, verbal learning using short-term and long-term recall, questionnaires evaluating retrograde memory and requiring the evocation of proper names. Verbal priming was also affected. Verbal recognition was preserved. Evocation of the most recent events of the personal life was also impaired. Confrontation of this case with others previously reported suggests that various thalamic amnesias may be described, associated to different cognitive deficits, in relation with the preferential situation of lesions.

IMPACT OF DENTAL TRAUMA AND ESTHETIC IMPAIRMENT ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

PubMed Central

Gonçalves, Bruna Miroski; Dias, Loraine Fernandes; Pereira, Carla da Silva; Ponte, Marcos Ximenes; Konrath, Andréa Cristina; Bolan, Michele da Silva; Cardoso, Mariane

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the impact of dental trauma and impaired esthetics on the quality of life (QoL) of preschool children and their relatives. Methods: Study conducted with 192 children aged 2 to 5 years in 11 preschools in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, South of Brazil. Parents/caregivers completed a questionnaire on quality of life (Brazilian version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scales - B-ECOHIS), a socioeconomic survey, and then answered specific questions related to dental trauma. The subjects were examined by three accordant examiners (Kappa>0.7). Dental trauma was evaluated on the basis of indexes adopted by the World Health Organization, and esthetic impairment was then classified. Data were descriptively analyzed and put to bivariate analysis by chi-square and Fisher tests, with significance level at 5%. Results: The prevalence of dental trauma was 62.5% with 15.6% of esthetic impairment. Almost 12% of parents reported impact on the quality of life of their children. Dental trauma was not significantly associated with gender, age or QoL. Crown color change by trauma was associated with esthetic impairment. Also esthetic impairment had a negative impact on QoL (p<0.05) and was associated with oral limitations (p<0.05). Conclusions: Esthetic impairment had a negative impact on children’s quality of life, while dental trauma was not associated to it. PMID:28977132

Volunteering in later life: research frontiers.

PubMed

Morrow-Howell, Nancy

2010-07-01

This review summarizes the current knowledge about volunteering in later life and suggests 5 research questions at the forefront of knowledge development. Rates of volunteering do not decline significantly until the middle of the 7th decade, and older volunteers commit more hours than younger volunteers. Older adults with more human and social capital tend to volunteer, and there is good evidence of a reciprocal relationship between volunteering and well-being. Program and policy developments in the field are outstripping production of knowledge to support evidence-based practices. Research on the dynamics of volunteering over the life course as well as the patterns of activities that co-occur with volunteering is needed to guide program development. Research methods and findings from transdisciplinary work on the mechanisms through which psychosocial conditions affect health must be extended to the study of the effects of volunteering on older adults. Finally, we need to engage in more applied social science aimed at improving volunteer management, especially recruitment and retention of older volunteers.

Later Life Parental Divorce and Widowhood: Impact on Young Adults' Assessment of Parent-Child Relations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aquilino, William S.

1994-01-01

Explored implications of later life parental divorce and widowhood for relationship between parents and young adult children among 3,281 young adults who grew up in intact families. Family disruption that occurred after children were grown had sizable effects on parent-adult child relations, with later life divorce lowering relationship quality…

Quality of life after cancer-How the extent of impairment is influenced by patient characteristics.

PubMed

Peters, Elisabeth; Mendoza Schulz, Laura; Reuss-Borst, Monika

2016-10-10

Although this effect is well known, tailored treatment methods have not yet been broadly adopted. The aim of this study was to identify those patient characteristics that most influence the impairment of quality of life and thus to identify those patients who need and can benefit most from specific intervention treatment. 1879 cancer patients were given the EORTC QLQ C-30 questionnaire at the beginning and end of their inpatient rehabilitation. Patients' scores were compared to those of 2081 healthy adults (Schwarz and Hinz, Eur J Cancer 37:1345-1351, 2001). Furthermore, differences in quality of life corresponding to sex, age, tumor site, TNM stage, interval between diagnosis and rehabilitation, and therapy method were examined. Compared to the healthy population, the study group showed a decreased quality of life in all analyzed domains. This difference diminished with increasing age. Women reported a lower quality of life then men in general. Patients with prostate cancer showed the least impairment in several domains. Patients having undergone chemotherapy as well as radiotherapy were impaired the most. Surprisingly, TNM stage and interval between diagnosis and rehabilitation did not significantly influence quality of life. Global quality of life and all functional domains significantly improved after a 3-week rehabilitation program. Despite an individualized and increasingly better tolerable therapy, the quality of life of cancer patients is still considerably impaired. However, systematic screening of psychosocial aspects of cancer, e.g. quality of life, could enable improved intervention.

Social Isolation in Later Life: Extending the Conversation.

PubMed

Weldrick, Rachel; Grenier, Amanda

2018-03-01

As Canada's population continues to age, social isolation among older people is a growing concern and national-level priority. Although much is known about individual-level risks and negative health outcomes associated with social isolation in later life, the impact of life course trajectories and the more collective experiences are seldom considered. Current definitions and program responses tend to rely on individualized approaches to social isolation. Here, we argue that the conversation be extended to consider the social and cultural aspects of social isolation among older people. Specifically, we suggest that definitions and approaches consider three particular dimensions: temporal factors, spatial factors, and the relationship between social isolation and exclusion. Doing so, we argue, would result in a more inclusive approach to social isolation in late life, and the development of capacity to address social isolation among a wide range of older people, particularly the needs of vulnerable or marginalized groups.

Primary Cortical Folding in the Human Newborn: An Early Marker of Later Functional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dubois, J.; Benders, M.; Borradori-Tolsa, C.; Cachia, A.; Lazeyras, F.; Leuchter, R. Ha-Vinh; Sizonenko, S. V.; Warfield, S. K.; Mangin, J. F.; Huppi, P. S.

2008-01-01

In the human brain, the morphology of cortical gyri and sulci is complex and variable among individuals, and it may reflect pathological functioning with specific abnormalities observed in certain developmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Since cortical folding occurs early during brain development, these structural abnormalities might be…

Restoration of vision in blind individuals using bionic devices: a review with a focus on cortical visual prostheses.

PubMed

Lewis, Philip M; Ackland, Helen M; Lowery, Arthur J; Rosenfeld, Jeffrey V

2015-01-21

The field of neurobionics offers hope to patients with sensory and motor impairment. Blindness is a common cause of major sensory loss, with an estimated 39 million people worldwide suffering from total blindness in 2010. Potential treatment options include bionic devices employing electrical stimulation of the visual pathways. Retinal stimulation can restore limited visual perception to patients with retinitis pigmentosa, however loss of retinal ganglion cells precludes this approach. The optic nerve, lateral geniculate nucleus and visual cortex provide alternative stimulation targets, with several research groups actively pursuing a cortically-based device capable of driving several hundred stimulating electrodes. While great progress has been made since the earliest works of Brindley and Dobelle in the 1960s and 1970s, significant clinical, surgical, psychophysical, neurophysiological, and engineering challenges remain to be overcome before a commercially-available cortical implant will be realized. Selection of candidate implant recipients will require assessment of their general, psychological and mental health, and likely responses to visual cortex stimulation. Implant functionality, longevity and safety may be enhanced by careful electrode insertion, optimization of electrical stimulation parameters and modification of immune responses to minimize or prevent the host response to the implanted electrodes. Psychophysical assessment will include mapping the positions of potentially several hundred phosphenes, which may require repetition if electrode performance deteriorates over time. Therefore, techniques for rapid psychophysical assessment are required, as are methods for objectively assessing the quality of life improvements obtained from the implant. These measures must take into account individual differences in image processing, phosphene distribution and rehabilitation programs that may be required to optimize implant functionality. In this review, we

Perceptual visual dysfunction, physical impairment and quality of life in Bangladeshi children with cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Mitry, D; Williams, C; Northstone, K; Akter, A; Jewel, J; Khan, N; Muhit, M; Gilbert, C E; Bowman, R

2016-09-01

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common cause of motor disability in children and is often accompanied by sensory and/or cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to characterise visual acuity impairment, perceptual visual dysfunction (PVD) and physical disability in a community-based sample of Bangladeshi children with CP and to assess the impact of these factors on the quality of life of the children. A key informant study was used to recruit children with CP from Sirajganj district. Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels and visual impairment were assessed by a physiotherapist and an optometrist, respectively. Assessments of visual perception were performed and standardised questionnaires were administered to each child's main carer to elicit indicators of PVD and parent-reported health-related quality of life. A generalised linear regression analysis was conducted to assess the determinants of the quality of life scores. 180 children were recruited. The median age was 8 years (IQR: 6-11 years); 112 (62%) were male; 57 (32%) had visual acuity impairment and 95 (53%) had some parent-reported PVD. In analyses adjusted for age, sex, GMFCS and acuity impairment, visual attention (p<0.001) and recognition/navigation (p<0.001) were associated with total health-related quality of life, and there were similar trends for total PVD score (p=0.006) and visual search (p=0.020). PVD is an important contributor in reducing quality of life in children with CP, independent of motor disability and acuity impairment. Better characterisation of PVD is important to help design interventions for affected children, which may improve their quality of life. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Association of overjet and overbite with esthetic impairments of oral health-related quality of life.

PubMed

Sierwald, Ira; John, Mike T; Schierz, Oliver; Jost-Brinkmann, Paul-Georg; Reissmann, Daniel R

2015-09-01

Esthetics is an important part of quality of life and a frequent reason for orthodontic treatment demand. It was the aim of this study to investigate whether esthetic impairments, related to overjet and overbite, can be assessed with an established oral health-related quality of life instrument. Data from 1968 participants (age: 16-90 years; 69.8% female) from three German surveys were analyzed. Esthetic impairments of oral health-related quality of life were measured with four questions of the Oral Health Impact profile (OHIP), which comprise esthetic aspects of oral health-related quality of life. Higher values represent greater esthetic impairment (sum score: 0-16). Overbite and overjet values were categorized (≤ - 1 mm, 0-1 mm, 2-3 mm, 4-5 mm, ≥ 6 mm). The specific impact of each category on esthetic impairment, in relation to the reference category (2-3 mm), was calculated in linear regression analyses. The type of relationship and the specific impact of overbite and overjet were evaluated in regression analyses with fractional polynomials. Overbite ranged from - 5 to 15 mm (mean: 3.2 mm) and overjet from - 7 to 19 mm (mean: 3.1 mm). Both an increase and a decrease in overjet, in relation to the reference category, resulted in more esthetic-related oral health-related quality of life impairments. However, in this model, only the effect for increased overjet was statistically significant (4-5 mm: + 0.4 OHIP points; ≥ 6 mm: + 0.9 OHIP points). In the regression analysis with fractional polynomials, both an increase and a decrease in overjet resulted in more esthetic impairments, characterized by a U-shaped relationship. No association could be verified for overbite. A substantial increase or decrease of overjet from the reference values is associated with esthetic impairments of oral health-related quality of life, whereas the extent of overbite seems to have no impact on esthetics.

Teaching Life Sciences to Blind and Visually Impaired Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fraser, William John; Maguvhe, Mbulaheni Obert

2008-01-01

This study reports on the teaching of life sciences (biology) to blind and visually impaired learners in South Africa at 11 special schools with specific reference to the development of science process skills in outcomes-based classrooms. Individual structured interviews were conducted with nine science educators teaching at the different special…

Perceptual learning and adult cortical plasticity.

PubMed

Gilbert, Charles D; Li, Wu; Piech, Valentin

2009-06-15

The visual cortex retains the capacity for experience-dependent changes, or plasticity, of cortical function and cortical circuitry, throughout life. These changes constitute the mechanism of perceptual learning in normal visual experience and in recovery of function after CNS damage. Such plasticity can be seen at multiple stages in the visual pathway, including primary visual cortex. The manifestation of the functional changes associated with perceptual learning involve both long term modification of cortical circuits during the course of learning, and short term dynamics in the functional properties of cortical neurons. These dynamics are subject to top-down influences of attention, expectation and perceptual task. As a consequence, each cortical area is an adaptive processor, altering its function in accordance to immediate perceptual demands.

Cortical Neuroprosthesis Merges Visible and Invisible Light Without Impairing Native Sensory Function

PubMed Central

Thomson, Eric E.; Zea, Ivan; França, Wendy

2017-01-01

Abstract Adult rats equipped with a sensory prosthesis, which transduced infrared (IR) signals into electrical signals delivered to somatosensory cortex (S1), took approximately 4 d to learn a four-choice IR discrimination task. Here, we show that when such IR signals are projected to the primary visual cortex (V1), rats that are pretrained in a visual-discrimination task typically learn the same IR discrimination task on their first day of training. However, without prior training on a visual discrimination task, the learning rates for S1- and V1-implanted animals converged, suggesting there is no intrinsic difference in learning rate between the two areas. We also discovered that animals were able to integrate IR information into the ongoing visual processing stream in V1, performing a visual-IR integration task in which they had to combine IR and visual information. Furthermore, when the IR prosthesis was implanted in S1, rats showed no impairment in their ability to use their whiskers to perform a tactile discrimination task. Instead, in some rats, this ability was actually enhanced. Cumulatively, these findings suggest that cortical sensory neuroprostheses can rapidly augment the representational scope of primary sensory areas, integrating novel sources of information into ongoing processing while incurring minimal loss of native function. PMID:29279860

The personal communities of men experiencing later life widowhood.

PubMed

Collins, Tracy

2018-05-01

Increasingly men are becoming widowed in later life due in part to a longer life expectancy. Social networks and social support are thought to help buffer the negative consequences of such later life transitions. This paper explores the personal communities of a group of older men experiencing widowhood. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted, September 2013-February 2014, with seven older widowers, 71-89 years of age, in North Staffordshire, UK. Interviews included personal community diagrams to identify the structure of the older men's social relationships. Data analysis comprised thematic analysis of interview transcripts and content analysis of personal community diagrams. Three overarching themes were identified from the interview data: "Personal identity and resilience assist transition," "Continuity in personal communities provides stability" and "Changes in social relationships and practices facilitate adaptation." The study identified three types of personal community among the older widowers, comprising different combinations of family, friends and others. The findings illustrate that some older widowers have very restricted personal communities which puts them at greater risk of loneliness and social isolation. The social needs of long-term carers should be addressed as isolation and loneliness can begin long before the death of a spouse. It is important to consider gender differences and preferences when designing interventions for older people in order to promote engagement, social inclusion and well-being. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Visual impairment, visual functioning, and quality of life assessments in patients with glaucoma.

PubMed Central

Parrish, R K

1996-01-01

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: To determine the relation between visual impairment, visual functioning, and the global quality of life in patients with glaucoma. METHODS: Visual impairment, defined with the American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment; visual functioning, measured with the VF-14 and the Field Test Version of the National Eye Institute-Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ); and the global quality of life, assessed with the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), were determined in 147 consecutive patients with glaucoma. RESULTS: None of the SF-36 domains demonstrated more than a weak correlation with visual impairment. The VF-14 scores were moderately correlated with visual impairment. Of the twelve NEI-VFQ scales, distance activities and vision specific dependency were moderately correlated with visual impairment. Of the twelve NEI-VFQ scales, distance activities and vision specific dependency were moderately correlated with visual field impairment; vision specific social functioning, near activities, vision specific role difficulties, general vision, vision specific mental health, color vision, and driving were modestly correlated; visual pain was weakly correlated; and two were not significantly correlated. Correcting for visual actuity weakened the strength of the correlation coefficients. CONCLUSIONS: The SF-36 is unlikely to be useful in determining visual impairment in patients with glaucoma. Based on the moderate correlation between visual field impairment and the VF-14 score, this questionnaire may be generalizable to patients with glaucoma. Several of the NEI-VFQ scales correlate with visual field impairment scores in patients with a wide range of glaucomatous damage. PMID:8981717

Functional Significance of Atypical Cortical Organization in Spina Bifida Myelomeningocele: Relations of Cortical Thickness and Gyrification with IQ and Fine Motor Dexterity

PubMed Central

Treble, Amery; Juranek, Jenifer; Stuebing, Karla K.; Dennis, Maureen; Fletcher, Jack M.

2013-01-01

The cortex in spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM) is atypically organized, but it is not known how specific features of atypical cortical organization promote or disrupt cognitive and motor function. Relations of deviant cortical thickness and gyrification with IQ and fine motor dexterity were investigated in 64 individuals with SBM and 26 typically developing (TD) individuals, aged 8–28 years. Cortical thickness and 3D local gyrification index (LGI) were quantified from 33 cortical regions per hemisphere using FreeSurfer. Results replicated previous findings, showing regions of higher and lower cortical thickness and LGI in SBM relative to the TD comparison individuals. Cortical thickness and LGI were negatively associated in most cortical regions, though less consistently in the TD group. Whereas cortical thickness and LGI tended to be negatively associated with IQ and fine motor outcomes in regions that were thicker or more gyrified in SBM, associations tended to be positive in regions that were thinner or less gyrified in SBM. The more deviant the levels of cortical thickness and LGI—whether higher or lower relative to the TD group—the more impaired the IQ and fine motor outcomes, suggesting that these cortical atypicalities in SBM are functionally maladaptive, rather than adaptive. PMID:22875857

Gender, marital power, and marital quality in later life.

PubMed

Bulanda, Jennifer Roebuck

2011-01-01

This study uses data from the 1992 Health and Retirement Study to examine gender differences in marital power and marital quality among older adults and to assess whether there are gender differences in the correlates of marital quality and marital power in later life. Results show that women report lower marital happiness, marital interaction, and marital power than do men, on average. These differences persist even after controlling for a number of life-course events and transitions. Further, results show that gender differences are also evident in the relationship of employment, childrearing, caregiving, and health factors with marital quality and power.

Midlife Work-Related Stress Increases Dementia Risk in Later Life: The CAIDE 30-Year Study.

PubMed

Sindi, Shireen; Hagman, Göran; Håkansson, Krister; Kulmala, Jenni; Nilsen, Charlotta; Kåreholt, Ingemar; Soininen, Hilkka; Solomon, Alina; Kivipelto, Miia

2017-10-01

To investigate the associations between midlife work-related stress and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), dementia, and Alzheimer's disease later in life, in a large representative population. Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia (CAIDE) study participants were randomly selected from independent population-based surveys (mean age 50 years). A random sample of 2,000 individuals was invited for two reexaminations including cognitive tests (at mean age 71 and mean age 78), and 1,511 subjects participated in at least one reexamination (mean follow-up 28.5 years). Work-related stress was measured using two questions on work demands that were administered in midlife. Analyses adjusted for important confounders. Higher levels of midlife work-related stress were associated with higher risk of MCI (odds ratio [OR], 1.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-1.76), dementia (OR, 1.53; CI, 1.13-2.07), and Alzheimer's disease (OR, 1.55; CI, 1.19-2.36) at the first follow-up among the CAIDE participants. Results remained significant after adjusting for several possible confounders. Work-related stress was not associated with MCI and dementia during the extended follow-up. Midlife work-related stress increases the risk for MCI, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease in later life. The association was not seen after the extended follow-up possibly reflecting selective survival/participation, heterogeneity in dementia among the oldest old, and a critical time window for the effects of midlife stress. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Injury to the Premature Cerebellum: Outcome is Related to Remote Cortical Development

PubMed Central

Limperopoulos, Catherine; Chilingaryan, Gevorg; Sullivan, Nancy; Guizard, Nicolas; Robertson, Richard L.; du Plessis, Adré J.

2014-01-01

Cerebellar injury is an important complication of preterm birth with far-reaching neuropsychiatric sequelae. We have previously shown a significant association between isolated injury to the premature cerebellum and subsequent impairment of regional volumetric growth in the contralateral cerebrum. In the current study, we examine the relationship between these remote regional impairments of cerebral volumetric growth and domain-specific functional deficits in these children. In 40 ex-preterm infants with isolated cerebellar injury, we performed neurodevelopmental evaluations and quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies at a mean age of 34 months. We measured cortical gray matter volumes in 8 parcellated regions of each cerebral hemisphere, as well as right and left cerebellar volumes. We show highly significant associations between early signs of autism and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex volume (P < 0.001); gross motor scores and sensorimotor cortical volumes (P < 0.001); and cognitive and expressive language scores and premotor and mid-temporal cortical volumes (P < 0.001). By multivariate analyses, each unit increase in the corresponding regional cerebral volume was associated with lower odds of abnormal outcome score, adjusted for age at MRI and contralateral cerebellar volume. This is the first report linking secondary impairment of remote cerebral cortical growth and functional disabilities in survivors of prematurity-related cerebellar brain injury. PMID:23146968

Commentary: On the Importance of Early Life Cognitive Abilities in Shaping Later Life Outcomes.

PubMed

Hofer, Scott M; Clouston, Sean

2014-01-01

Early life cognitive ability is likely to be dynamically related to life course factors including educational attainment, occupational outcomes, health behaviors, activities, health, and subsequent cognitive health. Disentangling the selective and causal processes contributing to cognitive functioning across the lifespan is challenging and requires long-term investments in longitudinal data. We discuss results from several analyses using data from the Individual Development and Adaptation longitudinal research program (Bergman, 2000; Magnusson, 1988) that provide fresh insights into the relation of early life cognition, particularly high levels of cognitive capabilities, to educational achievement, emotional adjustment, and career success. These papers and the longitudinal data provide a remarkable window into the development and impacts of cognition, and high cognitive functioning, on a variety of important life outcomes that we hope will continue to inform us about additional outcomes in middle life, transition to retirement, and cognition and health in later years and to robustly examine how the early years matter across the whole lifespan.

Agency and Social Forces in the Life Course: The Case of Gender Transitions in Later Life.

PubMed

Fabbre, Vanessa D

2017-05-01

In order to bolster gerontology's knowledge base about transgender issues and advance conceptualizations of agency and social forces in life course scholarship, this study explores the conditions under which people contemplate or pursue a gender transition in later life. In-depth interviews were conducted with male-to-female identified persons (N = 22) who have seriously contemplated or pursued a gender transition after the age of 50 years. Participant observation was also carried out at three national transgender conferences (N = 170 hours). Interpretive analyses utilized open and focused coding, analytical memo writing, and an iterative process of theory development. Participants in this study faced unrelenting social pressures to conform to normative gender expectations throughout their lives, which were often internalized and experienced as part of themselves. Confronting these internalized forces often took the form of a "dam bursting," an intense emotional process through which participants asserted agency in the face of constraining social forces in order to pursue a gender transition in later life. The findings in this paper are used to extend the life course concept of agency within structure, which has implications for future life course research in aging, especially with respect to socially marginalized and oppressed minority groups. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Mobility impairment, social engagement, and life satisfaction among the older population in China: a structural equation modeling analysis.

PubMed

Li, Linna; Loo, Becky P Y

2017-05-01

Revealing the relationship between mobility impairment and life satisfaction can help to propose effective interventions to secure mobility and life satisfaction. However, the relationship remains unclear and lacks quantitative evidence in China. This study therefore assesses the association of mobility impairment, social engagement, and life satisfaction among the older population in China. Based on the sample of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey database in 2013, a structural equation modeling is established. The sample size is 4245 with 55.9% with mobility impairment. The model shows that the length of suffering from disability is significantly related to mobility impairment (β = 0.058, p < 0.001). Mobility impairment is inversely related to social engagement (β = -0.300, p < 0.001) and life satisfaction (β = -0.311, p < 0.001). Social engagement is positively related to life satisfaction (β = 0.211, p < 0.001). Moreover, the relationships have some differences for the seniors with different sociodemographic characteristics and living in different residential areas. As seniors get older, they tend to have more severe mobility impairment and participate less in social activities. Those with higher mobility impairment are more likely to report lower life satisfaction partly because they usually participate less in social activities. Different strategies are suggested to be adopted to improve the life satisfaction of the older population from the aspects of promoting mobility and social engagement, including improving the design of transport facilitates, providing assistive facilities for the seniors with severe mobility impairment, promoting the accessibility of community leisure and healthcare services, and constructing more community senior activity centers.

Prefrontal cortical-specific differences in behavior and synaptic plasticity between adolescent and adult mice.

PubMed

Konstantoudaki, Xanthippi; Chalkiadaki, Kleanthi; Vasileiou, Elisabeth; Kalemaki, Katerina; Karagogeos, Domna; Sidiropoulou, Kyriaki

2018-03-01

Adolescence is a highly vulnerable period for the emergence of major neuropsychological disorders and is characterized by decreased cognitive control and increased risk-taking behavior and novelty-seeking. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is involved in the cognitive control of impulsive and risky behavior. Although the PFC is known to reach maturation later than other cortical areas, little information is available regarding the functional changes from adolescence to adulthood in PFC, particularly compared with other primary cortical areas. This study aims to understand the development of PFC-mediated, compared with non-PFC-mediated, cognitive functions. Toward this aim, we performed cognitive behavioral tasks in adolescent and adult mice and subsequently investigated synaptic plasticity in two different cortical areas. Our results showed that adolescent mice exhibit impaired performance in PFC-dependent cognitive tasks compared with adult mice, whereas their performance in non-PFC-dependent tasks is similar to that of adults. Furthermore, adolescent mice exhibited decreased long-term potentiation (LTP) within upper-layer synapses of the PFC but not the barrel cortex. Blocking GABA A receptor function significantly augments LTP in both the adolescent and adult PFC. No change in intrinsic excitability of PFC pyramidal neurons was observed between adolescent and adult mice. Finally, increased expression of the NR2A subunit of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors is found only in the adult PFC, a change that could underlie the emergence of LTP. In conclusion, our results demonstrate physiological and behavioral changes during adolescence that are specific to the PFC and could underlie the reduced cognitive control in adolescents. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study reports that adolescent mice exhibit impaired performance in cognitive functions dependent on the prefrontal cortex but not in cognitive functions dependent on other cortical regions. The current results propose reduced

Anti-correlated cortical networks of intrinsic connectivity in the rat brain.

PubMed

Schwarz, Adam J; Gass, Natalia; Sartorius, Alexander; Risterucci, Celine; Spedding, Michael; Schenker, Esther; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Weber-Fahr, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

In humans, resting-state blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals in the default mode network (DMN) are temporally anti-correlated with those from a lateral cortical network involving the frontal eye fields, secondary somatosensory and posterior insular cortices. Here, we demonstrate the existence of an analogous lateral cortical network in the rat brain, extending laterally from anterior secondary sensorimotor regions to the insular cortex and exhibiting low-frequency BOLD fluctuations that are temporally anti-correlated with a midline "DMN-like" network comprising posterior/anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortices. The primary nexus for this anti-correlation relationship was the anterior secondary motor cortex, close to regions that have been identified with frontal eye fields in the rat brain. The anti-correlation relationship was corroborated after global signal removal, underscoring this finding as a robust property of the functional connectivity signature in the rat brain. These anti-correlated networks demonstrate strong anatomical homology to networks identified in human and monkey connectivity studies, extend the known preserved functional connectivity relationships between rodent and primates, and support the use of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging as a translational imaging method between rat models and humans.

Anti-Correlated Cortical Networks of Intrinsic Connectivity in the Rat Brain

PubMed Central

Gass, Natalia; Sartorius, Alexander; Risterucci, Celine; Spedding, Michael; Schenker, Esther; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Weber-Fahr, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

Abstract In humans, resting-state blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals in the default mode network (DMN) are temporally anti-correlated with those from a lateral cortical network involving the frontal eye fields, secondary somatosensory and posterior insular cortices. Here, we demonstrate the existence of an analogous lateral cortical network in the rat brain, extending laterally from anterior secondary sensorimotor regions to the insular cortex and exhibiting low-frequency BOLD fluctuations that are temporally anti-correlated with a midline “DMN-like” network comprising posterior/anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortices. The primary nexus for this anti-correlation relationship was the anterior secondary motor cortex, close to regions that have been identified with frontal eye fields in the rat brain. The anti-correlation relationship was corroborated after global signal removal, underscoring this finding as a robust property of the functional connectivity signature in the rat brain. These anti-correlated networks demonstrate strong anatomical homology to networks identified in human and monkey connectivity studies, extend the known preserved functional connectivity relationships between rodent and primates, and support the use of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging as a translational imaging method between rat models and humans. PMID:23919836

Functional neural substrates of posterior cortical atrophy patients.

PubMed

Shames, H; Raz, N; Levin, Netta

2015-07-01

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a neurodegenerative syndrome in which the most pronounced pathologic involvement is in the occipito-parietal visual regions. Herein, we aimed to better define the cortical reflection of this unique syndrome using a thorough battery of behavioral and functional MRI (fMRI) tests. Eight PCA patients underwent extensive testing to map their visual deficits. Assessments included visual functions associated with lower and higher components of the cortical hierarchy, as well as dorsal- and ventral-related cortical functions. fMRI was performed on five patients to examine the neuronal substrate of their visual functions. The PCA patient cohort exhibited stereopsis, saccadic eye movements and higher dorsal stream-related functional impairments, including simultant perception, image orientation, figure-from-ground segregation, closure and spatial orientation. In accordance with the behavioral findings, fMRI revealed intact activation in the ventral visual regions of face and object perception while more dorsal aspects of perception, including motion and gestalt perception, revealed impaired patterns of activity. In most of the patients, there was a lack of activity in the word form area, which is known to be linked to reading disorders. Finally, there was evidence of reduced cortical representation of the peripheral visual field, corresponding to the behaviorally assessed peripheral visual deficit. The findings are discussed in the context of networks extending from parietal regions, which mediate navigationally related processing, visually guided actions, eye movement control and working memory, suggesting that damage to these networks might explain the wide range of deficits in PCA patients.

Relationships between stressful life events and impaired fasting glucose among left-behind farmers in rural China.

PubMed

Liang, Han; Cheng, Jing; Shen, Xingrong; Chen, Penglai; Tong, Guixian; Chai, Jing; Li, Kaichun; Xie, Shaoyu; Shi, Yong; Wang, Debin; Sun, Yehuan

2015-02-01

This study aims at examining the effects of stressful life events on risk of impaired fasting glucose among left-behind farmers in rural China. The study collected data about stressful life events, family history of diabetes, lifestyle, demographics and minimum anthropometrics from left-behind famers aged 40-70 years. Calculated life event index was applied to assess the combined effects of stressful life events experienced by the left-behind farmers and its association with impaired fasting glucose was estimated using binary logistic regression models. The prevalence of abnormal fasting glucose was 61.4% by American Diabetes Association (ADA) standard and 32.4% by World Health Organization (WHO) standard. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed a coefficient of 0.033 (P<.001) by ADA standard or 0.028 (P<.001) by WHO standard between impaired fasting glucose and life event index. The overall odds ratios of impaired glucose for the second, third and fourth (highest) versus the first (lowest) quartile of life event index were 1.419 [95% CI=(1.173, 1.717)], 1.711 [95% CI=(1.413, 2.071)] and 1.957 [95% CI=(1.606, 2.385)] respectively by ADA standard. When more and more confounding factors were controlled for, these odds ratios remained statistically significant though decreased to a small extent. The left-behind farmers showed over two-fold prevalence rate of pre-diabetes than that of the nation's average and their risk of impaired fasting glucose was positively associated with stressful life events in a dose-dependent way. Both the population studied and their life events merit special attention. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spatial distribution and longitudinal development of deep cortical sulcal landmarks in infants.

PubMed

Meng, Yu; Li, Gang; Lin, Weili; Gilmore, John H; Shen, Dinggang

2014-10-15

Sulcal pits, the locally deepest points in sulci of the highly convoluted and variable cerebral cortex, are found to be spatially consistent across human adult individuals. It is suggested that sulcal pits are genetically controlled and have close relationships with functional areas. To date, the existing imaging studies of sulcal pits are mainly focused on adult brains, yet little is known about the spatial distribution and temporal development of sulcal pits in the first 2 years of life, which is the most dynamic and critical period of postnatal brain development. Studying sulcal pits during this period would greatly enrich our limited understandings of the origins and developmental trajectories of sulcal pits, and would also provide important insights into many neurodevelopmental disorders associated with abnormal cortical foldings. In this paper, by using surface-based morphometry, for the first time, we systemically investigated the spatial distribution and temporal development of sulcal pits in major cortical sulci from 73 healthy infants, each with three longitudinal 3T MR scans at term birth, 1 year, and 2 years of age. Our results suggest that the spatially consistent distributions of sulcal pits in major sulci across individuals have already existed at term birth and this spatial distribution pattern keeps relatively stable in the first 2 years of life, despite that the cerebral cortex expands dramatically and the sulcal depth increases considerably during this period. Specially, the depth of sulcal pits increases regionally heterogeneously, with more rapid growth in the high-order association cortex, including the prefrontal and temporal cortices, than the sensorimotor cortex in the first 2 years of life. Meanwhile, our results also suggest that there exist hemispheric asymmetries of the spatial distributions of sulcal pits in several cortical regions, such as the central, superior temporal and postcentral sulci, consistently from birth to 2 years of age

Listening to Religious Music and Mental Health in Later Life.

PubMed

Bradshaw, Matt; Ellison, Christopher G; Fang, Qijuan; Mueller, Collin

2015-12-01

Research has linked several aspects of religion--including service attendance, prayer, meditation, religious coping strategies, congregational support systems, and relations with God, among others--with positive mental health outcomes among older U.S. adults. This study examines a neglected dimension of religious life: listening to religious music. Two waves of nationally representative data on older U.S. adults were analyzed (n = 1,024). Findings suggest that the frequency of listening to religious music is associated with a decrease in death anxiety and increases in life satisfaction, self-esteem, and a sense of control across the 2 waves of data. In addition, the frequency of listening to gospel music (a specific type of religious music) is associated with a decrease in death anxiety and an increase in a sense of control. These associations are similar for blacks and whites, women and men, and low- and high-socioeconomic status individuals. Religion is an important socioemotional resource that has been linked with desirable mental health outcomes among older U.S. adults. This study shows that listening to religious music may promote psychological well-being in later life. Given that religious music is available to most individuals--even those with health problems or physical limitations that might preclude participation in more formal aspects of religious life--it might be a valuable resource for promoting mental health later in the life course. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Childhood Abuse and Later Parenting Outcomes in Two American Indian Tribes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Libby, Anne M.; Orton, Heather D.; Beals, Janette; Buchwald, Dedra; Manson, Spero M.

2008-01-01

Objectives: To examine the relationship of childhood physical and sexual abuse with reported parenting satisfaction and parenting role impairment later in life among American Indians (AIs). Methods: AIs from Southwest and Northern Plains tribes who participated in a large-scale community-based study (n=3,084) were asked about traumatic events and…

How lateral inhibition and fast retinogeniculo-cortical oscillations create vision: A new hypothesis.

PubMed

Jerath, Ravinder; Cearley, Shannon M; Barnes, Vernon A; Nixon-Shapiro, Elizabeth

2016-11-01

The role of the physiological processes involved in human vision escapes clarification in current literature. Many unanswered questions about vision include: 1) whether there is more to lateral inhibition than previously proposed, 2) the role of the discs in rods and cones, 3) how inverted images on the retina are converted to erect images for visual perception, 4) what portion of the image formed on the retina is actually processed in the brain, 5) the reason we have an after-image with antagonistic colors, and 6) how we remember space. This theoretical article attempts to clarify some of the physiological processes involved with human vision. The global integration of visual information is conceptual; therefore, we include illustrations to present our theory. Universally, the eyeball is 2.4cm and works together with membrane potential, correspondingly representing the retinal layers, photoreceptors, and cortex. Images formed within the photoreceptors must first be converted into chemical signals on the photoreceptors' individual discs and the signals at each disc are transduced from light photons into electrical signals. We contend that the discs code the electrical signals into accurate distances and are shown in our figures. The pre-existing oscillations among the various cortices including the striate and parietal cortex, and the retina work in unison to create an infrastructure of visual space that functionally "places" the objects within this "neural" space. The horizontal layers integrate all discs accurately to create a retina that is pre-coded for distance. Our theory suggests image inversion never takes place on the retina, but rather images fall onto the retina as compressed and coiled, then amplified through lateral inhibition through intensification and amplification on the OFF-center cones. The intensified and amplified images are decompressed and expanded in the brain, which become the images we perceive as external vision. This is a theoretical

Individualized optimal surgical extent of the lateral neck in papillary thyroid cancer with lateral cervical metastasis.

PubMed

Park, Jae-Yong; Koo, Bon Seok

2014-06-01

Despite an excellent prognosis, cervical lymph node (LN) metastases are common in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). The presence of metastasis is associated with an increased risk of locoregional recurrence, which significantly impairs quality of life and may decrease survival. Therefore, it has been an important determinant of the extent of lateral LN dissection in the initial treatment of PTC patients with lateral cervical metastasis. However, the optimal extent of therapeutic lateral neck dissection (ND) remains controversial. Optimizing the surgical extent of LN dissection is fundamental for balancing the surgical morbidity and oncological benefits of ND in PTC patients with lateral neck metastasis. We reviewed the currently available literature regarding the optimal extent of lateral LN dissection in PTC patients with lateral neck metastasis. Even in cases with suspicion of metastatic LN at the single lateral level or isolated metastatic lateral LN, the application of ND including all sublevels from IIa and IIb to Va and Vb may be overtreatment, due to the surgical morbidity. When there is no suspicion of LN metastasis at levels II and V, or when multilevel aggressive neck metastasis is not found, sublevel IIb and Va dissection may not be necessary in PTC patients with lateral neck metastasis. Thus consideration of the individualized optimal surgical extent of lateral ND is important when treating PTC patients with lateral cervical metastasis.

Omega-3 fatty acids prevent early-life antibiotic exposure-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis and later-life obesity.

PubMed

Kaliannan, K; Wang, B; Li, X-Y; Bhan, A K; Kang, J X

2016-06-01

Early-life antibiotic exposure can disrupt the founding intestinal microbial community and lead to obesity later in life. Recent studies show that omega-3 fatty acids can reduce body weight gain and chronic inflammation through modulation of the gut microbiota. We hypothesize that increased tissue levels of omega-3 fatty acids may prevent antibiotic-induced alteration of gut microbiota and obesity later in life. Here, we utilize the fat-1 transgenic mouse model, which can endogenously produce omega-3 fatty acids and thereby eliminates confounding factors of diet, to show that elevated tissue levels of omega-3 fatty acids significantly reduce body weight gain and the severity of insulin resistance, fatty liver and dyslipidemia resulting from early-life exposure to azithromycin. These effects were associated with a reversal of antibiotic-induced dysbiosis of gut microbiota in fat-1 mice. These results demonstrate the beneficial effects of omega-3 fatty acids on antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis and obesity, and suggest the potential utility of omega-3 supplementation as a safe and effective means for the prevention of obesity in children who are exposed to antibiotics.

Screening for cognitive and behavioural impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Frequency of abnormality and effect on survival.

PubMed

Xu, Zhouwei; Alruwaili, Ashwag Rafea S; Henderson, Robert David; McCombe, Pamela Ann

2017-05-15

To screen for cognitive and behavioural impairment in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and controls with neuromuscular disease and to correlate these with clinical features. 108 people with ALS and 60 controls with other neuromuscular diseases were recruited and assessed with the Addenbrooke's cognitive examination-III (ACE-III), the frontal assessment battery (FAB), and the executive function component of the Edinburgh cognitive and behavioural ALS screen (ECAS). The Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-Frontotemporal dementia questionnaire (ALS-FTD-Q) and the Motor Neuron Disease Behavioural instrument (MiND-B) were administered to the caregivers of people with ALS. The prevalence of abnormalities was determined and correlated with clinical features and survival. In 37 people with ALS, serial studies were performed. The frequencies of cognitive impairment based on the ACE-III and FAB were 30.0% and 14.0%, in ALS and 11.7% and 3.3% in controls, respectively. Age and years of education influence the results of the ACE-III and ECAS executive function. In ALS, the frequencies of behavioural impairment based on ALS-FTD-Q and MiND-B were 32.1% and 39.4%, respectively. There is significant correlation of ALS-FTD-Q and MiND-B with the ALSFRS-R score. ALS participants with cognitive impairment measured with ACE-III had significantly shorter survival time than those without. ALS participants with behavioural impairment measured with ALS-FTD-Q had worse prognosis than those without. No significant difference was found between the first two serial cognitive tests based on ACE-III and FAB by using generalized estimating equation. There is a greater frequency of cognitive impairment in people with ALS than in patients with other neuromuscular diseases. The cognitive and behavioural tests are potential biomarkers of the prognosis of ALS. The results of cognitive tests are stable over 6months and possibly longer. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cortical-basal ganglionic degeneration.

PubMed

Riley, D E; Lang, A E; Lewis, A; Resch, L; Ashby, P; Hornykiewicz, O; Black, S

1990-08-01

We report our experience with 15 patients believed to have cortical-basal ganglionic degeneration. The clinical picture is distinctive, comprising features referable to both cortical and basal ganglionic dysfunction. Characteristic manifestations include cortical sensory loss, focal reflex myoclonus, "alien limb" phenomena, apraxia, rigidity and akinesia, a postural-action tremor, limb dystonia, hyperreflexia, and postural instability. The asymmetry of symptoms and signs is often striking. Brain imaging may demonstrate greater abnormalities contralateral to the more affected side. Postmortem studies in 2 patients revealed the characteristic pathologic features of swollen, poorly staining (achromatic) neurons and degeneration of cerebral cortex and substantia nigra. Biochemical analysis of 1 brain showed a severe, diffuse loss of dopamine in the striatum. This condition is more frequent than previously believed, and the diagnosis can be predicted during life on the basis of clinical findings. However, as with other "degenerative" diseases of the nervous system, a definitive diagnosis of cortical-basal ganglionic degeneration requires confirmation by autopsy.

Different cortical projections from three subdivisions of the rat lateral posterior thalamic nucleus: a single-neuron tracing study with viral vectors.

PubMed

Nakamura, Hisashi; Hioki, Hiroyuki; Furuta, Takahiro; Kaneko, Takeshi

2015-05-01

The lateral posterior thalamic nucleus (LP) is one of the components of the extrageniculate pathway in the rat visual system, and is cytoarchitecturally divided into three subdivisions--lateral (LPl), rostromedial (LPrm), and caudomedial (LPcm) portions. To clarify the differences in the dendritic fields and axonal arborisations among the three subdivisions, we applied a single-neuron labeling technique with viral vectors to LP neurons. The proximal dendrites of LPl neurons were more numerous than those of LPrm and LPcm neurons, and LPrm neurons tended to have wider dendritic fields than LPl neurons. We then analysed the axonal arborisations of LP neurons by reconstructing the axon fibers in the cortex. The LPl, LPrm and LPcm were different from one another in terms of the projection targets--the main target cortical regions of LPl and LPrm neurons were the secondary and primary visual areas, whereas those of LPcm neurons were the postrhinal and temporal association areas. Furthermore, the principal target cortical layers of LPl neurons in the visual areas were middle layers, but that of LPrm neurons was layer 1. This indicates that LPl and LPrm neurons can be categorised into the core and matrix types of thalamic neurons, respectively, in the visual areas. In addition, LPl neurons formed multiple axonal clusters within the visual areas, whereas the fibers of LPrm neurons were widely and diffusely distributed. It is therefore presumed that these two types of neurons play different roles in visual information processing by dual thalamocortical innervation of the visual areas. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Reduced Left Lateralization of Language in Congenitally Blind Individuals.

PubMed

Lane, Connor; Kanjlia, Shipra; Richardson, Hilary; Fulton, Anne; Omaki, Akira; Bedny, Marina

2017-01-01

Language processing depends on a left-lateralized network of frontotemporal cortical regions. This network is remarkably consistent across individuals and cultures. However, there is also evidence that developmental factors, such as delayed exposure to language, can modify this network. Recently, it has been found that, in congenitally blind individuals, the typical frontotemporal language network expands to include parts of "visual" cortices. Here, we report that blindness is also associated with reduced left lateralization in frontotemporal language areas. We analyzed fMRI data from two samples of congenitally blind adults (n = 19 and n = 13) and one sample of congenitally blind children (n = 20). Laterality indices were computed for sentence comprehension relative to three different control conditions: solving math equations (Experiment 1), a memory task with nonwords (Experiment 2), and a "does this come next?" task with music (Experiment 3). Across experiments and participant samples, the frontotemporal language network was less left-lateralized in congenitally blind than in sighted individuals. Reduction in left lateralization was not related to Braille reading ability or amount of occipital plasticity. Notably, we observed a positive correlation between the lateralization of frontotemporal cortex and that of language-responsive occipital areas in blind individuals. Blind individuals with right-lateralized language responses in frontotemporal cortices also had right-lateralized occipital responses to language. Together, these results reveal a modified neurobiology of language in blindness. Our findings suggest that, despite its usual consistency across people, the neurobiology of language can be modified by nonlinguistic experiences.

Spatial integration and cortical dynamics.

PubMed

Gilbert, C D; Das, A; Ito, M; Kapadia, M; Westheimer, G

1996-01-23

Cells in adult primary visual cortex are capable of integrating information over much larger portions of the visual field than was originally thought. Moreover, their receptive field properties can be altered by the context within which local features are presented and by changes in visual experience. The substrate for both spatial integration and cortical plasticity is likely to be found in a plexus of long-range horizontal connections, formed by cortical pyramidal cells, which link cells within each cortical area over distances of 6-8 mm. The relationship between horizontal connections and cortical functional architecture suggests a role in visual segmentation and spatial integration. The distribution of lateral interactions within striate cortex was visualized with optical recording, and their functional consequences were explored by using comparable stimuli in human psychophysical experiments and in recordings from alert monkeys. They may represent the substrate for perceptual phenomena such as illusory contours, surface fill-in, and contour saliency. The dynamic nature of receptive field properties and cortical architecture has been seen over time scales ranging from seconds to months. One can induce a remapping of the topography of visual cortex by making focal binocular retinal lesions. Shorter-term plasticity of cortical receptive fields was observed following brief periods of visual stimulation. The mechanisms involved entailed, for the short-term changes, altering the effectiveness of existing cortical connections, and for the long-term changes, sprouting of axon collaterals and synaptogenesis. The mutability of cortical function implies a continual process of calibration and normalization of the perception of visual attributes that is dependent on sensory experience throughout adulthood and might further represent the mechanism of perceptual learning.

Change in Perceived Age in Middle and Later Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Russell A.

2013-01-01

Analyses examine change in the age people "feel" ("felt age") and "would like to be" ("ideal age") (relative to current age) in middle and later life. Data are from 1,815 respondents in two waves (1995-96, 2004-06) of the Midlife in the United States Survey (MIDUS) who were age 40+ at Wave 1. In aggregate, people feel about the same amount younger…

Exposure to chemicals and radiation during childhood and risk for cancer later in life.

PubMed

Carpenter, David O; Bushkin-Bedient, Sheila

2013-05-01

Many chemical carcinogens are in food, water, air, household products, and personal care products. Although genetic susceptibility is an important factor in how an individual responds to exposure to a carcinogen, heritable genetic factors alone account for only a minor portion of cancer rates. We review the evidence that early life exposure to carcinogenic chemicals and ionizing radiation results in elevations in cancer later in life. Because cells are rapidly dividing and organ systems are developing during childhood and adolescence, exposure to carcinogens during these early life stages is a major risk factor for cancer later in life. Because young people have many expected years of life, the clinical manifestations of cancers caused by carcinogens have more time in which to develop during characteristically long latency periods. Many chemical carcinogens persist in the body for decades and increase risk for all types of cancers. Carcinogens may act via mutagenic, nonmutagenic, or epigenetic mechanisms and may also result from disruption of endocrine systems. The problem is magnified by the fact that many chemical carcinogens have become an integral part of our food and water supply and are in air and the general environment. The early life onset of a lifelong exposure to mixtures of multiple environmental chemical carcinogens and radiation contributes significantly to the etiology of cancer in later life. Copyright © 2013 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Initial cognitive decline is associated with cortical thinning in early Parkinson disease

PubMed Central

Svenningsson, Per; Weintraub, Daniel; Brønnick, Kolbjørn; Lebedev, Alexander; Westman, Eric; Aarsland, Dag

2014-01-01

Objectives: Our aim was to assess cortical thickness in a large multicenter cohort of drug-naive patients with early Parkinson disease (PD), with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and explore the cognitive correlates of regional cortical thinning. Methods: One hundred twenty-three newly diagnosed patients with PD and 56 healthy controls with 3-tesla structural MRI scans and complete neuropsychological assessment from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative were included. Modified Movement Disorders Society Task Force level II criteria were applied to diagnose MCI in PD. FreeSurfer image processing and analysis software was used to measure cortical thickness across groups and the association with cognitive domains and tests. Results: In patients with MCI, atrophy was found in temporal, parietal, frontal, and occipital areas compared with controls. Specific regional thinning in the right inferior temporal cortex was also found in cognitively normal patients. Memory, executive, and visuospatial performance was associated with temporoparietal and superior frontal thinning, suggesting a relationship between cognitive impairment and both anterior and posterior cortical atrophy in the whole patient sample. Conclusions: These findings confirm that MCI is associated with widespread cortical atrophy. In addition, they suggest that regional cortical thinning is already present at the time of diagnosis in patients with early, untreated PD who do not meet the criteria for MCI. Together, the results indicate that cortical thinning can serve as a marker for initial cognitive decline in early PD. PMID:24808018

Testosterone-related cortical maturation across childhood and adolescence.

PubMed

Nguyen, Tuong-Vi; McCracken, James; Ducharme, Simon; Botteron, Kelly N; Mahabir, Megan; Johnson, Wendy; Israel, Mimi; Evans, Alan C; Karama, Sherif

2013-06-01

Neuroendocrine theories of brain development hold testosterone as the predominant factor mediating sex-specific cortical growth and the ensuing lateralization of hemispheric function. However, studies to date have focussed on prenatal testosterone rather than pubertal changes in testosterone. Yet, animal studies have shown a high density of androgen-sensitive receptors in multiple key cortical areas, and puberty is known to coincide with both a significant rise in testosterone and the emergence of behavioral sex differences, suggesting peripubertal influences of testosterone on brain development. Here, we used linear mixed models to examine sex-specific cortical maturation associated with changes in testosterone levels in a longitudinal sample of developmentally healthy children and adolescents. A significant "sex by age by testosterone" interaction on cortical thickness (CTh) involving widespread areas of the developing brain was found. Testosterone levels were associated with CTh changes in regions of the left hemisphere in males and of the right hemisphere in females. In both sexes, the relationship between testosterone and CTh varied across the age span. These findings show the association between testosterone and CTh to be complex, highly dynamic, and to vary, depending on sex and age; they also suggest sex-related hemispheric lateralization effects of testosterone in humans.

Lateralized Spatial and Object Memory Encoding in Entorhinal and Perirhinal Cortices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bellgowan, Patrick S. F.; Buffalo, Elizabeth A.; Bodurka, Jerzy; Martin, Alex

2009-01-01

The perirhinal and entorhinal cortices are critical components of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) declarative memory system. Study of their specific functions using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), however, has suffered from severe magnetic susceptibility signal dropout resulting in poor…

Effect of Common Neuropathologies on Progression of Late Life Cognitive Impairment

PubMed Central

Yu, Lei; Boyle, Patricia A.; Leurgans, Sue; Schneider, Julie A.; Kryscio, Richard J.; Wilson, Robert S.; Bennett, David A.

2015-01-01

Brain pathologies of Alzheimer’s, cerebrovascular and Lewy body diseases are common in old age, but the relationship of these pathologies with progression from normal cognitive function to the various stages of cognitive impairment is unknown. In this study, we fit latent Markov models from longitudinal cognitive data to empirically derive three latent stages corresponding to no impairment, mild impairment, and moderate impairment; then, we examined the associations of common neuropathologies with the rates of transition among these stages. Cognitive and neuropathological data were available from 653 autopsied participants in two ongoing cohort studies of aging who were cognitively healthy at baseline (mean baseline age 79.1 years) and had longitudinal cognitive data. On average, participants in these analyses developed mild impairment 5 years after enrollment, progressed to moderate impairment after an additional 3.4 years, and stayed impaired for 2.8 years until death. AD and chronic macroscopic infarcts were associated with a higher risk of progression to mild impairment and subsequently to moderate impairment. By contrast, Lewy bodies were associated only with progression from mild to moderate impairment. The 5-year probability of progression to mild or moderate impairment was 20% for persons without any of these three pathologies, 38% for AD only, 51% for AD and macroscopic infarcts, and 56% for AD, infarcts and Lewy bodies. Thus, the presence of AD pathology alone nearly doubles the risk of developing cognitive impairment in late life, and the presence of multiple pathologies further increases this risk over multiple years prior to death. PMID:25976345

Longitudinal development of cortical and subcortical gray matter from birth to 2 years.

PubMed

Gilmore, John H; Shi, Feng; Woolson, Sandra L; Knickmeyer, Rebecca C; Short, Sarah J; Lin, Weili; Zhu, Hongtu; Hamer, Robert M; Styner, Martin; Shen, Dinggang

2012-11-01

Very little is known about cortical development in the first years of life, a time of rapid cognitive development and risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. We studied regional cortical and subcortical gray matter volume growth in a group of 72 children who underwent magnetic resonance scanning after birth and at ages 1 and 2 years using a novel longitudinal registration/parcellation approach. Overall, cortical gray matter volumes increased substantially (106%) in the first year of life and less so in the second year (18%). We found marked regional differences in developmental rates, with primary motor and sensory cortices growing slower in the first year of life with association cortices growing more rapidly. In the second year of life, primary sensory regions continued to grow more slowly, while frontal and parietal regions developed relatively more quickly. The hippocampus grew less than other subcortical structures such as the amygdala and thalamus in the first year of life. It is likely that these patterns of regional gray matter growth reflect maturation and development of underlying function, as they are consistent with cognitive and functional development in the first years of life.

Marital Satisfaction in Later Life: The Effects of Nonmarital Roles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Gary R.

1988-01-01

Predicted that marital satisfaction would be higher in later stages of life cycle because of diminishing demands of nonmarital roles. Data from 2,327 older married persons showed that departure of children was associated with higher levels of marital satisfaction; other hypotheses based on role overload theory received no support and were…

Incidental Transient Cortical Blindness after Lung Resection.

PubMed

Oncel, Murat; Sunam, Guven Sadi; Varoglu, Asuman Orhan; Karabagli, Hakan; Yildiran, Huseyin

2016-03-01

Transient vision loss after major surgical procedures is a rare clinical complication. The most common etiologies are cardiac, spinal, head, and neck surgeries. There has been no report on vision loss after lung resection. A 65-year-old man was admitted to our clinic with lung cancer. Resection was performed using right upper lobectomy with no complications. Cortical blindness developed 12 hours later in the postoperative period. Results from magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion-weighted investigations were normal. The neurologic examination was normal. The blood glucose level was 92 mg/dL and blood gas analysis showed a PO 2 of 82 mm Hg. After 24 hours, the patient began to see and could count fingers, and his vision was fully restored within 72 hours after this point. Autonomic dysfunction due to impaired microvascular structures in diabetes mellitus may induce posterior circulation dysfunction, even when the hemodynamic state is normal in the perioperative period. The physician must keep in mind that vision loss may occur after lung resection due to autonomic dysfunction, especially in older patients with diabetes mellitus.

Cognitive impairment and medial temporal lobe structure in young adults with a depressive episode.

PubMed

Donix, Markus; Haussmann, Robert; Helling, Franziska; Zweiniger, Anne; Lange, Jan; Werner, Annett; Donix, Katharina L; Brandt, Moritz D; Linn, Jennifer; Bauer, Michael; Buthut, Maria

2018-09-01

Cognitive deficits are common in patients with a depressive episode although the predictors for their development and severity remain elusive. We investigated whether subjective and objective cognitive impairment in young depressed adults would be associated with cortical thinning in medial temporal subregions. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, cortical unfolding data analysis, and comprehensive assessments of subjective and objective cognitive abilities were performed on 27 young patients with a depressive episode (mean age: 29.0 ± 5.8 years) and 23 older participants without a history of a depressive disorder but amnestic mild cognitive impairment (68.5 ± 6.6 years) or normal cognition (65.2 ± 8.7 years). Thickness reductions in parahippocampal, perirhinal and fusiform cortices were associated with subjective memory deficits only among young patients with a depressive episode and a measurable cognitive impairment. Long-term longitudinal data would be desirable to determine the trajectories of cognitive impairment associated with depression in patients with or without cortical structure changes. The presence of clinically significant cognitive deficits in young people with a depressive episode may identify a patient population with extrahippocampal cortical thinning. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The cortical underpinnings of context-based memory distortion.

PubMed

Aminoff, Elissa; Schacter, Daniel L; Bar, Moshe

2008-12-01

Everyday contextual settings create associations that later afford generating predictions about what objects to expect in our environment. The cortical network that takes advantage of such contextual information is proposed to connect the representation of associated objects such that seeing one object (bed) will activate the visual representations of other objects sharing the same context (pillow). Given this proposal, we hypothesized that the cortical activity elicited by seeing a strong contextual object would predict the occurrence of false memories whereby one erroneously "remembers" having seen a new object that is related to a previously presented object. To test this hypothesis, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging during encoding of contextually related objects, and later tested recognition memory. New objects that were contextually related to previously presented objects were more often falsely judged as "old" compared with new objects that were contextually unrelated to old objects. This phenomenon was reflected by activity in the cortical network mediating contextual processing, which provides a better understanding of how the brain represents and processes context.

The lasting legacy of childhood adversity for disease risk in later life.

PubMed

McCrory, Cathal; Dooley, Cara; Layte, Richard; Kenny, Rose Anne

2015-07-01

There has been an increased interest in the role of the childhood social environment in the etiology of adult diseases in recent years. The present study examines whether the experience of adversity during childhood increases risk for disease in later life independent of later life socioeconomic, behavioral, and psychosocial factors. The study involved a nationally representative sample of 6,912 persons aged 50 years and older who were participating in the first wave of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing. Childhood adversity was indexed using a 4-item measure that captured challenging and potentially noxious childhood environmental exposures including, socioeconomic disadvantage, substance abuse among parents, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. A doctor diagnosis of disease across 9 chronic disease types represented the primary outcome variables. The experience of adversity during childhood was associated with increased risk of disease in midlife and older ages across a large number of chronic disease types including cardiovascular disease, lung disease, and emotional, nervous, or psychiatric disorders. Analysis of the dose-response pattern revealed positively graded associations between the number of adverse events experienced during childhood and the occurrence of chronic disease in later life. Cox proportional hazard models revealed that the experience of adversity during childhood was associated with earlier age of onset for any physical disease type or emotional, nervous, or psychiatric disorders. These findings indicate that childhood may represent a sensitive or critical period in the development of disease and reinforces the necessity of adopting a life-course approach to the study of chronic diseases. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Longitudinal changes in cortical thickness in autism and typical development.

PubMed

Zielinski, Brandon A; Prigge, Molly B D; Nielsen, Jared A; Froehlich, Alyson L; Abildskov, Tracy J; Anderson, Jeffrey S; Fletcher, P Thomas; Zygmunt, Kristen M; Travers, Brittany G; Lange, Nicholas; Alexander, Andrew L; Bigler, Erin D; Lainhart, Janet E

2014-06-01

paracentral, lateral orbitofrontal, and lateral occipital regions. We suggest that abnormal cortical development in autism spectrum disorders undergoes three distinct phases: accelerated expansion in early childhood, accelerated thinning in later childhood and adolescence, and decelerated thinning in early adulthood. Moreover, cortical thickness abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders are region-specific, vary with age, and may remain dynamic well into adulthood. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Longitudinal changes in cortical thickness in autism and typical development

PubMed Central

Prigge, Molly B. D.; Nielsen, Jared A.; Froehlich, Alyson L.; Abildskov, Tracy J.; Anderson, Jeffrey S.; Fletcher, P. Thomas; Zygmunt, Kristen M.; Travers, Brittany G.; Lange, Nicholas; Alexander, Andrew L.; Bigler, Erin D.; Lainhart, Janet E.

2014-01-01

paracentral, lateral orbitofrontal, and lateral occipital regions. We suggest that abnormal cortical development in autism spectrum disorders undergoes three distinct phases: accelerated expansion in early childhood, accelerated thinning in later childhood and adolescence, and decelerated thinning in early adulthood. Moreover, cortical thickness abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders are region-specific, vary with age, and may remain dynamic well into adulthood. PMID:24755274

Determinants of impaired quality of life in patients with fibrous dysplasia.

PubMed

Majoor, Bas C J; Andela, Cornelie D; Bruggemann, Jens; van de Sande, Michiel A J; Kaptein, Ad A; Hamdy, Neveen A T; Dijkstra, P D Sander; Appelman-Dijkstra, Natasha M

2017-04-27

Fibrous dysplasia is a rare bone disorder, commonly associated with pain, deformity and fractures, which may significantly impact on quality of life. In this study we evaluate quality of life in patients with fibrous dysplasia using the Short Form-36 and the Brief Pain Inventory questionnaires. Data were compared with those of the general Dutch population. Out of 138 patients from a cohort of 255 patients with fibrous dysplasia that were sent questionnaires assessing quality of life and pain, the response rate was 70.3%, with 97 patients, predominantly female (65%), completing the questionnaires. Monostotic fibrous dysplasia was predominant (n = 62, 64%). Fibrous dysplasia patients had significantly lower quality of life outcome scores than the general Dutch population for all tested domains of the Short Form-36 except for the "Mental health" and the "Role emotional" domains. More severe forms of fibrous dysplasia, had the more severe Short-Form-36 quality of life outcomes, but there was no significant difference in Brief Pain Inventory domains between different subtypes of fibrous dysplasia. Quality of life was lower in patients with higher disease burden, as reflected by high skeletal burden scores (p = 0.003) and high levels of P1NP (p = 0.002). We demonstrate impairments in all domains of quality of life, except for 'Mental health' and 'Role emotional' domains, across the wide spectrum of fibrous dysplasia including its milder forms. We identified high skeletal burden scores, reflecting disease severity, as the most consistent predictor of impaired quality of life. Our findings hold significant clinical implications as they draw attention to the clinically unmet need to address quality of life issues in the management of patients with all subtypes of fibrous dysplasia, including its milder forms.

Cortical Cerebral Microinfarcts on 3 Tesla MRI in Patients with Vascular Cognitive Impairment.

PubMed

Ferro, Doeschka A; van Veluw, Susanne J; Koek, Huiberdina L; Exalto, Lieza G; Biessels, Geert Jan

2017-01-01

Cerebral microinfarcts (CMIs) are small ischemic lesions that are a common neuropathological finding in patients with stroke or dementia. CMIs in the cortex can now be detected in vivo on 3 Tesla MRI. To determine the occurrence of CMIs and associated clinical features in patients with possible vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). 182 memory-clinic patients (mean age 71.4±10.6, 55% male) with vascular injury on brain MRI (i.e., possible VCI) underwent a standardized work-up including 3 Tesla MRI and cognitive assessment. A control group consisted of 70 cognitively normal subjects (mean age 70.6±4.7, 60% male). Cortical CMIs and other neuroimaging markers of vascular brain injury were rated according to established criteria. Occurrence of CMIs was higher (20%) in patients compared to controls (10%). Among patients, the presence of CMIs was associated with male sex, history of stroke, infarcts, and white matter hyperintensities. CMI presence was also associated with a diagnosis of vascular dementia and reduced performance in multiple cognitive domains. CMIs on 3 Tesla MRI are common in patients with possible VCI and co-occur with imaging markers of small and large vessel disease, likely reflecting a heterogeneous etiology. CMIs are associated with worse cognitive performance, independent of other markers of vascular brain injury.

The older adult driver with cognitive impairment: "It's a very frustrating life".

PubMed

Carr, David B; Ott, Brian R

2010-04-28

Although automobiles remain the transportation of choice for many older adults, late-life cognitive impairment and dementia often impair the ability to drive safely. However, there is no commonly used method of assessing dementia severity in relation to driving, no consensus on the assessment of older drivers with cognitive impairment, and no gold standard for determining driving fitness. Yet clinicians are called on by patients, their families, other health professionals, and often their state's Department of Motor Vehicles to assess their patients' fitness to drive and to make recommendations about driving privileges. This article describes the challenges of driving with cognitive impairment for both the patient and caregiver, summarizes the literature on dementia and driving, discusses evidence-based assessment of fitness to drive, and addresses important ethical and legal issues. It also describes the role of physician assessment, referral for neuropsychological testing, screening for functional ability, tools to assess dementia severity, driving evaluation clinics, and Department of Motor Vehicles referrals that may assist with evaluation. Lastly, it discusses mobility counseling (eg, exploration of transportation alternatives), because health professionals need to address this important issue for older adults who lose the ability to drive. The application of a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to the older driver with cognitive impairment will have the best opportunity to enhance patients' social connectedness and quality of life while meeting their psychological and medical needs and maintaining personal and public safety.

Does dual-task coordination performance decline in later life?

PubMed

Sebastián, María V; Mediavilla, Roberto

2017-05-01

This cross-sectional study examined whether changes occur in people’s capacity to coordinate two simultaneous tasks (dual-task) when transitioning from adulthood to later life. The central executive, Baddeley’s working memory model component, is responsible for this coordination. Contradictory results have been reported regarding the relationship between ageing and dual-task performance; but these seem to be related to methodological issues that have been addressed in this study. Nine hundred and seventy-two participants, aged between 35 and 90 years old, volunteered to carry out a verbal digit span task, followed by single and concurrent (dual-task) tests: first, a box crossing task, then, the digit recall task in relation to their memory span, and finally, both these tests simultaneously. We found no difference in people’s capacity to coordinate their attention when doing two tasks in adulthood or healthy later life, including those in the oldest age groups. Furthermore, gender and educational level were not related to dual-task performance. The results support the normal functioning of the central executive in very old people. These data contrast with research with patients suffering from different types of dementia, which show a decrease in their dual-task performance.

Laterality judgments in people with low back pain--A cross-sectional observational and test-retest reliability study.

PubMed

Linder, Martin; Michaelson, Peter; Röijezon, Ulrik

2016-02-01

Disruption of cortical representation, or body schema, has been indicated as a factor in the persistence and recurrence of low back pain (LBP). This has been observed through impaired laterality judgment ability and it has been suggested that this ability is affected in a spatial rather than anatomical manner. We compared laterality judgment performance of foot and trunk movements between people with LBP with or without leg pain and healthy controls, and investigated associations between test performance and pain. We also assessed the test-retest reliability of the Recognise Online™ software when used in a clinical and a home setting. Cross-sectional observational and test-retest study. Thirty individuals with LBP and 30 healthy controls performed judgment tests of foot and trunk laterality once supervised in a clinic and twice at home. No statistically significant group differences were found. LBP intensity was negatively related to trunk laterality accuracy (p = 0.019). Intraclass correlation values ranged from 0.51 to 0.91. Reaction time improved significantly between test occasions while accuracy did not. Laterality judgments were not impaired in subjects with LBP compared to controls. Further research may clarify the relationship between pain mechanisms in LBP and laterality judgment ability. Reliability values were mostly acceptable, with wide and low confidence intervals, suggesting test-retest reliability for Recognise Online™ could be questioned in this trial. A significant learning effect was observed which should be considered in clinical and research application of the test. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Upper-limb sensory impairments after stroke: Self-reported experiences of daily life and rehabilitation.

PubMed

Carlsson, Håkan; Gard, Gunvor; Brogårdh, Christina

2018-01-10

To describe stroke survivors' experiences of sensory impairment in the upper limb, the influence of such impairment on daily life, coping strategies used, and sensory training for the affected hand. A qualitative study with a content analysis approach. Fifteen post-stroke patients interviewed individually. Five categories emerged from the data: "Changed and varied perception of the sensation"; "Affected movement control"; "Problems using the hand in daily life"; "Various strategies to cope with upper limb disability"; and "Lack of sensory training". Numbness and tingling, changes in temperature sensitivity, and increased sensitivity to touch and pain were reported. Many subjects had difficulty adjusting their grip force and performing movements with precision. It was problematic and mentally fatiguing managing personal care and carrying out household and leisure activities. Practical adaptations, compensation with vision, increased concentration, and use of the less affected hand were strategies used to overcome difficulties. Despite their problems very few subjects had received any specific sensory training for the hand. Stroke survivors perceive that sensory impairment of the upper limb has a highly negative impact on daily life, but specific rehabilitation for the upper limb is lacking. These findings imply that the clinical management of upper limb sensory impairment after stroke requires more attention.

26 CFR 1.101-4 - Payment of life insurance proceeds at a date later than death.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... Income § 1.101-4 Payment of life insurance proceeds at a date later than death. (a) In general. (1)(i... 26 Internal Revenue 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Payment of life insurance proceeds at a date... (whether as an option or otherwise) to pay such beneficiary an amount or amounts at a date or dates later...

Molecular imaging of serotonin degeneration in mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Smith, Gwenn S; Barrett, Frederick S; Joo, Jin Hui; Nassery, Najlla; Savonenko, Alena; Sodums, Devin J; Marano, Christopher M; Munro, Cynthia A; Brandt, Jason; Kraut, Michael A; Zhou, Yun; Wong, Dean F; Workman, Clifford I

2017-09-01

Neuropathological and neuroimaging studies have consistently demonstrated degeneration of monoamine systems, especially the serotonin system, in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease. The evidence for degeneration of the serotonin system in mild cognitive impairment is limited. Thus, the goal of the present study was to measure the serotonin transporter in vivo in mild cognitive impairment and healthy controls. The serotonin transporter is a selective marker of serotonin terminals and of the integrity of serotonin projections to cortical, subcortical and limbic regions and is found in high concentrations in the serotonergic cell bodies of origin of these projections (raphe nuclei). Twenty-eight participants with mild cognitive impairment (age 66.6±6.9, 16 males) and 28 healthy, cognitively normal, demographically matched controls (age 66.2±7.1, 15 males) underwent magnetic resonance imaging for measurement of grey matter volumes and high-resolution positron emission tomography with well-established radiotracers for the serotonin transporter and regional cerebral blood flow. Beta-amyloid imaging was performed to evaluate, in combination with the neuropsychological testing, the likelihood of subsequent cognitive decline in the participants with mild cognitive impairment. The following hypotheses were tested: 1) the serotonin transporter would be lower in mild cognitive impairment compared to controls in cortical and limbic regions, 2) in mild cognitive impairment relative to controls, the serotonin transporter would be lower to a greater extent and observed in a more widespread pattern than lower grey matter volumes or lower regional cerebral blood flow and 3) lower cortical and limbic serotonin transporters would be correlated with greater deficits in auditory-verbal and visual-spatial memory in mild cognitive impairment, not in controls. Reduced serotonin transporter availability was observed in mild cognitive impairment compared to controls in cortical and limbic

Acidosis-Induced Dysfunction of Cortical GABAergic Neurons through Astrocyte-Related Excitotoxicity

PubMed Central

Guan, Sudong; Zhu, Yan; Wang, Jin-Hui

2015-01-01

Background Acidosis impairs cognitions and behaviors presumably by acidification-induced changes in neuronal metabolism. Cortical GABAergic neurons are vulnerable to pathological factors and their injury leads to brain dysfunction. How acidosis induces GABAergic neuron injury remains elusive. As the glia cells and neurons interact each other, we intend to examine the role of the astrocytes in acidosis-induced GABAergic neuron injury. Results Experiments were done at GABAergic cells and astrocytes in mouse cortical slices. To identify astrocytic involvement in acidosis-induced impairment, we induced the acidification in single GABAergic neuron by infusing proton intracellularly or in both neurons and astrocytes by using proton extracellularly. Compared the effects of intracellular acidification and extracellular acidification on GABAergic neurons, we found that their active intrinsic properties and synaptic outputs appeared more severely impaired in extracellular acidosis than intracellular acidosis. Meanwhile, extracellular acidosis deteriorated glutamate transporter currents on the astrocytes and upregulated excitatory synaptic transmission on the GABAergic neurons. Moreover, the antagonists of glutamate NMDA-/AMPA-receptors partially reverse extracellular acidosis-induced injury in the GABAergic neurons. Conclusion Our studies suggest that acidosis leads to the dysfunction of cortical GABAergic neurons by astrocyte-mediated excitotoxicity, in addition to their metabolic changes as indicated previously. PMID:26474076

Consciousness and epilepsy: why are complex-partial seizures complex?

PubMed Central

Englot, Dario J.; Blumenfeld, Hal

2010-01-01

changes depend on seizure spread to subcortical structures including the lateral septum. Understanding the contributions of network inhibition to impaired consciousness in TLE is an important goal, as recurrent limbic seizures often result in cortical dysfunction during and between epileptic events that adversely affects patients’ quality of life. PMID:19818900

Women's labor force participation in later life: the effects of early work and family experiences.

PubMed

Pienta, A M; Burr, J A; Mutchler, J E

1994-09-01

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a model of labor force participation among a group of older women in the United States. A comprehensive measure of women's combined work and family experiences across the adult life course was created. Employing data from the 1984 Survey of Income and Program Participation, we applied multinomial logistic regression techniques to examine the association between work-family experiences and later life labor supply. Our findings generally support an attachment hypothesis, showing that women who were the most work-oriented throughout the life course were more likely than women who experienced family-related spells of nonlabor-market activity to participate in the labor force, either full-time or part-time, later in life.

Impairments in Life Quality among Clients in Geriatric Home Care: Associations with Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms

PubMed Central

Diefenbach, Gretchen J.; Tolin, David F.; Gilliam, Christina M.

2012-01-01

Objective The aim of this study was to determine the independent contributions of depressive and anxiety symptoms to quality of life among older adults who were receiving services through a home care program. Methods The study sample consisted of 66 community-dwelling older adults (ages 65 and older), who were experiencing chronic medical illness and concomitant functional disability necessitating home care. Participants completed self-report measures of depression, anxiety, and health-related quality of life. Additional data on cognitive, health, and functional status were collected to be used as covariates. Results The associations of depressive symptoms with quality of life impairments in home care were substantial and pervasive. Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with quality of life impairments in nearly all domains. After controlling for depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms accounted for additional and statistically significant variance in impaired life quality in the domains of Mental Health, Role Emotional Functioning, and Bodily Pain. Conclusions These results indicate that depressive and anxiety symptoms demonstrate negative associations with life quality among older adults in home care, and highlight the importance of developing community-based programs to assess and treat depressive and anxiety symptoms among home care clients. PMID:21960438

Physical Activity, Body Composition, and Perceived Quality of Life of Adults with Visual Impairments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holbrook, Elizabeth A.; Caputo, Jennifer L.; Perry, Tara L.; Fuller, Dana K.; Morgan, Don W.

2009-01-01

Relatively little is known about the health and fitness of adults with visual impairments. This article documents the physical activity levels and body-composition profiles of young and middle-aged adults with visual impairments and addresses the concomitant effects of these factors on perceived quality of life. (Contains 2 tables.)

Auditory cortical function during verbal episodic memory encoding in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Dhanjal, Novraj S; Warren, Jane E; Patel, Maneesh C; Wise, Richard J S

2013-02-01

Episodic memory encoding of a verbal message depends upon initial registration, which requires sustained auditory attention followed by deep semantic processing of the message. Motivated by previous data demonstrating modulation of auditory cortical activity during sustained attention to auditory stimuli, we investigated the response of the human auditory cortex during encoding of sentences to episodic memory. Subsequently, we investigated this response in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and probable Alzheimer's disease (pAD). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, 31 healthy participants were studied. The response in 18 MCI and 18 pAD patients was then determined, and compared to 18 matched healthy controls. Subjects heard factual sentences, and subsequent retrieval performance indicated successful registration and episodic encoding. The healthy subjects demonstrated that suppression of auditory cortical responses was related to greater success in encoding heard sentences; and that this was also associated with greater activity in the semantic system. In contrast, there was reduced auditory cortical suppression in patients with MCI, and absence of suppression in pAD. Administration of a central cholinesterase inhibitor (ChI) partially restored the suppression in patients with pAD, and this was associated with an improvement in verbal memory. Verbal episodic memory impairment in AD is associated with altered auditory cortical function, reversible with a ChI. Although these results may indicate the direct influence of pathology in auditory cortex, they are also likely to indicate a partially reversible impairment of feedback from neocortical systems responsible for sustained attention and semantic processing. Copyright © 2012 American Neurological Association.

Shaping the aging brain: role of auditory input patterns in the emergence of auditory cortical impairments

PubMed Central

Kamal, Brishna; Holman, Constance; de Villers-Sidani, Etienne

2013-01-01

Age-related impairments in the primary auditory cortex (A1) include poor tuning selectivity, neural desynchronization, and degraded responses to low-probability sounds. These changes have been largely attributed to reduced inhibition in the aged brain, and are thought to contribute to substantial hearing impairment in both humans and animals. Since many of these changes can be partially reversed with auditory training, it has been speculated that they might not be purely degenerative, but might rather represent negative plastic adjustments to noisy or distorted auditory signals reaching the brain. To test this hypothesis, we examined the impact of exposing young adult rats to 8 weeks of low-grade broadband noise on several aspects of A1 function and structure. We then characterized the same A1 elements in aging rats for comparison. We found that the impact of noise exposure on A1 tuning selectivity, temporal processing of auditory signal and responses to oddball tones was almost indistinguishable from the effect of natural aging. Moreover, noise exposure resulted in a reduction in the population of parvalbumin inhibitory interneurons and cortical myelin as previously documented in the aged group. Most of these changes reversed after returning the rats to a quiet environment. These results support the hypothesis that age-related changes in A1 have a strong activity-dependent component and indicate that the presence or absence of clear auditory input patterns might be a key factor in sustaining adult A1 function. PMID:24062649

A prospective study of quality of life in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients.

PubMed

Jakobsson Larsson, B; Ozanne, A G; Nordin, K; Nygren, I

2017-12-01

The aim of this prospective and longitudinal study was to describe individual quality of life in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and its correlations with physical function and emotional well-being from diagnosis and over time. Thirty-six patients were included in the study. Individual quality of life was measured with the Schedule of Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life-Direct Weighting (SEIQoL-DW), illness severity was assessed using the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale (ALS FRS-R), and emotional distress was measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Data were collected from diagnosis and thereafter, every six months for a period of two years. Twelve patients completed the 24-month follow-up. Family, friends and own physical health were important for overall quality of life, from diagnosis and during the disease progression. Most patients had good quality of life, which remained stable, despite changed physical functions. Several patients scored above the cut-off score for doubtful and clinical anxiety and depression early on after diagnosis, and there was a significant decrease in anxiety over time. Soon after diagnosis, there was a correlation between depression and quality of life. The family, social relations and own physical health are important for overall quality of life in patients with ALS. Thus, supporting the family and facilitating so that patients can continue to stay in contact with friends are important aspects during the disease. Conducting an early screening for depression can be important for preventing decreased quality of life. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Care management in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

PubMed

Soriani, M-H; Desnuelle, C

2017-05-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a relentlessly progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive weakness of voluntary muscles of movement as well as those for swallowing, speech and respiration. In the absence of curative treatment, care can improve quality of life, prolong survival, and support ALS patients and their families, and also help them to anticipate and prepare for the end of life. Multidisciplinary management in tertiary centers is recommended in close collaboration with general practitioners, home carers and a dedicated health network. Patients' follow-up deals mainly with motor impairment and physical disability, adaptation, nutrition and respiratory function. Involvement of palliative care as part of the multidisciplinary team management offers patients the possibility of discussing their end of life issues. This review summarizes the different aspects of ALS care, from delivering the diagnosis to the end of life, and the organization of its management. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Two distinct forms of functional lateralization in the human brain

PubMed Central

Gotts, Stephen J.; Jo, Hang Joon; Wallace, Gregory L.; Saad, Ziad S.; Cox, Robert W.; Martin, Alex

2013-01-01

The hemispheric lateralization of certain faculties in the human brain has long been held to be beneficial for functioning. However, quantitative relationships between the degree of lateralization in particular brain regions and the level of functioning have yet to be established. Here we demonstrate that two distinct forms of functional lateralization are present in the left vs. the right cerebral hemisphere, with the left hemisphere showing a preference to interact more exclusively with itself, particularly for cortical regions involved in language and fine motor coordination. In contrast, right-hemisphere cortical regions involved in visuospatial and attentional processing interact in a more integrative fashion with both hemispheres. The degree of lateralization present in these distinct systems selectively predicted behavioral measures of verbal and visuospatial ability, providing direct evidence that lateralization is associated with enhanced cognitive ability. PMID:23959883

Disconnection mechanism and regional cortical atrophy contribute to impaired processing of facial expressions and theory of mind in multiple sclerosis: a structural MRI study.

PubMed

Mike, Andrea; Strammer, Erzsebet; Aradi, Mihaly; Orsi, Gergely; Perlaki, Gabor; Hajnal, Andras; Sandor, Janos; Banati, Miklos; Illes, Eniko; Zaitsev, Alexander; Herold, Robert; Guttmann, Charles R G; Illes, Zsolt

2013-01-01

Successful socialization requires the ability of understanding of others' mental states. This ability called as mentalization (Theory of Mind) may become deficient and contribute to everyday life difficulties in multiple sclerosis. We aimed to explore the impact of brain pathology on mentalization performance in multiple sclerosis. Mentalization performance of 49 patients with multiple sclerosis was compared to 24 age- and gender matched healthy controls. T1- and T2-weighted three-dimensional brain MRI images were acquired at 3Tesla from patients with multiple sclerosis and 18 gender- and age matched healthy controls. We assessed overall brain cortical thickness in patients with multiple sclerosis and the scanned healthy controls, and measured the total and regional T1 and T2 white matter lesion volumes in patients with multiple sclerosis. Performances in tests of recognition of mental states and emotions from facial expressions and eye gazes correlated with both total T1-lesion load and regional T1-lesion load of association fiber tracts interconnecting cortical regions related to visual and emotion processing (genu and splenium of corpus callosum, right inferior longitudinal fasciculus, right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, uncinate fasciculus). Both of these tests showed correlations with specific cortical areas involved in emotion recognition from facial expressions (right and left fusiform face area, frontal eye filed), processing of emotions (right entorhinal cortex) and socially relevant information (left temporal pole). Thus, both disconnection mechanism due to white matter lesions and cortical thinning of specific brain areas may result in cognitive deficit in multiple sclerosis affecting emotion and mental state processing from facial expressions and contributing to everyday and social life difficulties of these patients.

Accessing Real-Life Episodic Information from Minutes versus Hours Earlier Modulates Hippocampal and High-Order Cortical Dynamics

PubMed Central

Chen, J.; Honey, C. J.; Simony, E.; Arcaro, M. J.; Norman, K. A.; Hasson, U.

2016-01-01

It is well known that formation of new episodic memories depends on hippocampus, but in real-life settings (e.g., conversation), hippocampal amnesics can utilize information from several minutes earlier. What neural systems outside hippocampus might support this minutes-long retention? In this study, subjects viewed an audiovisual movie continuously for 25 min; another group viewed the movie in 2 parts separated by a 1-day delay. Understanding Part 2 depended on retrieving information from Part 1, and thus hippocampus was required in the day-delay condition. But is hippocampus equally recruited to access the same information from minutes earlier? We show that accessing memories from a few minutes prior elicited less interaction between hippocampus and default mode network (DMN) cortical regions than accessing day-old memories of identical events, suggesting that recent information was available with less reliance on hippocampal retrieval. Moreover, the 2 groups evinced reliable but distinct DMN activity timecourses, reflecting differences in information carried in these regions when Part 1 was recent versus distant. The timecourses converged after 4 min, suggesting a time frame over which the continuous-viewing group may have relied less on hippocampal retrieval. We propose that cortical default mode regions can intrinsically retain real-life episodic information for several minutes. PMID:26240179

Lateral Sinus Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas: Sinovenous Outflow Restriction Outweighs Cortical Venous Reflux as a Parameter Associated with Hemorrhage.

PubMed

Hu, Yong-Sin; Lin, Chung-Jung; Wu, Hsiu-Mei; Guo, Wan-Yuo; Luo, Chao-Bao; Wu, Chih-Chun; Chung, Wen-Yuh; Liu, Kang-Du; Yang, Huai-Che; Lee, Cheng-Chia

2017-11-01

Purpose To investigate whether sinovenous outflow restriction (SOR) is more strongly associated with hemorrhage than cortical venous reflux (CVR) in patients with lateral sinus dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVFs). Materials and Methods An institutional review board approved this retrospective study and waiver of informed consent was obtained. From 1995 to 2016, 163 cases of lateral sinus DAVFs were included and divided into hemorrhagic and nonhemorrhagic groups based on initial presentation. Their angiograms and magnetic resonance images were evaluated, with two evaluators independently grading CVR and SOR. The SOR was scored as the combined conduit score (CCS), ranging from zero (total occlusion) to 8 (fully patent). The CVR and CCS of the hemorrhagic and nonhemorrhagic groups were compared. Logistic regression models were established for both the CVR and CCS to compare their performances in discriminating DAVF hemorrhage. Results Sinovenous outflow was significantly more restrictive (lower median CCS) in the hemorrhagic group than in the nonhemorrhagic group (1 vs 6.5; P < .001). A CCS of less than or equal to 2 best discriminated between the groups with a sensitivity of 90.0% and a specificity of 88.1%. The CCS model had a higher discriminative performance than did the CVR model (area under the curve, 0.933 vs 0.843; P = .018). Conclusion The CCS grading system semiquantifies SOR. SOR may represent a stronger risk factor associated with hemorrhage in patients with lateral sinus DAVFs than does CVR, and thus may offer guidance in therapeutic decision making. © RSNA, 2017.

Pitch-Responsive Cortical Regions in Congenital Amusia.

PubMed

Norman-Haignere, Sam V; Albouy, Philippe; Caclin, Anne; McDermott, Josh H; Kanwisher, Nancy G; Tillmann, Barbara

2016-03-09

Congenital amusia is a lifelong deficit in music perception thought to reflect an underlying impairment in the perception and memory of pitch. The neural basis of amusic impairments is actively debated. Some prior studies have suggested that amusia stems from impaired connectivity between auditory and frontal cortex. However, it remains possible that impairments in pitch coding within auditory cortex also contribute to the disorder, in part because prior studies have not measured responses from the cortical regions most implicated in pitch perception in normal individuals. We addressed this question by measuring fMRI responses in 11 subjects with amusia and 11 age- and education-matched controls to a stimulus contrast that reliably identifies pitch-responsive regions in normal individuals: harmonic tones versus frequency-matched noise. Our findings demonstrate that amusic individuals with a substantial pitch perception deficit exhibit clusters of pitch-responsive voxels that are comparable in extent, selectivity, and anatomical location to those of control participants. We discuss possible explanations for why amusics might be impaired at perceiving pitch relations despite exhibiting normal fMRI responses to pitch in their auditory cortex: (1) individual neurons within the pitch-responsive region might exhibit abnormal tuning or temporal coding not detectable with fMRI, (2) anatomical tracts that link pitch-responsive regions to other brain areas (e.g., frontal cortex) might be altered, and (3) cortical regions outside of pitch-responsive cortex might be abnormal. The ability to identify pitch-responsive regions in individual amusic subjects will make it possible to ask more precise questions about their role in amusia in future work. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/362986-09$15.00/0.

Brain inflammation accompanies amyloid in the majority of mild cognitive impairment cases due to Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Parbo, Peter; Ismail, Rola; Hansen, Kim V; Amidi, Ali; Mårup, Frederik H; Gottrup, Hanne; Brændgaard, Hans; Eriksson, Bengt O; Eskildsen, Simon F; Lund, Torben E; Tietze, Anna; Edison, Paul; Pavese, Nicola; Stokholm, Morten G; Borghammer, Per; Hinz, Rainer; Aanerud, Joel; Brooks, David J

2017-07-01

See Kreisl (doi:10.1093/awx151) for a scientific commentary on this article.Subjects with mild cognitive impairment associated with cortical amyloid-β have a greatly increased risk of progressing to Alzheimer's disease. We hypothesized that neuroinflammation occurs early in Alzheimer's disease and would be present in most amyloid-positive mild cognitive impairment cases. 11C-Pittsburgh compound B and 11C-(R)-PK11195 positron emission tomography was used to determine the amyloid load and detect the extent of neuroinflammation (microglial activation) in 42 mild cognitive impairment cases. Twelve age-matched healthy control subjects had 11C-Pittsburgh compound B and 10 healthy control subjects had 11C-(R)-PK11195 positron emission tomography for comparison. Amyloid-positivity was defined as 11C-Pittsburgh compound B target-to-cerebellar ratio above 1.5 within a composite cortical volume of interest. Supervised cluster analysis was used to generate parametric maps of 11C-(R)-PK11195 binding potential. Levels of 11C-(R)-PK11195 binding potential were measured in a selection of cortical volumes of interest and at a voxel level. Twenty-six (62%) of 42 mild cognitive impairment cases showed a raised cortical amyloid load compared to healthy controls. Twenty-two (85%) of the 26 amyloid-positive mild cognitive impairment cases showed clusters of increased cortical microglial activation accompanying the amyloid. There was a positive correlation between levels of amyloid load and 11C-(R)-PK11195 binding potentials at a voxel level within subregions of frontal, parietal and temporal cortices. 11C-(R)-PK11195 positron emission tomography reveals increased inflammation in a majority of amyloid positive mild cognitive impairment cases, its cortical distribution overlapping that of amyloid deposition. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[How municipalities can plan for later life. Regional challenges of a demography-sensitive social planning for later life as exemplified by the administrative district Vechta (Lower Saxony/Germany)].

PubMed

Amrhein, L; Backes, G M

2012-07-01

The demographic ageing of the population confronts towns, municipalities and administrative districts with new sociopolitical challenges. The general view of the demographic and social change requires demography-sensitive social planning that is no longer segregated according to age or life stages. Drawing on the example of a demographic evaluation conducted for the administrative district of Vechta in Lower Saxony, Germany, it will be discussed how a life course-orientated municipal social planning for later life can be developed. Furthermore, which practical research and methodical challenges the gerontological policy development municipalities can expect to be confronted with in the future are discussed.

Living with tics: reduced impairment and improved quality of life for youth with chronic tic disorders.

PubMed

McGuire, Joseph F; Arnold, Elysse; Park, Jennifer M; Nadeau, Joshua M; Lewin, Adam B; Murphy, Tanya K; Storch, Eric A

2015-02-28

Pharmacological and behavioral interventions have focused on reducing tic severity to alleviate tic-related impairment for youth with chronic tic disorders (CTDs), with no existing intervention focused on the adverse psychosocial consequences of tics. This study examined the preliminary efficacy of a modularized cognitive behavioral intervention ("Living with Tics", LWT) in reducing tic-related impairment and improving quality of life relative to a waitlist control of equal duration. Twenty-four youth (ages 7-17 years) with Tourette Disorder or Chronic Motor Tic Disorder and psychosocial impairment participated. A treatment-blind evaluator conducted all pre- and post-treatment clinician-rated measures. Youth were randomly assigned to receive the LWT intervention (n=12) or a 10-week waitlist (n=12). The LWT intervention consisted of up to 10 weekly sessions targeted at reducing tic-related impairment and developing skills to manage psychosocial consequences of tics. Youth in the LWT condition experienced significantly reduced clinician-rated tic-impairment, and improved child-rated quality of life. Ten youth (83%) in the LWT group were classified as treatment responders compared to four youth in the waitlist condition (33%). Treatment gains were maintained at one-month follow-up. Findings provide preliminary data that the LWT intervention reduces tic-related impairment and improves quality of life for youth with CTDs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Living with Tics: Reduced Impairment and Improved Quality of Life for Youth with Chronic Tic Disorders

PubMed Central

McGuire, Joseph F.; Arnold, Elysse; Park, Jennifer M.; Nadeau, Joshua M.; Lewin, Adam B.; Murphy, Tanya K.; Storch, Eric A.

2014-01-01

Pharmacological and behavioral interventions have focused on reducing tic severity to alleviate tic-related impairment for youth with chronic tic disorders (CTDs), with no existing intervention focused on the adverse psychosocial consequences of tics. This study examined the preliminary efficacy of a modularized cognitive behavioral intervention ("Living with Tics", LWT) in reducing tic-related impairment and improving quality of life relative to a waitlist control of equal duration. Twenty-four youth (ages 7–17 years) with Tourette Disorder or Chronic Motor Tic Disorder and psychosocial impairment participated. A treatment-blind evaluator conducted all pre- and post-treatment clinician-rated measures. Youth were randomly assigned to receive the LWT intervention (n=12) or a 10-week waitlist (n=12). The LWT intervention consisted of up to 10 weekly sessions targeted at reducing tic-related impairment and developing skills to manage psychosocial consequences of tics. Youth in the LWT condition experienced significantly reduced clinician-rated tic-impairment, and improved child-rated quality of life. Ten youth (83%) in the LWT group were classified as treatment responders compared to four youth in the waitlist condition (33%). Treatment gains were maintained at one-month follow-up. Findings provide preliminary data that the LWT intervention reduces tic-related impairment and improves quality of life for youth with CTDs. PMID:25500348

Wealth in Middle and Later Life: Examining the Life Course Timing of Women's Health Limitations.

PubMed

Wilkinson, Lindsay R; Ferraro, Kenneth F; Mustillo, Sarah A

2018-06-04

Guided by cumulative inequality theory, this study poses two main questions: (a) Does women's poor health compromise household financial assets? (b) If yes, is wealth sensitive to the timing of women's health limitations? In addressing these questions, we consider the effect of health limitations on wealth at older ages, as well as examine how health limitations influence wealth over particular segments of the life course, giving attention to both the onset and duration of health limitations. Using 36 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women, piecewise growth curve and linear regression models were used to estimate the effects of life course timing and duration of health limitations on household wealth. The findings reveal that women who experienced health limitations accumulated substantially less wealth over time, especially if the health limitations were manifest during childhood or early adulthood. This study identifies how early-life health problems lead to less wealth in later life.

Association of Optic Radiation Integrity with Cortical Thickness in Children with Anisometropic Amblyopia.

PubMed

Qi, Shun; Mu, Yun-Feng; Cui, Long-Biao; Li, Rong; Shi, Mei; Liu, Ying; Xu, Jun-Qing; Zhang, Jian; Yang, Jian; Yin, Hong

2016-02-01

Previous studies have indicated regional abnormalities of both gray and white matter in amblyopia. However, alterations of cortical thickness associated with changes in white matter integrity have rarely been reported. In this study, structural magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data were obtained from 15 children with anisometropic amblyopia and 15 age- and gender-matched children with normal sight. Combining DTI and surface-based morphometry, we examined a potential linkage between disrupted white matter integrity and altered cortical thickness. The fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the optic radiations (ORs) of children with anisometropic amblyopia were lower than in controls (P < 0.05). The cortical thickness in amblyopic children was lower than controls in the following subregions: lingual cortex, lateral occipitotemporal gyrus, cuneus, occipital lobe, inferior parietal lobe, and temporal lobe (P < 0.05, corrected), but was higher in the calcarine gyrus (P < 0.05, corrected). Node-by-node correlation analysis of changes in cortical thickness revealed a significant association between a lower FA value in the OR and diminished cortical thickness in the following subregions: medial lingual cortex, lateral occipitotemporal gyrus, lateral, superior, and medial occipital cortex, and lunate cortex. We also found a relationship between changes of cortical thickness and white matter OR integrity in amblyopia. These findings indicate that developmental changes occur simultaneously in the OR and visual cortex in amblyopia, and provide key information on complex damage of brain networks in anisometropic amblyopia. Our results also support the hypothesis that the pathogenesis of anisometropic amblyopia is neurodevelopmental.

Patients' self-perceived burden, caregivers' burden and quality of life for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Geng, Dan; Ou, RuWei; Miao, XiaoHui; Zhao, LiHong; Wei, QianQian; Chen, XuePing; Liang, Yan; Shang, HuiFang; Yang, Rong

2017-10-01

This study surveys the quality of life of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and the factors associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients' self-perceived burden and their caregivers' burden. Burdens of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and their caregivers in Chinese population are largely unknown. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 81 pairs of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and their caregivers. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients' self-perceived burden and caregivers' burden were assessed by the Self-Perceived Burden Scale and Zarit-Burden Interview, respectively. Quality of life of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients was measured using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Bref. The amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Functional Rating Scale-Revised questionnaire was used to estimate patients' physical function. Both patients and caregivers reported a mild to moderate burden. The World Health Organization quality of life-Bref scores were decreased in respondents with lower amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Functional Rating Scale-Revised, higher Self-Perceived Burden Scale and higher Zarit-Burden Interview scores. Self-Perceived Burden Scale scores were associated with patients' knowledge of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, respiratory function and female sex. Zarit-Burden Interview scores were associated with caregivers' age, patients' motor function and out-of-pocket payment. With increase in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients' self-perceived burden and caregivers' burden, quality of life of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients decreased. Female patients, who had known more about the disease, and those with severe respiratory dysfunction were subject to higher self-perceived burden. Older caregivers and caregivers of patients with severe motor dysfunction and more out-of-pocket payment experienced more care burdens. Our study suggests that paying more attention to female amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients

Abnormalities of fixation, saccade and pursuit in posterior cortical atrophy.

PubMed

Shakespeare, Timothy J; Kaski, Diego; Yong, Keir X X; Paterson, Ross W; Slattery, Catherine F; Ryan, Natalie S; Schott, Jonathan M; Crutch, Sebastian J

2015-07-01

whose frequency correlated significantly with generalized reductions in cortical thickness. Patients with both posterior cortical atrophy and typical Alzheimer's disease showed lower gain in smooth pursuit compared to controls. The current study establishes that eye movement abnormalities are near-ubiquitous in posterior cortical atrophy, and highlights multiple aspects of saccadic performance which distinguish posterior cortical atrophy from typical Alzheimer's disease. We suggest the posterior cortical atrophy oculomotor profile (e.g. exacerbation of the saccadic gap/overlap effect, preserved saccadic velocity) reflects weak input from degraded occipito-parietal spatial representations of stimulus location into a superior collicular spatial map for eye movement regulation. This may indicate greater impairment of identification of oculomotor targets rather than generation of oculomotor movements. The results highlight the critical role of spatial attention and object identification but also precise stimulus localization in explaining the complex real world perception deficits observed in posterior cortical atrophy and many other patients with dementia-related visual impairment. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.

Abnormalities of fixation, saccade and pursuit in posterior cortical atrophy

PubMed Central

Kaski, Diego; Yong, Keir X. X.; Paterson, Ross W.; Slattery, Catherine F.; Ryan, Natalie S.; Schott, Jonathan M.; Crutch, Sebastian J.

2015-01-01

saccadic intrusions whose frequency correlated significantly with generalized reductions in cortical thickness. Patients with both posterior cortical atrophy and typical Alzheimer’s disease showed lower gain in smooth pursuit compared to controls. The current study establishes that eye movement abnormalities are near-ubiquitous in posterior cortical atrophy, and highlights multiple aspects of saccadic performance which distinguish posterior cortical atrophy from typical Alzheimer’s disease. We suggest the posterior cortical atrophy oculomotor profile (e.g. exacerbation of the saccadic gap/overlap effect, preserved saccadic velocity) reflects weak input from degraded occipito-parietal spatial representations of stimulus location into a superior collicular spatial map for eye movement regulation. This may indicate greater impairment of identification of oculomotor targets rather than generation of oculomotor movements. The results highlight the critical role of spatial attention and object identification but also precise stimulus localization in explaining the complex real world perception deficits observed in posterior cortical atrophy and many other patients with dementia-related visual impairment. PMID:25895507

Effects of Aging on Cortical Neural Dynamics and Local Sleep Homeostasis in Mice

PubMed Central

Fisher, Simon P.; Cui, Nanyi; Peirson, Stuart N.; Foster, Russell G.

2018-01-01

Healthy aging is associated with marked effects on sleep, including its daily amount and architecture, as well as the specific EEG oscillations. Neither the neurophysiological underpinnings nor the biological significance of these changes are understood, and crucially the question remains whether aging is associated with reduced sleep need or a diminished capacity to generate sufficient sleep. Here we tested the hypothesis that aging may affect local cortical networks, disrupting the capacity to generate and sustain sleep oscillations, and with it the local homeostatic response to sleep loss. We performed chronic recordings of cortical neural activity and local field potentials from the motor cortex in young and older male C57BL/6J mice, during spontaneous waking and sleep, as well as during sleep after sleep deprivation. In older animals, we observed an increase in the incidence of non-rapid eye movement sleep local field potential slow waves and their associated neuronal silent (OFF) periods, whereas the overall pattern of state-dependent cortical neuronal firing was generally similar between ages. Furthermore, we observed that the response to sleep deprivation at the level of local cortical network activity was not affected by aging. Our data thus suggest that the local cortical neural dynamics and local sleep homeostatic mechanisms, at least in the motor cortex, are not impaired during healthy senescence in mice. This indicates that powerful protective or compensatory mechanisms may exist to maintain neuronal function stable across the life span, counteracting global changes in sleep amount and architecture. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The biological significance of age-dependent changes in sleep is unknown but may reflect either a diminished sleep need or a reduced capacity to generate deep sleep stages. As aging has been linked to profound disruptions in cortical sleep oscillations and because sleep need is reflected in specific patterns of cortical activity, we

Former male elite athletes and risk of hypertension in later life.

PubMed

Laine, Merja K; Kujala, Urho M; Eriksson, Johan G; Wasenius, Niko S; Kaprio, Jaakko; Bäckmand, Heli M; Peltonen, Markku; Heinonen, Olli; Jula, Antti; Sarna, Seppo

2015-08-01

The aim of this study was to assess whether a former career as an elite athlete protects from hypertension in later life. We hypothesized that vigorous physical activity during young adulthood protects against hypertension later in life. The study population (n = 3440) consists of 2037 former male elite athletes and 1403 matched controls. Of those, 599 (392 former athletes, 207 controls) participated in a clinical study in 2008. The athletes were divided into three groups: endurance, mixed and power sports. Assessment of hypertension was based on athletes' entitlement to reimbursable antihypertensive medication from the Finnish Social Insurance Institution; among the clinical study participants, this was also based on self-reported current use of antihypertensive drugs or measured hypertension. The current volume of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) was determined by questionnaires. Among the participants, the former athletes had lower age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension than the controls [odds ratio (OR) 0.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.49-0.98] and the endurance athletes had the lowest OR (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.23-0.80). OR for the prevalence of hypertension decreased (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.84-0.96 per 10 metabolic equivalent hours/week) when there was an increase in the volume of LTPA. The former athletes without blood pressure-lowering medication had significantly lower SBP than the controls [139.2 mmHg (SD 18.7) vs. 144.2 mmHg (SD 19.5)] (P = 0.027). A former career as an elite athlete seems to be associated with a lower prevalence of hypertension in later life. The volume of current LTPA was inversely related to prevalence of hypertension.

Early-Life Social Origins of Later-Life Body Weight: The Role of Socioeconomic Status and Health Behaviors over the Life Course

PubMed Central

Logan, Ellis Scott; Richman, Aliza

2014-01-01

Using the 1957-2004 data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we apply structural equation modeling to examine gender-specific effects of family socioeconomic status (SES) at age 18 on body weight at age 65. We further explore SES and health behaviors over the life course as mechanisms linking family background and later-life body weight. We find that early-life socioeconomic disadvantage is related to higher body weight at age 65 and a steeper weight increase between midlife and late life. These adverse effects are stronger among women than men. Significant mediators of the effect of parents' SES include adolescent body mass (especially among women) as well as exercise and SES in midlife. Yet, consistent with the critical period mechanism, the effect of early-life SES on late-life body weight persists net of all mediating variables. This study expands current understanding of life-course mechanisms that contribute to obesity and increase biological vulnerability to social disadvantage. PMID:24767590

Rescue of Impaired mGluR5-Driven Endocannabinoid Signaling Restores Prefrontal Cortical Output to Inhibit Pain in Arthritic Rats.

PubMed

Kiritoshi, Takaki; Ji, Guangchen; Neugebauer, Volker

2016-01-20

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) serves executive functions that are impaired in neuropsychiatric disorders and pain. Underlying mechanisms remain to be determined. Here we advance the novel concept that metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) fails to engage endocannabinoid (2-AG) signaling to overcome abnormal synaptic inhibition in pain, but restoring endocannabinoid signaling allows mGluR5 to increase mPFC output hence inhibit pain behaviors and mitigate cognitive deficits. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were made from layer V pyramidal cells in the infralimbic mPFC in rat brain slices. Electrical and optogenetic stimulations were used to analyze amygdala-driven mPFC activity. A selective mGluR5 activator (VU0360172) increased pyramidal output through an endocannabinoid-dependent mechanism because intracellular inhibition of the major 2-AG synthesizing enzyme diacylglycerol lipase or blockade of CB1 receptors abolished the facilitatory effect of VU0360172. In an arthritis pain model mGluR5 activation failed to overcome abnormal synaptic inhibition and increase pyramidal output. mGluR5 function was rescued by restoring 2-AG-CB1 signaling with a CB1 agonist (ACEA) or inhibitors of postsynaptic 2-AG hydrolyzing enzyme ABHD6 (intracellular WWL70) and monoacylglycerol lipase MGL (JZL184) or by blocking GABAergic inhibition with intracellular picrotoxin. CB1-mediated depolarization-induced suppression of synaptic inhibition (DSI) was also impaired in the pain model but could be restored by coapplication of VU0360172 and ACEA. Stereotaxic coadministration of VU0360172 and ACEA into the infralimbic, but not anterior cingulate, cortex mitigated decision-making deficits and pain behaviors of arthritic animals. The results suggest that rescue of impaired endocannabinoid-dependent mGluR5 function in the mPFC can restore mPFC output and cognitive functions and inhibit pain. Significance statement: Dysfunctions in prefrontal cortical interactions with subcortical

Negative Density Dependence Regulates Two Tree Species at Later Life Stage in a Temperate Forest

PubMed Central

Piao, Tiefeng; Chun, Jung Hwa; Yang, Hee Moon; Cheon, Kwangil

2014-01-01

Numerous studies have demonstrated that tree survival is influenced by negative density dependence (NDD) and differences among species in shade tolerance could enhance coexistence via resource partitioning, but it is still unclear how NDD affects tree species with different shade-tolerance guilds at later life stages. In this study, we analyzed the spatial patterns for trees with dbh (diameter at breast height) ≥2 cm using the pair-correlation g(r) function to test for NDD in a temperate forest in South Korea after removing the effects of habitat heterogeneity. The analyses were implemented for the most abundant shade-tolerant (Chamaecyparis obtusa) and shade-intolerant (Quercus serrata) species. We found NDD existed for both species at later life stages. We also found Quercus serrata experienced greater NDD compared with Chamaecyparis obtusa. This study indicates that NDD regulates the two abundant tree species at later life stages and it is important to consider variation in species' shade tolerance in NDD study. PMID:25058660

Impairment of preoperative language mapping by lesion location: a functional magnetic resonance imaging, navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation, and direct cortical stimulation study.

PubMed

Ille, Sebastian; Sollmann, Nico; Hauck, Theresa; Maurer, Stefanie; Tanigawa, Noriko; Obermueller, Thomas; Negwer, Chiara; Droese, Doris; Boeckh-Behrens, Tobias; Meyer, Bernhard; Ringel, Florian; Krieg, Sandro M

2015-08-01

Language mapping by repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is increasingly used and has already replaced functional MRI (fMRI) in some institutions for preoperative mapping of neurosurgical patients. Yet some factors affect the concordance of both methods with direct cortical stimulation (DCS), most likely by lesions affecting cortical oxygenation levels. Therefore, the impairment of the accuracy of rTMS and fMRI was analyzed and compared with DCS during awake surgery in patients with intraparenchymal lesions. Language mapping was performed by DCS, rTMS, and fMRI using an object-naming task in 27 patients with left-sided perisylvian lesions, and the induced language errors of each method were assigned to the cortical parcellation system. Subsequently, the receiver operating characteristics were calculated for rTMS and fMRI and compared with DCS as ground truth for regions with (w/) and without (w/o) the lesion in the mapped regions. The w/ subgroup revealed a sensitivity of 100% (w/o 100%), a specificity of 8% (w/o 5%), a positive predictive value of 34% (w/o: 53%), and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 100% (w/o: 100%) for the comparison of rTMS versus DCS. Findings for the comparison of fMRI versus DCS within the w/ subgroup revealed a sensitivity of 32% (w/o: 62%), a specificity of 88% (w/o: 60%), a positive predictive value of 56% (w/o: 62%), and a NPV of 73% (w/o: 60%). Although strengths and weaknesses exist for both rTMS and fMRI, the results show that rTMS is less affected by a brain lesion than fMRI, especially when performing mapping of language-negative cortical regions based on sensitivity and NPV.

Voluntary and involuntary driving cessation in later life.

PubMed

Choi, Moon; Mezuk, Briana; Rebok, George W

2012-01-01

This study explores the decision-making process of driving cessation in later life, with a focus on voluntariness. The sample included 83 former drivers from the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study. A majority of participants (83%) reportedly stopped driving by their own decision. However, many voluntary driving retirees reported external factors such as financial difficulty, anxiety about driving, or lack of access to a car as main reasons for driving cessation. These findings imply that distinction between voluntary and involuntary driving cessation is ambiguous and that factors beyond health status, including financial strain, play a role in the transition to non-driving.

Repeated Exposure to Ketamine-Xylazine during Early Development Impairs Motor Learning-dependent Dendritic Spine Plasticity in Adulthood

PubMed Central

Huang, Lianyan; Yang, Guang

2014-01-01

Background Recent studies in rodents suggest that repeated and prolonged anesthetic exposure at early stages of development leads to cognitive and behavioral impairments later in life. However, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we tested whether exposure to general anesthesia during early development will disrupt the maturation of synaptic circuits and compromise learning-related synaptic plasticity later in life. Methods Mice received ketamine/xylazine (20/3 mg/kg) anesthesia for one or three times, starting at either early [postnatal day 14 (P14)] or late (P21) stages of development (n=105). Control mice received saline injections (n=34). At P30, mice were subjected to rotarod motor training and fear conditioning. Motor learning-induced synaptic remodeling was examined in vivo by repeatedly imaging fluorescently-labeled postsynaptic dendritic spines in the primary motor cortex before and after training using two-photon microscopy. Results Three exposures to ketamine/xylazine anesthesia between P14–18 impair the animals’ motor learning and learning-dependent dendritic spine plasticity [new spine formation, 8.4 ± 1.3% (mean ± SD) versus 13.4 ± 1.8%, P = 0.002] without affecting fear memory and cell apoptosis. One exposure at P14 or three exposures between P21–25 has no effects on the animals’ motor learning or spine plasticity. Finally, enriched motor experience ameliorates anesthesia-induced motor learning impairment and synaptic deficits. Conclusion Our study demonstrates that repeated exposures to ketamine/xylazine during early development impair motor learning and learning-dependent dendritic spine plasticity later in life. The reduction in synaptic structural plasticity may underlie anesthesia-induced behavioral impairment. PMID:25575163

Atypical lateralization of ERP response to native and non-native speech in infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Seery, Anne M; Vogel-Farley, Vanessa; Tager-Flusberg, Helen; Nelson, Charles A

2013-07-01

Language impairment is common in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and is often accompanied by atypical neural lateralization. However, it is unclear when in development language impairment or atypical lateralization first emerges. To address these questions, we recorded event-related-potentials (ERPs) to native and non-native speech contrasts longitudinally in infants at risk for ASD (HRA) over the first year of life to determine whether atypical lateralization is present as an endophenotype early in development and whether these infants show delay in a very basic precursor of language acquisition: phonemic perceptual narrowing. ERP response for the HRA group to a non-native speech contrast revealed a trajectory of perceptual narrowing similar to a group of low-risk controls (LRC), suggesting that phonemic perceptual narrowing does not appear to be delayed in these high-risk infants. In contrast there were significant group differences in the development of lateralized ERP response to speech: between 6 and 12 months the LRC group displayed a lateralized response to the speech sounds, while the HRA group failed to display this pattern. We suggest the possibility that atypical lateralization to speech may be an ASD endophenotype over the first year of life. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cortical thickness in symptomatic and asymptomatic bipolar offspring.

PubMed

Hanford, Lindsay C; Sassi, Roberto B; Minuzzi, Luciano; Hall, Geoffrey B

2016-05-30

Children of parents diagnosed with bipolar disorder are at greater risk for developing a variety of psychiatric disorders, however, the reasons remain unknown. The present study aimed to investigate gray matter integrity in high-risk bipolar offspring (HRO) and healthy offspring (HCO) using cortical thickness techniques. Here we examined healthy control offspring (HCO; n=20) and HRO with (n=17) or without (n=13) psychiatric symptoms. T1-weighted images were collected from all offspring, and cortical thickness and age-cortical thickness correlations were compared. HRO showed cortical thinning in superior and inferior temporal regions, supramarginal, and caudal and rostral middle frontal regions compared to HCO. When comparing HRO with and without psychiatric symptoms, we found cortical thinning in symptomatic offspring in the superior frontal and somatosensory related cortices. Age-thickness correlations showed a relatively consistent negative relationship in most regions in HCO, while the reverse was true for the HRO. These regions included parahippocampal, lateral orbitofrontal, and inferior temporal regions. Our study provides evidence of cortical thickness reductions among symptomatic and asymptomatic high-risk offspring during youth. Some of these alterations, found in regions of emotion processing and regulation, are evident only when associated with the presence of psychiatric symptoms. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Learning in Later Life: A Bicultural Perspective from Aotearoa/New Zealand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Findsen, Brian

2016-01-01

This article is concerned with how learning in later life has been constructed and practised by the two most numerous ethnic groups in Aotearoa/New Zealand, "Pakeha" (Europeans) and "Maori" (Indigenous people). It is argued that learning is heavily influenced by historic features of interaction between these two groups; Pakeha…

Prominent microglial activation in cortical white matter is selectively associated with cortical atrophy in primary progressive aphasia.

PubMed

Ohm, D T; Kim, G; Gefen, T; Rademaker, A; Weintraub, S; Bigio, E H; Mesulam, M-M; Rogalski, E; Geula, C

2018-04-21

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a clinical syndrome characterized by selective language impairments associated with focal cortical atrophy favouring the language dominant hemisphere. PPA is associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and significant accumulation of activated microglia. Activated microglia can initiate an inflammatory cascade that may contribute to neurodegeneration, but their quantitative distribution in cortical white matter and their relationship with cortical atrophy remain unknown. We investigated white matter activated microglia and their association with grey matter atrophy in 10 PPA cases with either AD or FTLD-TDP pathology. Activated microglia were quantified with optical density measures of HLA-DR immunoreactivity in two regions with peak cortical atrophy, and one nonatrophied region within the language dominant hemisphere of each PPA case. Nonatrophied contralateral homologues of the language dominant regions were examined for hemispheric asymmetry. Qualitatively, greater densities of activated microglia were observed in cortical white matter when compared to grey matter. Quantitative analyses revealed significantly greater densities of activated microglia in the white matter of atrophied regions compared to nonatrophied regions in the language dominant hemisphere (P < 0.05). Atrophied regions of the language dominant hemisphere also showed significantly more activated microglia compared to contralateral homologues (P < 0.05). White matter activated microglia accumulate more in atrophied regions in the language dominant hemisphere of PPA. While microglial activation may constitute a response to neurodegenerative processes in white matter, the resultant inflammatory processes may also exacerbate disease progression and contribute to cortical atrophy. © 2018 British Neuropathological Society.

Liberal red blood cell transfusions impair quality of life after cardiac surgery.

PubMed

González-Pérez, A; Al-Sibai, J Z; Álvarez-Fernández, P; Martínez-Camblor, P; Argüello-Junquera, M; García-Gala, J M; Martínez-Revuelta, E; Silva, J; Morís, C; Albaiceta, G M

2018-03-12

The optimal blood management after cardiac surgery remains controversial. Moreover, blood transfusions may have an impact on long-term outcomes. The aim of this study is to characterize the impact of liberal red blood cell transfusions on Health-Related Quality of life (HRQoL) after cardiac surgery. We studied a cohort of 205 consecutive patients after ICU discharge. Baseline characteristics and clinical data were recorded, and HRQoL was assessed using the EuroQoL-5D instrument, applied 6 months after ICU discharge. A specific question regarding the improvement in the quality of life after the surgical intervention was added to the HRQoL questionnaire. Risk factors related to impaired quality of life were identified using univariate comparisons and multivariate regression techniques. The median (interquartile range, IQR) of transfused red blood cells was 3 (1-4). Among 205 patients, 178 were studied 6 months after discharge. Impairment in at least one dimension of the EuroQoL-5D questionnaire was observed in 120 patients, with an overall score of 0.8 (IQR 0.61-1). The number of red blood cell transfusions was related to an impaired HRQoL (OR 1.17 per additional unit, 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.36, p=0.03), a trend to lower visual analog scale score (coefficient -0.75 per additional unit, 95% confidence interval -1.61 to 0.1, p=0.09) and an absence of improvement in HRQoL after surgery compared to the previous status (OR 1.13, 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.25, p=0.01). Liberal red blood cell transfusions increase the risk of impaired HRQoL after cardiac surgery. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

Impaired hippocampal rate coding after lesions of the lateral entorhinal cortex.

PubMed

Lu, Li; Leutgeb, Jill K; Tsao, Albert; Henriksen, Espen J; Leutgeb, Stefan; Barnes, Carol A; Witter, Menno P; Moser, May-Britt; Moser, Edvard I

2013-08-01

In the hippocampus, spatial and non-spatial parameters may be represented by a dual coding scheme, in which coordinates in space are expressed by the collective firing locations of place cells and the diversity of experience at these locations is encoded by orthogonal variations in firing rates. Although the spatial signal may reflect input from medial entorhinal cortex, the sources of the variations in firing rate have not been identified. We found that rate variations in rat CA3 place cells depended on inputs from the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC). Hippocampal rate remapping, induced by changing the shape or the color configuration of the environment, was impaired by lesions in those parts of the ipsilateral LEC that provided the densest input to the hippocampal recording position. Rate remapping was not observed in LEC itself. The findings suggest that LEC inputs are important for efficient rate coding in the hippocampus.

Perception of Quality of Life for Adults with Hearing Impairment in the LGBT Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly-Campbell, Rebecca J.; Atcherson, Samuel R.

2012-01-01

The purpose of the this study was to examine the perception of both generic and disease-specific quality of life (QoL) in adults with hearing impairment who are members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Eighty-three adults who self-identified as having hearing impairment and as being members of the LGBT community and…

Cobalt Chloride Treatment Used to Ablate the Lateral Line System Also Impairs the Olfactory System in Three Freshwater Fishes

PubMed Central

Butler, Julie M.; Field, Karen E.; Maruska, Karen P.

2016-01-01

Fishes use multimodal signals during both inter- and intra-sexual displays to convey information about their sex, reproductive state, and social status. These complex behavioral displays can include visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and hydrodynamic signals, and the relative role of each sensory channel in these complex multi-sensory interactions is a common focus of neuroethology. The mechanosensory lateral line system of fishes detects near-body water movements and is implicated in a variety of behaviors including schooling, rheotaxis, social communication, and prey detection. Cobalt chloride is commonly used to chemically ablate lateral line neuromasts, thereby eliminating water-movement cues to test for mechanosensory-mediated behavioral functions. However, cobalt acts as a nonspecific calcium channel antagonist and could potentially disrupt function of all superficially located sensory receptor cells, including those for chemosensing. Here, we examined whether CoCl2 treatment used to ablate the lateral line system also impairs olfaction in three freshwater fishes, the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni, goldfish Carassius auratus, and the Mexican blind cavefish Astyanax mexicanus. To examine the impact of CoCl2 on the activity of peripheral receptors, we quantified DASPEI fluorescence intensity of the olfactory epithelium from fish exposed to control and CoCl2 solutions. In addition, we examined brain activation in olfactory processing regions of A. burtoni immersed in either control or cobalt solutions. All three species exposed to CoCl2 had decreased DASPEI staining of the olfactory epithelium, and in A. burtoni, cobalt treatment caused reduced neural activation in olfactory processing regions of the brain. To our knowledge this is the first empirical evidence demonstrating that the same CoCl2 treatment used to ablate the lateral line system also impairs olfactory function. These data have important implications for the use of CoCl2 in future

Cortical Odor Processing in Health and Disease

PubMed Central

Wilson, Donald A.; Xu, Wenjin; Sadrian, Benjamin; Courtiol, Emmanuelle; Cohen, Yaniv; Barnes, Dylan C.

2014-01-01

The olfactory system has a rich cortical representation, including a large archicortical component present in most vertebrates, and in mammals neocortical components including the entorhinal and orbitofrontal cortices. Together, these cortical components contribute to normal odor perception and memory. They help transform the physicochemical features of volatile molecules inhaled or exhaled through the nose into the perception of odor objects with rich associative and hedonic aspects. This chapter focuses on how olfactory cortical areas contribute to odor perception and begins to explore why odor perception is so sensitive to disease and pathology. Odor perception is disrupted by a wide range of disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, depression, autism, and early life exposure to toxins. This olfactory deficit often occurs despite maintained functioning in other sensory systems. Does the unusual network of olfactory cortical structures contribute to this sensitivity? PMID:24767487

Constructions of sexuality in later life: analyses of Canadian magazine and newspaper portrayals of online dating.

PubMed

Wada, Mineko; Hurd Clarke, Laura; Rozanova, Julia

2015-01-01

Advertisements as well as contemporary literature and films often depict older adults as sexually undesirable and unattractive, which reinforces the stereotype that they are nonsexual. However, the evolving discourses of successful aging emphasize that active engagement in life is a key element of healthy aging and as such, have been influencing the ways that older adults' sexuality is represented. This paper explores how popular newspapers and magazines in Canada construct and portray later life sexuality within the context of online dating. We retrieved 144 newspaper and magazine articles about later life online dating that were published between 2009 and 2011. Our thematic and discursive analyses of the articles generated six themes. Of 144 articles, 13% idealized sexuality (sexual attractiveness and optimal sexual engagement) for older adults. The articles portrayed sexual interests and functioning as declining in later life (19%) more often than sustaining (15%). Approximately 15% of the articles suggested that older adults should explore new techniques to boost sexual pleasure, thereby medicalizing and ameliorating sexual decline. In addition, the articles challenged the stereotype of older adults as non-sexual and claimed that sexual engagement in later life was valuable as it contributed to successful aging. We address the paradox in the articles' positive portrayals of older adults' sexuality and the tensions that arise between the two distinct ideals of sexuality that they advance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dependence on place: A source of autonomy in later life for older Māori.

PubMed

Butcher, Elizabeth; Breheny, Mary

2016-04-01

Attachment to place is an important component of ageing. Although the importance of place for older people's well-being is known, the ways in which different conceptions of place and expectations for what later life may hold depend upon cultural beliefs, values, and expectations is underexplored. This study examined the ways that place influences experiences of ageing for older Māori in New Zealand. Eight interviews with older Māori were analysed thematically alongside field notes from a research visit. Attachment to place provided the foundation for experiences of ageing for older Māori. Through their connection to place, the participants drew on a comforting and comfortable dependence on land and family to enable autonomy in later life. Rather than seeking to maintain independence in terms of avoiding reliance on others, older Māori conceptualised older age through autonomy and freedom to live in accordance with Māori values encapsulated by whakawhanaungatanga. A good old age depended on balancing competing demands of living in wider society with attachment to place and Māori identity in later life. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Clinical characteristics and quality of life of older adults with cognitive impairment in Macao.

PubMed

Lam Nogueira, Bernice O C; Li, Lu; Meng, Li-Rong; Ungvari, Gabor S; Ng, Chee H; Chiu, Helen F K; Kuok, Kenny C F; Tran, Linda; Xiang, Yu-Tao

2018-02-06

Little is known about the characteristics of older adults with cognitive impairment in Macao. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment and the quality of life (QOL) of older adults living in the community and nursing homes. A consecutive sample of 413 subjects (199 from the community; 214 from nursing homes) was recruited and interviewed using standardized instruments. Cognition was measured with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status and QOL with the brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument. Altogether 87 subjects (21.0%) had cognitive impairment. On multivariate analyses, advanced age (P < 0.001, OR = 1.06, 95%CI: 1.03-1.1) and depressive symptoms (P = 0.03, OR = 1.07, 95%CI: 0.005-1.1) were positively associated with cognitive impairment. Married marital status (P = 0.01, OR = 0.3, 95%CI: 0.1-0.7) and higher education level (P < 0.001, OR = 0.1, 95%CI: 0.06-0.3) were negatively associated with cognitive impairment. After the confounders were controlled for, cognitive impairment was significantly associated with the lower psychological (F (11,412)  = 6.3, P = 0.01) and social relationship domains of QOL (F (11,412)  = 4.0, P = 0.04). Cognitive impairment was found to be common in community-dwelling and nursing home resident older adults in Macao. Given cognitive impairment's negative impact on QOL, appropriate strategies should be implemented to improve access to treatment in this population. © 2018 Japanese Psychogeriatric Society.

Sonographic Findings of Chondral Avulsion Fractures of the Lateral Ankle Ligaments in Children.

PubMed

Maeda, Manabu; Maeda, Nana; Takaoka, Takanori; Tanaka, Yasuhito

2017-02-01

In this series, we aimed to describe the sonographic findings of chondral avulsion fractures that develop concomitant with lateral ankle ligament injury in children. We performed stress sonography during a manual anterior drawer stress procedure of the ankle in 9 skeletally immature patients who had recently had a lateral ankle sprain. Echo videos were obtained through the course of treatment, and all videos were reviewed. We elucidated the common features of chondral avulsion fractures of the lateral ankle ligaments in the children. The features of avulsion fractures on conventional sonography included absence of a fracture with hyperechoic spots (sonographic occult fracture type), cortical discontinuity with hyperechoic spots (cortical disruption fracture type), fracture line in the cortical bone (double-line fracture type), and a step-off deformity of the cortical bone with cartilage (displaced fracture type). In contrast, the features of chondral fractures on stress sonography included abnormal motion of the chondral lesions and mobility/fluidity of hyperechoic spots along the chondral fracture site. The presence of hyperechoic spots around the chondral lesion is an important sonographic sign for diagnosing chondral fractures concomitant with ankle lateral ligament injury. Hence, we believe that stress sonography should be considered for the detection of chondral fractures concomitant with radiographically negative ankle lateral ligament injuries in skeletally immature patients with lateral ankle pain and ankle sprains, if hyperechoic spots are present in the cartilage of the distal fibula. © 2017 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Cortical thinning in former professional soccer players.

PubMed

Koerte, Inga K; Mayinger, Michael; Muehlmann, Marc; Kaufmann, David; Lin, Alexander P; Steffinger, Denise; Fisch, Barbara; Rauchmann, Boris-Stephan; Immler, Stefanie; Karch, Susanne; Heinen, Florian R; Ertl-Wagner, Birgit; Reiser, Maximilian; Stern, Robert A; Zafonte, Ross; Shenton, Martha E

2016-09-01

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. Soccer players are at high risk for repetitive subconcussive head impact when heading the ball. Whether this leads to long-term alterations of the brain's structure associated with cognitive decline remains unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate cortical thickness in former professional soccer players using high-resolution structural MR imaging. Fifteen former male professional soccer players (mean age 49.3 [SD 5.1] years) underwent high-resolution structural 3 T MR imaging, as well as cognitive testing. Fifteen male, age-matched former professional non-contact sport athletes (mean age 49.6 [SD 6.4] years) served as controls. Group analyses of cortical thickness were performed using voxel-based statistics. Soccer players demonstrated greater cortical thinning with increasing age compared to controls in the right inferolateral-parietal, temporal, and occipital cortex. Cortical thinning was associated with lower cognitive performance as well as with estimated exposure to repetitive subconcussive head impact. Neurocognitive evaluation revealed decreased memory performance in the soccer players compared to controls. The association of cortical thinning and decreased cognitive performance, as well as exposure to repetitive subconcussive head impact, further supports the hypothesis that repetitive subconcussive head impact may play a role in early cognitive decline in soccer players. Future studies are needed to elucidate the time course of changes in cortical thickness as well as their association with impaired cognitive function and possible underlying neurodegenerative process.

Optimizing rehabilitation for adults with visual impairment: attention to life goals and their links to well-being.

PubMed

Boerner, Kathrin; Cimarolli, Verena R

2005-10-01

To examine the importance of different life goals among working-age adults with vision impairment, the extent to which vision impairment interfered with goals, and how rehabilitation addressed these life goals. Cross-sectional descriptive study. Vision rehabilitation agency. Working-age adults with visual impairment. Telephone interviews using structured and open-ended assessments of life goal importance, goal interference due to vision loss, the role of goals in rehabilitation, and indicators of well-being. Eighty-six people participated. The life domains most frequently rated as extremely important were finances (60), residential and domestic arrangements (55), family (51), partner (48), and personal care (48). The extent to which vision loss interferes with these life goals was extreme for finances (46), residential and domestic arrangements (36), partner (27), family (25), and personal care (14). A life goal was addressed in rehabilitation: residential/domestic arrangements (41), work (39), finances (31), leisure/hobbies (28), personal care (24), family (17), partner (16), friends (10), and religion/life philosophy (8). Reports of a life goal being addressed in ineffective ways emerged for functional life goals, but not for relationship and religion/life philosophy goals. Goal interference was significantly correlated with well-being indicators across life domains. In contrast only partner and family relationship importance were significantly linked with well-being indicators. Relationship-related goals were a top priority for this study population, but functional compared to relationship goals were more commonly addressed in vision rehabilitation services.

Sibling differentiation, identity development, and the lateral dimension of psychic life.

PubMed

Vivona, Jeanine M

2007-01-01

The lateral dimension of psychic life, lived through relationships with siblings and their substitutes, is structured around a distinct psychic challenge: to find one's unique place in a world of similar others. Like the challenge that structures the vertical parent-child dimension, the lateral challenge is fraught with conflict and ambivalence; its resolution imbues psychic structure. That resolution may be accomplished through a process of differentiation, an active and unconscious process of identity development by which a child amplifies differences with siblings and minimizes similarities. Differentiation from siblings serves to mitigate interpersonal rivalry with them and to ease internal conflict associated with the lateral dimension. Three clinical examples are offered to illustrate the operation of sibling differentiation and its costs, particularly in terms of constricted identity and attenuated relationships with siblings and peers. Differentiation as a process of becoming what the other is not has been eclipsed by identification in psychoanalytic theories of identity development. Yet differentiation is a common strategy for resolving the primary rivalries and conflicts of the lateral dimension, and has unique developmental and clinical implications.

Spirituality and wellbeing in later life: a multidimensional approach.

PubMed

Lifshitz, Rinat; Nimrod, Galit; Bachner, Yaacov G

2018-04-18

Previous studies pointed at positive associations between spirituality and Subjective Wellbeing (SWB) in later life, but were typically limited to one dimension of spirituality and/or one measure of SWB. Applying Fisher's (2010) multidimensional approach to spirituality and measuring both positive and negative aspects of SWB, this study aims at providing deeper understanding of this association. The study was based on an online survey with 306 individuals aged 50 years and over. The questionnaire included the SHALOM spirituality scale as well as measures of depression, satisfaction with life, and personal background. Personal and communal spirituality were the most dominant domains reported by study participants, followed by environmental spirituality. Transcendental spirituality was the least reported domain. Personal spirituality was the only domain positively associated with SWB (lower depression and higher life satisfaction), whereas communal and transcendental spirituality were associated with more depression. These findings demonstrate that not all spirituality domains are equally dominant in people's lives or positively associate with SWB. They also suggest that encouraging elderly people to develop their personal spirituality and self-growth may contribute to their wellbeing.

Phonological Processing in Human Auditory Cortical Fields

PubMed Central

Woods, David L.; Herron, Timothy J.; Cate, Anthony D.; Kang, Xiaojian; Yund, E. W.

2011-01-01

We used population-based cortical-surface analysis of functional magnetic imaging data to characterize the processing of consonant–vowel–consonant syllables (CVCs) and spectrally matched amplitude-modulated noise bursts (AMNBs) in human auditory cortex as subjects attended to auditory or visual stimuli in an intermodal selective attention paradigm. Average auditory cortical field (ACF) locations were defined using tonotopic mapping in a previous study. Activations in auditory cortex were defined by two stimulus-preference gradients: (1) Medial belt ACFs preferred AMNBs and lateral belt and parabelt fields preferred CVCs. This preference extended into core ACFs with medial regions of primary auditory cortex (A1) and the rostral field preferring AMNBs and lateral regions preferring CVCs. (2) Anterior ACFs showed smaller activations but more clearly defined stimulus preferences than did posterior ACFs. Stimulus preference gradients were unaffected by auditory attention suggesting that ACF preferences reflect the automatic processing of different spectrotemporal sound features. PMID:21541252

How Old Am I? Perceived Age in Middle and Later Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Russell A.

2010-01-01

Literatures on perceived age and developmental issues in middle and later life are joined in analyzing perceived age and its implications for well-being. Respondents aged 40-74 (N = 2,696) are drawn from the national MIDUS survey, containing developmental variables such as personal growth and insight into past. People generally "feel" ("felt age")…

Human Ecstasy Use is Associated with Increased Cortical Excitability: An fMRI Study

PubMed Central

Bauernfeind, Amy L; Dietrich, Mary S; Blackford, Jennifer U; Charboneau, Evonne J; Lillevig, James G; Cannistraci, Christopher J; Woodward, Neil D; Cao, Aize; Watkins, Tristan; Di Iorio, Christina R; Cascio, Carissa; Salomon, Ronald M; Cowan, Ronald L

2011-01-01

The serotonergic neurotoxin, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA/Ecstasy), is a highly popular recreational drug. Human recreational MDMA users have neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric impairments, and human neuroimaging data are consistent with animal reports of serotonin neurotoxicity. However, functional neuroimaging studies have not found consistent effects of MDMA on brain neurophysiology in human users. Several lines of evidence suggest that studying MDMA effects in visual system might reveal the general cortical and subcortical neurophysiological consequences of MDMA use. We used 3 T functional magnetic resonance imaging during visual stimulation to compare visual system lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and Brodmann Area (BA) 17 and BA 18 activation in 20 long abstinent (479.95±580.65 days) MDMA users and 20 non-MDMA user controls. Lifetime quantity of MDMA use was strongly positively correlated with blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal intensity in bilateral LGN (rs=0.59; p=0.007), BA 17 (rs=0.50; p=0.027), and BA 18 (rs=0.48; p=0.031), and with the spatial extent of activation in BA 17 (rs=0.059; p=0.007) and BA 18 (rs=0.55; p=0.013). There were no between-group differences in brain activation in any region, but the heaviest MDMA users showed a significantly greater spatial extent of activation than controls in BA 17 (p=0.031) and BA 18 (p=0.049). These results suggest that human recreational MDMA use may be associated with a long-lasting increase in cortical excitability, possibly through loss of serotonin input to cortical and subcortical regions. When considered in the context of previous results, cortical hyper-excitability may be a biomarker for MDMA-induced serotonin neurotoxicity. PMID:21326196

Schizotypy and hemispheric asymmetry: Results from two Chapman scales, the O-LIFE questionnaire, and two laterality measures.

PubMed

Schofield, Kerry; Mohr, Christine

2014-01-01

Schizotypy is a multidimensional personality construct representing the extension of psychosis-like traits into the general population. Schizotypy has been associated with attenuated expressions of many of the same neuropsychological abnormalities as schizophrenia, including atypical pattern of functional hemispheric asymmetry. Unfortunately the previous literature on links between schizotypy and hemispheric asymmetry is inconsistent, with some research indicating that elevated schizotypy is associated with relative right over left hemisphere shifts, left over right hemisphere shifts, bilateral impairments, or with no hemispheric differences at all. This inconsistency may result from different methodologies, scales, and/or sex proportions between studies. In a within-participant design we tested for the four possible links between laterality and schizotypy by comparing the relationship between two common self-report measures of multidimensional schizotypy (the O-LIFE questionnaire, and two Chapman scales, magical ideation and physical anhedonia) and performance in two computerised lateralised hemifield paradigms (lexical decision, chimeric face processing) in 80 men and 79 women. Results for the two scales and two tasks did not unequivocally support any of the four possible links. We discuss the possibilities that a link between schizotypy and laterality (1) exists but is subtle, probably fluctuating, unable to be assessed by traditional methodologies used here; (2) does not exist, or (3) is indirect, mediated by other factors (e.g., stress-responsiveness, handedness, drug use) whose influences need further exploration.

Motor cortex stimulation does not lead to functional recovery after experimental cortical injury in rats.

PubMed

Schönfeld, Lisa-Maria; Jahanshahi, Ali; Lemmens, Evi; Bauwens, Matthias; Hescham, Sarah-Anna; Schipper, Sandra; Lagiere, Melanie; Hendrix, Sven; Temel, Yasin

2017-01-01

Motor impairments are among the major complications that develop after cortical damage caused by either stroke or traumatic brain injury. Motor cortex stimulation (MCS) can improve motor functions in animal models of stroke by inducing neuroplasticity. In the current study, the therapeutic effect of chronic MCS was assessed in a rat model of severe cortical damage. A controlled cortical impact (CCI) was applied to the forelimb area of the motor cortex followed by implantation of a flat electrode covering the lesioned area. Forelimb function was assessed using the Montoya staircase test and the cylinder test before and after a period of chronic MCS. Furthermore, the effect of MCS on tissue metabolism and lesion size was measured using [18F]-fluorodesoxyglucose (FDG) μPET scanning. CCI caused a considerable lesion at the level of the motor cortex and dorsal striatum together with a long-lasting behavioral phenotype of forelimb impairment. However, MCS applied to the CCI lesion did not lead to any improvement in limb functioning when compared to non-stimulated control rats. Also, MCS neither changed lesion size nor distribution of FDG. The use of MCS as a standalone treatment did not improve motor impairments in a rat model of severe cortical damage using our specific treatment modalities.

Developmental communication impairments in adults: outcomes and life experiences of adults and their parents.

PubMed

Clegg, Judy; Ansorge, Lydia; Stackhouse, Joy; Donlan, Chris

2012-10-01

This study identifies the outcomes and documents the longitudinal life experiences of adults who attended a specialist residential school for children with pervasive and complex developmental communication impairments. Semistructured interviews were carried out with 26 adult ex-pupils who had attended the school and the parents of 15 of the ex-pupils. Seven key themes were identified from the data, including (a) lack of appropriate support and the impact of this in early childhood, (b) advantages and disadvantages of specialist educational provision compared to mainstream and other provision, (c) changing impact of developmental communication impairments over time, (d) challenging transition away from specialist educational provision, (e) absence of appropriate support for adults with developmental communication impairments, (f) persisting impact of developmental communication impairments on social and emotional functioning in adult life, and (g) differences in perspective between the adult ex-pupils and their parents. Across the adult ex-pupils and their parents, the perceived reported benefits of early intervention, parental support, specialist educational provision, and guidance at times of transitions should inform current service provision for this vulnerable group of individuals and their families.

Cortical disconnection of the ipsilesional primary motor cortex is associated with gait speed and upper extremity motor impairment in chronic left hemispheric stroke.

PubMed

Peters, Denise M; Fridriksson, Julius; Stewart, Jill C; Richardson, Jessica D; Rorden, Chris; Bonilha, Leonardo; Middleton, Addie; Gleichgerrcht, Ezequiel; Fritz, Stacy L

2018-01-01

Advances in neuroimaging have enabled the mapping of white matter connections across the entire brain, allowing for a more thorough examination of the extent of white matter disconnection after stroke. To assess how cortical disconnection contributes to motor impairments, we examined the relationship between structural brain connectivity and upper and lower extremity motor function in individuals with chronic stroke. Forty-three participants [mean age: 59.7 (±11.2) years; time poststroke: 64.4 (±58.8) months] underwent clinical motor assessments and MRI scanning. Nonparametric correlation analyses were performed to examine the relationship between structural connectivity amid a subsection of the motor network and upper/lower extremity motor function. Standard multiple linear regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship between cortical necrosis and disconnection of three main cortical areas of motor control [primary motor cortex (M1), premotor cortex (PMC), and supplementary motor area (SMA)] and motor function. Anatomical connectivity between ipsilesional M1/SMA and the (1) cerebral peduncle, (2) thalamus, and (3) red nucleus were significantly correlated with upper and lower extremity motor performance (P ≤ 0.003). M1-M1 interhemispheric connectivity was also significantly correlated with gross manual dexterity of the affected upper extremity (P = 0.001). Regression models with M1 lesion load and M1 disconnection (adjusted for time poststroke) explained a significant amount of variance in upper extremity motor performance (R 2  = 0.36-0.46) and gait speed (R 2  = 0.46), with M1 disconnection an independent predictor of motor performance. Cortical disconnection, especially of ipsilesional M1, could significantly contribute to variability seen in locomotor and upper extremity motor function and recovery in chronic stroke. Hum Brain Mapp 39:120-132, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Epilepsy surgery in patients with malformations of cortical development.

PubMed

Lüders, Hans; Schuele, Stephan U

2006-04-01

Patients with malformations of cortical development often suffer from intractable focal epilepsy. This review considers recent progress in the selection and seizure outcome of patients undergoing resective epilepsy surgery for this condition. Patients with malformations of cortical development restricted to part or even a whole hemisphere may be candidates for epilepsy surgery even when, due to microscopic malformations, magnetic resonance imaging shows no detectable lesion. Despite recent advances in structural and functional imaging, the majority of patients with this condition undergo invasive evaluation. Patients with focal cortical dysplasia, with and without a detectable lesion on magnetic resonance imaging, often have a favorable outcome with epilepsy surgery. The underlying pathological substrate seems to be a better predictor for surgical outcome in patients with focal cortical dysplasia than the presence of a lesion on magnetic resonance imaging. Epilepsy surgery can be offered in a highly selected subgroup of patients with unilateral nodular heterotopia. Seizures in hemimegalencephaly may respond favorably to hemispherectomy, although most children will continue to have seizures and significant functional impairments. Patients with focal epilepsy due to malformations of cortical development are often intractable to medical management. Resective epilepsy surgery can be beneficial, particularly for patients with focal cortical dysplasia and unilateral hemispheric malformations.

Early life nutrition, epigenetics and programming of later life disease.

PubMed

Vickers, Mark H

2014-06-02

The global pandemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes is often causally linked to marked changes in diet and lifestyle; namely marked increases in dietary intakes of high energy diets and concomitant reductions in physical activity levels. However, less attention has been paid to the role of developmental plasticity and alterations in phenotypic outcomes resulting from altered environmental conditions during the early life period. Human and experimental animal studies have highlighted the link between alterations in the early life environment and increased risk of obesity and metabolic disorders in later life. This link is conceptualised as the developmental programming hypothesis whereby environmental influences during critical periods of developmental plasticity can elicit lifelong effects on the health and well-being of the offspring. In particular, the nutritional environment in which the fetus or infant develops influences the risk of metabolic disorders in offspring. The late onset of such diseases in response to earlier transient experiences has led to the suggestion that developmental programming may have an epigenetic component, as epigenetic marks such as DNA methylation or histone tail modifications could provide a persistent memory of earlier nutritional states. Moreover, evidence exists, at least from animal models, that such epigenetic programming should be viewed as a transgenerational phenomenon. However, the mechanisms by which early environmental insults can have long-term effects on offspring are relatively unclear. Thus far, these mechanisms include permanent structural changes to the organ caused by suboptimal levels of an important factor during a critical developmental period, changes in gene expression caused by epigenetic modifications (including DNA methylation, histone modification, and microRNA) and permanent changes in cellular ageing. A better understanding of the epigenetic basis of developmental programming and how these effects may be