The cerebellum has been consistently shown to be atypical in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, despite its known role in sensorimotor function, there is limited research on its association ...with sensory over-responsivity (SOR), a common and impairing feature of ASD. Thus, this study sought to examine functional connectivity of the sensorimotor cerebellum in ASD compared to typically developing (TD) youth and investigate whether cerebellar connectivity is associated with SOR. Resting-state functional connectivity of the sensorimotor cerebellum was examined in 54 ASD and 43 TD youth aged 8-18 years. Using a seed-based approach, connectivity of each sensorimotor cerebellar region (defined as lobules I-IV, V-VI and VIIIA&B) with the whole brain was examined in ASD compared to TD youth, and correlated with parent-reported SOR severity. Across all participants, the sensorimotor cerebellum was functionally connected with sensorimotor and visual regions, though the three seed regions showed distinct connectivity with limbic and higher-order sensory regions. ASD youth showed differences in connectivity including atypical connectivity within the cerebellum and increased connectivity with hippocampus and thalamus compared to TD youth. More severe SOR was associated with stronger connectivity with cortical regions involved in sensory and motor processes and weaker connectivity with cognitive and socio-emotional regions, particularly prefrontal cortex. These results suggest that atypical cerebellum function in ASD may play a role in sensory challenges in autism.
Summary A prospective 1-year study showed that fall incidence was 50% in women with rheumatoid arthritis. Multivariate analysis identified swollen joint count, use of antihypertensives or diuretics, ...one-leg standing time, and sway area measured by stabilometer as significant parameters associated with falls. Introduction Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may be at increased risk of falling because they frequently experience muscle weakness and stiff or painful joints. The aim of this study was to use a prospective design to determine the incidence of falls and their risk factors in women with RA. Methods Eighty-four women aged 50 and over who had RA were enrolled. The mean age was 64.1 years. We evaluated postural stability, physical performance related to falls, disease activity, muscle volume, and bone density. The occurrence of falls was assessed every month for 1 year. Among 84 patients, 80 completed a 1-year observation. Results Forty patients (50.0%) reported one or more falls, and two of them (5.0%) had fractures during the follow-up period. The fall group had more swollen joints and took more antihypertensives and/or diuretics. The fall group also had lower postural stability and tended to have reduced physical performance. The one-leg standing time was shorter, and the step-up-and-down test score was lower in the fall group. The sway area was larger in the fall group. Discussion Multiple logistic regression analysis identified that number of swollen joints, use of antihypertensives or diuretics, shorter time standing on one foot, and the sway area were the most significant parameters associated with falls. Conclusion We concluded that fall rates in RA patients were higher than in the general population and that balance impairment or side effects of drugs may play a role in increasing the risk of falls.
Prior studies have demonstrated that infants and toddlers who later go on to develop autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show atypical functional connectivity as well as altered neural processing of ...language and other auditory stimuli, but the timeline underlying the emergence of these altered developmental trajectories is still unclear. Here we used resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) during natural sleep to examine the longitudinal development of functional connectivity in language-related networks from 1.5 to 9 months of age. We found that functional connectivity of networks that underlie the integration of sensory and motor representations, which is crucial for language development, is disrupted in infants at high familial risk (HR) for developing ASD as early as 1.5 months of age. By 9 months of age, HR infants showed hyperconnectivity between auditory and somatosensory regions whereas low risk (LR) infants displayed greater intrahemispheric connectivity between auditory cortex and higher-order temporal regions as well as the hippocampus. Furthermore, while LR infants showed robust changes in functional connectivity during the first year of life with increasing long-range connectivity accompanied by decreasing short-range connectivity over time, HR infants displayed limited developmental changes. Our findings demonstrate that early disruptions in the development of language-related network connectivity may provide an early marker for the later emergence of ASD symptomatology.
Across species, adolescence is a period of growing independence that is associated with the maturation of cognitive, social, and affective processing. Reorganization of neural circuits within the ...frontal cortex is believed to contribute to the emergence of adolescent changes in cognition and behavior. While puberty coincides with adolescence, relatively little is known about which aspects of frontal cortex maturation are driven by pubertal development and gonadal hormones. In this review, we highlight existing work that suggests puberty plays a role in the maturation of specific cell types in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of rodents, and highlight possible routes by which gonadal hormones influence frontal cortical circuit development.
Bonding characteristics of liquid boron at 2500 K are studied by using high-resolution Compton scattering. An excellent agreement is found between the measurements and the corresponding ...Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations. Covalent bond pairs are clearly shown to dominate in liquid boron along with the coexistence of diffuse pairs. Our study reveals the complex bonding pattern of liquid boron and gives insight into the unusual properties of this high-temperature liquid.
Background Social interaction often occurs in noisy environments with many extraneous sensory stimuli. This is especially relevant for youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who commonly ...experience sensory over-responsivity (SOR) in addition to social challenges. However, the relationship between SOR and social difficulties is still poorly understood and thus rarely addressed in interventions. This study investigated the effect of auditory sensory distracters on neural processing of emotion identification in youth with ASD and the effects of increasing attention to social cues by priming participants with their own emotional faces. Methods While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 30 youth with ASD and 24 typically developing (TD) age-matched controls (ages 8-17 years) identified faces as happy or angry with and without simultaneously hearing aversive environmental noises. Halfway through the task, participants also viewed videos of their own emotional faces. The relationship between parent-rated auditory SOR and brain responses during the task was also examined. Results Despite showing comparable behavioral performance on the task, ASD and TD youth demonstrated distinct patterns of neural activity. Compared to TD, ASD youth showed greater increases in amygdala, insula, and primary sensory regions when identifying emotions with noises compared to no sounds. After viewing videos of their own emotion faces, ASD youth showed greater increases in medial prefrontal cortex activation compared to TD youth. Within ASD youth, lower SOR was associated with reduced increased activity in subcortical regions after the prime and greater increased activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex after the prime, particularly in trials with noises. Conclusions The results suggest that the sensory environment plays an important role in how ASD youth process social information. Additionally, we demonstrated that increasing attention to relevant social cues helps ASD youth engage frontal regions involved in higher-order social cognition, a mechanism that could be targeted in interventions. Importantly, the effect of the intervention may depend on individual differences in SOR, supporting the importance of pre-screening youth for sensory challenges prior to social interventions. Keywords: Autism, Emotion, fMRI, Sensory processing, Sensory over-responsivity
Metallic liquid silicon at 1787 K is investigated using x-ray Compton scattering. An excellent agreement is found between the measurements and the corresponding Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics ...simulations. Our results show persistence of covalent bonding in liquid silicon and provide support for the occurrence of theoretically predicted liquid-liquid phase transition in supercooled liquid states. The population of covalent bond pairs in liquid silicon is estimated to be 17% via a maximally localized Wannier function analysis. Compton scattering is shown to be a sensitive probe of bonding effects in the liquid state.
Ground deformation in the Azores, at the triple junction between the Eurasian, Nubian, and North American plates, has been mapped with continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) geodetic measurements ...to improve tectonic motion estimates and for understanding volcanic unrest. We compute daily positions, spanning almost 17 years (2000–2017), from 18 continuous GPS stations. The GPS time‐series are analyzed by searching for discontinuities and periodic functions. Results show that Flores and Graciosa islands have displacements close to predicted North American and Eurasian plate motions, respectively, while São Miguel, Terceira, São Jorge, Faial and Pico islands have displacements in between predicted Eurasian and Nubian plate motions. The Eurasian‐Nubian plate boundary in the Azores behaves as a diffuse ultra‐slow oblique spreading center with focused deformation found in the central group (CG) and São Miguel islands. The velocity field is modeled by approximating segments of the Eurasian‐Nubian plate boundary with vertical dislocations with right‐lateral motion and opening below a locking depth. Best fitting models have deep motion in the range of 2.0–2.3 mm yr−1 directed N (82.3–88.7)°E. Such displacement accounts for almost half of predicted Eurasian‐Nubian relative plate motion. The modeling results suggest that the locking depth in the CG islands is at least 20 km while in São Miguel it is about 2 km. We find transient deformation at Fogo volcano, São Miguel Island, due to unrest activity mainly during 2003–2006 and 2011–2012, and local continuous subsidence in Terceira Island, attributed to a deflation source centered on the island.
Plain Language Summary
The Azores archipelago is located at the junction of three tectonic plates, the North American, Eurasian and Nubian plates. The boundary between the North American and the other two plates is well defined by the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge, but the boundary between the Eurasian and Nubian plates is unclear. Ground deformation in the Azores has been mapped with Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements between 2000 and 2017 to estimate tectonic motion and understand volcanic unrest. We calculate the velocity of 18 continuous GPS stations and compare it with predicted velocities from plate motion models. Results show that Flores and Graciosa islands move with velocities close to stable North American and Eurasian plate motions, respectively. In contrast, São Miguel, Terceira, São Jorge, Faial and Pico islands are subject to inter‐plate motion between the Eurasian and Nubian plates, with focused spreading in the central group (CG) and São Miguel islands. The velocity field can be explained by the motion of vertical rectangular dislocations in the CG and São Miguel islands buried at 20 and 2 km, respectively. The focused spreading in the central part of São Miguel Island helps explain the episodic intrusions at Fogo volcano during unrest episodes.
Key Points
Ultra‐slow oblique spreading occurs at the EU‐NU boundary in the Azores with focused deformation found in the central group and São Miguel
The velocity field of the EU‐NU plate boundary is modeled with vertical sliding dislocations with deep motion of ∼2.6 mm/yr directed ENE
Transient deformation occurs at São Miguel due to episodic unrest at Fogo volcano and local continuous subsidence occurs in Terceira
Abstract
In humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents, the frontal cortices exhibit grey matter thinning and dendritic spine pruning that extends into adolescence. This maturation is believed to support ...higher cognition but may also confer psychiatric vulnerability during adolescence. Currently, little is known about how specific cell types in the frontal cortex mature or whether puberty plays a role in the maturation of some cell types but not others. Here, we used mice to characterize the spatial topography and adolescent development of cross-corticostriatal (cSTR) neurons that project through the corpus collosum to the dorsomedial striatum. We found that apical spine density on cSTR neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex decreased significantly between late juvenile (P29) and young adult time points (P60), with females exhibiting higher spine density than males at both ages. Adult males castrated prior to puberty onset had higher spine density compared to sham controls. Adult females ovariectomized before puberty onset showed greater variance in spine density measures on cSTR cells compared to controls, but their mean spine density did not significantly differ from sham controls. Our findings reveal that these cSTR neurons, a subtype of the broader class of intratelencephalic-type neurons, exhibit significant sex differences and suggest that spine pruning on cSTR neurons is regulated by puberty in male mice.
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