Approximately 10 to 15% of couples are impacted by infertility. Recently, the pivotal role that lifestyle factors play in the development of infertility has generated a considerable amount of ...interest. Lifestyle factors are the modifiable habits and ways of life that can greatly influence overall health and well-being, including fertility. Many lifestyle factors such as the age at which to start a family, nutrition, weight, exercise, psychological stress, environmental and occupational exposures, and others can have substantial effects on fertility; lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking, illicit drug use, and alcohol and caffeine consumption can negatively influence fertility while others such as preventative care may be beneficial. The present literature review encompasses multiple lifestyle factors and places infertility in context for the couple by focusing on both males and females; it aims to identify the roles that lifestyle factors play in determining reproductive status. The growing interest and amount of research in this field have made it evident that lifestyle factors have a significant impact on fertility.
Theories of human neurobehavioral development suggest executive functions mature from childhood through adolescence, underlying adolescent risk-taking and the emergence of psychopathology. ...Investigations with relatively small datasets or narrow subsets of measures have identified general executive function development, but the specific maturational timing and independence of potential executive function subcomponents remain unknown. Integrating four independent datasets (N = 10,766; 8-35 years old) with twenty-three measures from seventeen tasks, we provide a precise charting, multi-assessment investigation, and replication of executive function development from adolescence to adulthood. Across assessments and datasets, executive functions follow a canonical non-linear trajectory, with rapid and statistically significant development in late childhood to mid-adolescence (10-15 years old), before stabilizing to adult-levels in late adolescence (18-20 years old). Age effects are well captured by domain-general processes that generate reproducible developmental templates across assessments and datasets. Results provide a canonical trajectory of executive function maturation that demarcates the boundaries of adolescence and can be integrated into future studies.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is associated with atypical activation in the ventral stream during face processing. The current study further characterizes the development of face processing in ASD ...using a multivoxel pattern analysis, which assesses the similarity in the representation of exemplars from the same category.
Ninety-two children, adolescents and adults - with and without ASD - performed the Cambridge Face Memory Test, the Australian Face Memory Test, and a matched car memory test. Regions of interest during these tasks included Fusiform Face Area (FFA), based on the literature, and additional, structurally-defined regions in the ventral stream. Group differences in the patterns of activity within these ROIs when memorizing exemplars were examined using a representational similarity analysis (RSA).
The RSA revealed significant interactions between age group and diagnostic group in R FFA, with increasing similarity within a category (faces, cars) into adulthood typically but not in those with ASD. This pattern was also evident in structurally defined ventral stream regions, namely L inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), bilateral temporoparietal junction (TPJ), L inferior temporal lobule, and the R fusiform gyrus.
The specialization of face and object processing from adolescence to adulthood evident in typical development may be impaired in ASD, undermining the ability to reach adult-level visual processing in those with ASD.
•Activation patterns for within-category exemplars become more similar in R FFA, not L FFA, from adolescence to adulthood typically, but not in ASD.•This pattern of age-related change is also evident in structurally-defined L IFG, bilateral TPJ, L inferior temporal lobule, and R fusiform gyrus.•Similarity score during memorization of exemplars is related to subsequent recognition performance for those exemplars typically and in ASD.
Difficulties with face recognition increase from adolescence to adulthood in autism, reflecting a lack of typical late development. We examined whether this reflects differences in the development of ...patterns of fixation to eyes and mouths during face recognition. Children, adolescents, and adults (aged 7–30) with and without autism completed the Cambridge Face Memory Test while gaze was recorded. Average duration and number of fixations were calculated for eyes and mouth regions of interest, defined individually for each face image in the task. All groups and age groups made more and longer fixations to eyes than mouths. However, during face memorization, typically developing children and adults, but not adolescents, made more fixations to eyes than did their peers with autism. During face recognition, typically developing children and adults made shorter fixations on mouths than did their peers with autism; this pattern was reversed in adolescence, with adolescents with autism making more fixations to mouths than typically developing adolescents. Results suggest that group differences in patterns of fixations to faces change with age. Furthermore, different relationships between patterns of fixations and face recognition performance in typical development and autism suggest that these differences contribute, at least in part, to difficulties in autism.
•When adolescents check social media more on a given day, they feel more positive mood during use the next day.•Adolescent social media use is linked to both positive and negative mood during use on ...the same day.•Neither social media checking nor screen time were linked to daily negative mood (on or offline).•There was significant individual variability in social media use, necessitating future idiographic work on this topic.
Adolescents’ relationship to social media (SM) use shifted significantly during the COVID-19 lockdown. However, less is known about how adolescents’ social media use behaviors and mood were associated during this time. This study examined objective (passively sensed) SM use—including ‘screen time’ (duration of use) and checking (frequency of opening apps), retrospective daily reports of positive and negative affect during SM use, and general negative mood among adolescents during the COVID-19 lockdown period. Participants included 19 adolescents (Mean age = 15.8; 37 % female). Bayesian multilevel models examined whether within person-changes in SM ‘screen time’ and checking were associated with 1) retrospectively reported positive and negative affect while using SM and daily duration of SM use, 2) daily reports of overall negative mood. These relationships were examined both within the same day and prospectively (one day's SM behaviors predicting next-day mood and vise versa). On the same day, stronger positive or negative mood during SM use were associated with more SM ‘screen time’ (duration) and checking. Prospectively (next-day models), checking SM more frequently than usual was uniquely associated with within-person increases in adolescents’ positive mood when using SM the next day (p < .05), but not negative mood when using SM the next day. However, neither ‘screen time’ nor checking were associated with general negative mood on the same day or next day. These findings support the notion that SM is rewarding by highlighting that higher-than-usual SM checking is associated with within-person increases in positive mood during use. These findings also add to growing evidence that social media may not be directly tied to adolescents’ general mood state.
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Altered structural brain asymmetry in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been reported. However, findings have been inconsistent, likely due to limited sample sizes. Here we investigated 1,774 ...individuals with ASD and 1,809 controls, from 54 independent data sets of the ENIGMA consortium. ASD was significantly associated with alterations of cortical thickness asymmetry in mostly medial frontal, orbitofrontal, cingulate and inferior temporal areas, and also with asymmetry of orbitofrontal surface area. These differences generally involved reduced asymmetry in individuals with ASD compared to controls. Furthermore, putamen volume asymmetry was significantly increased in ASD. The largest case-control effect size was Cohen's d = -0.13, for asymmetry of superior frontal cortical thickness. Most effects did not depend on age, sex, IQ, severity or medication use. Altered lateralized neurodevelopment may therefore be a feature of ASD, affecting widespread brain regions with diverse functions. Large-scale analysis was necessary to quantify subtle alterations of brain structural asymmetry in ASD.
Large-scale neuroimaging studies have revealed group differences in cortical thickness across many psychiatric disorders. The underlying neurobiology behind these differences is not well understood.
...To determine neurobiologic correlates of group differences in cortical thickness between cases and controls in 6 disorders: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), bipolar disorder (BD), major depressive disorder (MDD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and schizophrenia.
Profiles of group differences in cortical thickness between cases and controls were generated using T1-weighted magnetic resonance images. Similarity between interregional profiles of cell-specific gene expression and those in the group differences in cortical thickness were investigated in each disorder. Next, principal component analysis was used to reveal a shared profile of group difference in thickness across the disorders. Analysis for gene coexpression, clustering, and enrichment for genes associated with these disorders were conducted. Data analysis was conducted between June and December 2019. The analysis included 145 cohorts across 6 psychiatric disorders drawn from the ENIGMA consortium. The numbers of cases and controls in each of the 6 disorders were as follows: ADHD: 1814 and 1602; ASD: 1748 and 1770; BD: 1547 and 3405; MDD: 2658 and 3572; OCD: 2266 and 2007; and schizophrenia: 2688 and 3244.
Interregional profiles of group difference in cortical thickness between cases and controls.
A total of 12 721 cases and 15 600 controls, ranging from ages 2 to 89 years, were included in this study. Interregional profiles of group differences in cortical thickness for each of the 6 psychiatric disorders were associated with profiles of gene expression specific to pyramidal (CA1) cells, astrocytes (except for BD), and microglia (except for OCD); collectively, gene-expression profiles of the 3 cell types explain between 25% and 54% of variance in interregional profiles of group differences in cortical thickness. Principal component analysis revealed a shared profile of difference in cortical thickness across the 6 disorders (48% variance explained); interregional profile of this principal component 1 was associated with that of the pyramidal-cell gene expression (explaining 56% of interregional variation). Coexpression analyses of these genes revealed 2 clusters: (1) a prenatal cluster enriched with genes involved in neurodevelopmental (axon guidance) processes and (2) a postnatal cluster enriched with genes involved in synaptic activity and plasticity-related processes. These clusters were enriched with genes associated with all 6 psychiatric disorders.
In this study, shared neurobiologic processes were associated with differences in cortical thickness across multiple psychiatric disorders. These processes implicate a common role of prenatal development and postnatal functioning of the cerebral cortex in these disorders.
Older cancer survivors are at increased risk for impaired physical functioning, but current assessments of function are difficult to implement in busy oncology clinics. Mobile devices measuring ...continuous activity and mobility in daily life may be useful for estimating physical functioning. The goal of this pilot study was to examine the associations between consumer wearable device (a wrist-worn activity tracker) and smartphone sensor data and commonly used clinical measures of physical function in cancer survivors aged 65 and older.
Older adults within five years of completing primary treatment for any cancer completed standardized questionnaires and performance-based tests to measure physical functioning. Continuous passive data from smartphones and consumer wearable devices were collected for four weeks and linked to patient-reported and performance-based physical functioning as well as patient-reported falls or near falls at the end of the four-week monitoring period. To examine associations between sensor variables and physical functioning, we conducted bivariate Pearson correlations as well as multivariable linear regression analyses. To examine associations between sensor variables and falls, we conducted exploratory receiver operating characteristic curve and multivariable logistic regression analyses.
We enrolled 40 participants (mean age 73 years old, range 65–83; 98% White; 50% female). In bivariate analyses, consumer wearable device features reflecting greater amount and speed and lower fragmentation of walking in daily life were significantly related to better patient-reported function (r= 0.43–0.65) and performance-based physical function (r = 0.56–0.72), while smartphone features reflecting more geographic mobility were related to better performance-based physical function (r = 0.40–0.42) but not patient-reported function. After adjusting for age and comorbidities, only consumer wearable device features remained associated with performance-based physical functioning. In exploratory analyses, peak gait cadence was associated with fall risk even after covariate adjustment.
This study provides preliminary evidence that real-world data from consumer devices may be useful for estimating functional performance among older cancer survivors and potentially for remotely and longitudinally monitoring functioning in older patients during and after cancer treatment.
A lack of typical age-related improvement from adolescence to adulthood contributes to face recognition deficits in adults with autism on the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT). The current studies ...examine if this atypical developmental trajectory generalizes to other tasks and objects, including parts of the face. The CFMT tests recognition of whole faces, often with a substantial delay. The current studies used the immediate memory (IM) task and the parts-whole face task from the Let’s Face It! battery, which examines whole faces, face parts, and cars, without a delay between memorization and test trials. In the IM task, participants memorize a face or car. Immediately after the target disappears, participants identify the target from two similar distractors. In the part-whole task, participants memorize a whole face. Immediately after the face disappears, participants identify the target from a distractor with different eyes or mouth, either as a face part or a whole face.
Results indicate that recognition deficits in autism become more robust by adulthood, consistent with previous work, and also become more general, including cars. In the IM task, deficits in autism were specific to faces in childhood, but included cars by adulthood. In the part-whole task, deficits in autism became more robust by adulthood, including both eyes and mouths as parts and in whole faces. Across tasks, the deficit in autism increased between adolescence and adulthood, reflecting a lack of typical improvement, leading to deficits with non-face stimuli and on a task without a memory delay. These results suggest that brain maturation continues to be affected into adulthood in autism, and that the transition from adolescence to adulthood is a vulnerable stage for those with autism.
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