scholarly journals Combined effects of age and BMI are related to altered cortical thickness in adolescence and adulthood

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret L. Westwater ◽  
Raquel Vilar-López ◽  
Hisham Ziauddeen ◽  
Antonio Verdejo-García ◽  
Paul C. Fletcher

AbstractOverweight and obesity are associated with functional and structural alterations in the brain, but how these associations change across critical developmental periods remains unknown. Here, we examined the relationship between age, body mass index (BMI) and cortical thickness (CT) in healthy adolescents (n=70; 14 – 19 y) and adults (n=75; 25 – 45 y). We also examined the relationship between adiposity, impulsivity, measured by delay discounting (DD), and CT of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), a region key to impulse control. A significant age-by-BMI interaction was observed in both adolescents and adults; however, the direction of this relationship differed between age groups. In adolescents, increased age-adjusted BMI Z-score attenuated age-related thinning globally and in the right superior frontal gyrus. In adults, increased BMI augmented age-related CT reductions, both globally and in bilateral parietal cortex. Although DD was unrelated to adiposity in both groups, increased DD and BMI were both associated with reduced IFG thickness in adults. Our findings suggest that the known age-related changes in CT in adolescence and adulthood are altered by adiposity. The impact of weight on cortical development and its functional implications would suggest that future studies of adolescent and adult brain development take adiposity into account.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yashar Zeighami ◽  
Alan C. Evans

AbstractAssociation and prediction studies of the brain target the biological consequences of aging and their impact on brain function. Such studies are conducted using different smoothing levels and parcellations at the preprocessing stage, on which their results are dependent. However, the impact of these parameters on the relationship between association values and prediction accuracy is not established. In this study, we used cortical thickness and its relationship with age to investigate how different smoothing and parcellation levels affect the detection of age-related brain correlates as well as brain age prediction accuracy. Our main measures were resel numbers - resolution elements - and age-related variance explained. Using these common measures enabled us to directly compare parcellation and smoothing effects in both association and prediction studies. In our sample of N=608 participants with age range 18-88, we evaluated age-related cortical thickness changes as well as brain age prediction. We found a negative relationship between prediction performance and correlation values for both parameters. Our results also quantify the relationship between delta age estimates obtained based on different processing parameters. Furthermore, with the direct comparison of the two approaches, we highlight the importance of correct choice of smoothing and parcellation parameters in each task, and how they can affect the results of the analysis in opposite directions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Ryan T. Daley ◽  
Holly J. Bowen ◽  
Eric C. Fields ◽  
Angela Gutchess ◽  
Elizabeth A. Kensinger

Self-relevance effects are often confounded by the presence of emotional content, rendering it difficult to determine how brain networks functionally connected to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) are affected by the independent contributions of self-relevance and emotion. This difficulty is complicated by age-related changes in functional connectivity between the vmPFC and other default mode network regions, and regions typically associated with externally oriented networks. We asked groups of younger and older adults to imagine placing emotional and neutral objects in their home or a stranger's home. An age-invariant vmPFC cluster showed increased activation for self-relevant and emotional content processing. Functional connectivity analyses revealed age × self-relevance interactions in vmPFC connectivity with the anterior cingulate cortex. There were also age × emotion interactions in vmPFC functional connectivity with the anterior insula, orbitofrontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and supramarginal gyrus. Interactions occurred in regions with the greatest differences between the age groups, as revealed by conjunction analyses. Implications of the findings are discussed.


Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Colin Eady

For 30 years, forage ryegrass breeding has known that the germplasm may contain a maternally inherited symbiotic Epichloë endophyte. These endophytes produce a suite of secondary alkaloid compounds, dependent upon strain. Many produce ergot and other alkaloids, which are associated with both insect deterrence and livestock health issues. The levels of alkaloids and other endophyte characteristics are influenced by strain, host germplasm, and environmental conditions. Some strains in the right host germplasm can confer an advantage over biotic and abiotic stressors, thus acting as a maternally inherited desirable ‘trait’. Through seed production, these mutualistic endophytes do not transmit into 100% of the crop seed and are less vigorous than the grass seed itself. This causes stability and longevity issues for seed production and storage should the ‘trait’ be desired in the germplasm. This makes understanding the precise nature of the relationship vitally important to the plant breeder. These Epichloë endophytes cannot be ‘bred’ in the conventional sense, as they are asexual. Instead, the breeder may modulate endophyte characteristics through selection of host germplasm, a sort of breeding by proxy. This article explores, from a forage seed company perspective, the issues that endophyte characteristics and breeding them by proxy have on ryegrass breeding, and outlines the methods used to assess the ‘trait’, and the application of these through the breeding, production, and deployment processes. Finally, this article investigates opportunities for enhancing the utilisation of alkaloid-producing endophytes within pastures, with a focus on balancing alkaloid levels to further enhance pest deterrence and improving livestock outcomes.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Anna A. Matejko ◽  
Daniel Ansari

Abstract Visuospatial working memory (VSWM) plays an important role in arithmetic problem solving, and the relationship between these two skills is thought to change over development. Even though neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that VSWM and arithmetic both recruit frontoparietal networks, inferences about common neural substrates have largely been made by comparisons across studies. Little work has examined how brain activation for VSWM and arithmetic converge within the same participants and whether there are age-related changes in the overlap of these neural networks. In this study, we examined how brain activity for VSWM and arithmetic overlap in 38 children and 26 adults. Although both children and adults recruited the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) for VSWM and arithmetic, children showed more focal activation within the right IPS, whereas adults recruited the bilateral IPS, superior frontal sulcus/middle frontal gyrus, and right insula. A comparison of the two groups revealed that adults recruited a more left-lateralized network of frontoparietal regions for VSWM and arithmetic compared with children. Together, these findings suggest possible neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the strong relationship between VSWM and arithmetic and provide evidence that the association between VSWM and arithmetic networks changes with age.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianna T Kenny ◽  
Tim Driscoll ◽  
Bronwen J Ackermann

BACKGROUND: The physical and psychological demands of playing a musical instrument are likely to be affected by age-related decline in function, including physical, cognitive, psychological, and organ-related changes. However, the complex neurophysiological demands of playing a musical instrument may delay many normal aging-related changes. AIM: This study compared professional classical musicians of different ages, using a range of physical and psychological measures, to discover how increasing age might affect work performance and to identify possible risk and protective factors for physical and psychological health as the musicians age. SUBJECTS: 377 professional orchestral musicians from eight Australian orchestras (70% response rate), ages 18 to 68 yrs (mean 42.1). Multiple standardized physical and psychological tools were used to evaluate the impact of age on a range of physical and mental health variables. RESULTS: Age was not statistically associated with frequency or severity of performance-related musculoskeletal disorders, ratings of perceived exertion, QuickDASH scores, use of beta-blockers, workplace satisfaction, and most psychological tests. Differences were observed on SPIN (social anxiety) scores, with lowest scores in the oldest age group (10.66 in 55+ yrs vs 17.83 in 18-30 yrs, p=0.016). Older musicians had higher BMIs and fewer practice sessions per day than younger musicians and also were more likely to consume alcohol on 5+ days/wk (44% vs 9%, p=0.003). CONCLUSION: Advancing age does not appear to exert undue negative impacts on physical and psychological health or performance capacity of professional orchestral musicians. However, dwindling numbers in the older age groups may suggest a "survivor" effect, whereby those who develop significant age-related decrements may cease professional performance at earlier ages. Longitudinal studies on the professional trajectories of professional orchestral musicians are needed to explore this question further.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Forster ◽  
Johannes Hewig ◽  
John JB Allen ◽  
Johannes Rodrigues ◽  
Philipp Ziebell ◽  
...  

Being able to control inner and environmental states is a basic need of living creatures. Control perception (CP) itself may be neurally computed as the subjective ratio of outcome probabilities given the presence and the absence of behavior. If behavior increases the perceived probability of a given outcome, action-outcome contingency is met, and CP may emerge. Nonetheless, in regard of this model, not much is known on how the brain processes CP from these information. This study uses low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound neuromodulation in a randomized-controlled doubleblind cross-over design to investigate the impact of the right inferior frontal gyrus on this process. Fourty healthy participants visited the laboratory twice (once in a sham, once in a neuromodulation condition) and rated their control perception regarding a classical control illusion task. EEG alpha and theta power density were analyzed in a hierarchical single trial based mixed modeling approach. Results indicate that the right lateral PFC modulates action-outcome learning by providing stochastic information about the situation with increased alpha responses during low control situations (in which the ratio of probabilities is zero). Furthermore, this alpha response was found to modulate mid-frontal theta by altering its relationship with self-reported effort and worrying. These data provide evidencefor right lateral PFC mediated probabilistic stimulus processing during the emergence of CP.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-85
Author(s):  
Yohanes Firmansyah ◽  
Imam Haryanto

The Covid-19 case has had a huge influence on all aspects of human life, starting from health, economy, sosial, law, and many more. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused various frictions between various interests, one of which is a clash between individual interests and community interests. One of the obvious things about this problem is regarding the impact of COVID-19 in the field of sociology, especially the relationship between individuals, especially the issue of community stigmatization regarding infectious diseases, the dilemma between the privacy rights of the identity of COVID-19 patients and the disclosure of publik data on COVID-19 patients with various risks will injure and cause multiple material and immaterial losses. On the other hand, Covid-19 also raises various sosial-psychological problems and legal problems that still do not regulate all aspects of human life. This paper describes the sociological elements of COVID-19, the right to privacy, publik information disclosure, and the sosial-psychological impact of COVID-19, along with a juridical review of the right to privacy and publik disclosure of information regarding the transparency of COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Fakhrurrazi M.Yunus ◽  
Zahratul Aini

Abstrak: Dalam Undang-Undang Nomor 23 Tahun 2006 tentang Administrasi Kependudukan adanya Pasal yang mengatur tentang perkawinan beda agama, dalam Pasal 35 huruf (a) yang menyatakan bahwa perkawinan yang ditetapkan oleh pengadilan. Namun dalam Undang-Undang tersebut tidak diatur secara jelas, sehingga memberi peluang timbulnya dampak negatif. Namun yang diakui di Indonesia jika pasangan suami istri yang berbeda agama harus memeluk agama yang sama di salah satu pasangan dengan maksud mereka harus pindah agama baik memeluk agama istri maupun suami. Dengan adanya berbagai kemudharatan yang timbul, maka hal itu tidak sesuai dengan hukum Islam. Oleh karena itu, penulis ingin mengetahui dampak perkawinan beda agama yang diatur dalam Undang-Undang Nomor 23 Tahun 2006 tentang administrasi  kependudukan dan tinjuan hukum Islam terhadap perkawinan beda agama dalam Undang-Undang Nomor 23 tahun 2006. Dalam penelitian ini, metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah Kualitatif. Berdasarkan dari hasil penelitian, dampak dari perkawinan beda agama yaitu dampak terhadap rumah tangga yang tidak harmonis menimbulkan kegelisahan, dan sulitnya berkomunikasi. Dampak terhadap anak yang membuat hubungan antara keluarga yaitu anak dan orang tua menjadi kacau dan tidak utuh karena mengetahui kedua orang tuanya berbeda keyakinan. Dampak terhadap harta warisan yang mengakibatkan anak yang lahir dari perkawinan beda agama tidak mempunyai hak untuk mendapatkan harta warisan apabila tidak seagama dengan pewaris yang dalam hal ini pewaris beragama Islam. Adapun tinjauan hukum Islam menyatakan bahwa perkawinan beda agama itu tidak sah, karena menurut fatwa MUI Nomor:4/MUNASVII/MUI/8/2005 menetapkan bahwa nikah beda agama hukumnya haram yang diperkuat dengan firmannya dalam surat al-mumtahanah ayat 10 dan al-baqarah ayat 221.Abstract: in Law No. 23 of 2006 on the administration of the population of the article governing the marriage of different religions, in article 35 letter (a) stating that the marriage is established by the court. But the law is not regulated, so it allows causing negative impacts. But it is recognized in Indonesia if different couples of religion must embrace the same religion in one partner with the intention they have to move religion both embrace the religion of the wife and husband. With the various blessings that arise, it is not under Islamic law. Therefore, the author wants to know the impact of the marriage of different religions organized in law Number 23 the year 2006 about the administration of population and the Islamic law to the marriage of different religions in the law Number 23 the year 2006. In this study, the research method used was qualitative. Based on the results of the study, the impact of the marriage of different religions is the impact on the unharmonious households raises anxiety, and difficulty communicating. The impact on the child who makes the relationship between the family is the child and the parent becomes chaotic and not intact because knowing both parents are different beliefs. The impact on the inheritance that resulted in children born from the marriage of different religions does not have the right to obtain inheritance if not as religious as the heir, in this case, Muslim heirs. The review of Islamic law states that the marriage of different religions is not valid, because according to fatwa MUI number: 4/MUNASVII/MUI/8/2005 stipulates that the marriage of different religious religion is haram strengthened by his word in Sura al-Mumtahanah verse 10 and al-Baqarah verses 221.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. e028553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Schederecker ◽  
Christoph Kurz ◽  
Jon Fairburn ◽  
Werner Maier

ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the impact of using different weighting procedures for the German Index of Multiple Deprivation (GIMD) investigating their link to mortality rates.Design and settingIn addition to the original (normative) weighting of the GIMD domains, four alternative weighting approaches were applied: equal weighting, linear regression, maximization algorithm and factor analysis. Correlation analyses to quantify the association between the differently weighted GIMD versions and mortality based on district-level official data from Germany in 2010 were applied (n=412 districts).Outcome measuresTotal mortality (all age groups) and premature mortality (<65 years).ResultsAll correlations of the GIMD versions with both total and premature mortality were highly significant (p<0.001). The comparison of these associations using Williams’s t-test for paired correlations showed significant differences, which proved to be small in respect to absolute values of Spearman’s rho (total mortality: between 0.535 and 0.615; premature mortality: between 0.699 and 0.832).ConclusionsThe association between area deprivation and mortality proved to be stable, regardless of different weighting of the GIMD domains. The theory-based weighting of the GIMD should be maintained, due to the stability of the GIMD scores and the relationship to mortality.


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