Atypical Integration of Sensory-to-Transmodal Functional Systems Mediates Symptom Severity in Autism.

A notable characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is co-occurring deficits in low-level sensory processing and high-order social interaction. While there is evidence indicating detrimental cascading effects of sensory anomalies on the high-order cognitive functions in ASD, the exact pathological mechanism underlying their atypical functional interaction across the cortical hierarchy has not been systematically investigated. To address this gap, here we assessed the functional organisation of sensory and motor areas in ASD, and their relationship with subcortical and high-order trandmodal systems. In a resting-state fMRI data of 107 ASD and 113 neurotypical individuals, we applied advanced connectopic mapping to probe functional organization of primary sensory/motor areas, together with targeted seed-based intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) analyses. In ASD, the connectopic mapping revealed topological anomalies (i.e., excessively more segregated iFC) in the motor and visual areas, the former of which patterns showed association with the symptom severity of restricted and repetitive behaviors. Moreover, the seed-based analysis found diverging patterns of ASD-related connectopathies: decreased iFCs within the sensory/motor areas but increased iFCs between sensory and subcortical structures. While decreased iFCs were also found within the higher-order functional systems, the overall proportion of this anomaly tends to increase along the level of cortical hierarchy, suggesting more dysconnectivity in the higher-order functional networks. Finally, we demonstrated that the association between low-level sensory/motor iFCs and clinical symptoms in ASD was mediated by the high-order transmodal systems, suggesting pathogenic functional interactions along the cortical hierarchy. Findings were largely replicated in the independent dataset. These results highlight that atypical integration of sensory-to-high-order systems contributes to the complex ASD symptomatology

Effects of maternal education on diet, anemia, and iron deficiency in Korean school-aged children

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We investigated the relationship among socioeconomic status factors, the risk of anemia, and iron deficiency among school-aged children in Korea.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The sample consisted of fourth-grade students aged 10 y recruited from nine elementary schools in Korean urban areas in 2008 (<it>n </it>= 717). Anthropometric and blood biochemistry data were obtained for this cross-sectional observational study. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin levels lower than 11.5 g/dl. Iron deficiency was defined as serum iron levels lower than 40 ug/dl. We also obtained data on parental education from questionnaires and on children's diets from 3-day food diaries. Parental education was categorized as low or high, with the latter representing an educational level beyond high school.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Children with more educated mothers were less likely to develop anemia (<it>P </it>= 0.0324) and iron deficiency (<it>P </it>= 0.0577) than were those with less educated mothers. This group consumed more protein (<it>P </it>= 0.0004) and iron (<it>P </it>= 0.0012) from animal sources than did the children of less educated mothers, as reflected by their greater consumption of meat, poultry, and derivatives (<it>P </it>< 0.0001). Logistic regression analysis revealed a significant inverse relationship between maternal education and the prevalence of anemia (odds ratio: 0.52; 95% confidence interval: 0.32, 0.85).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>As a contributor to socioeconomic status, maternal education is important in reducing the risk of anemia and iron deficiency and in increasing children's consumption of animal food sources.</p

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

Firefighters, posttraumatic stress disorder, and barriers to treatment: Results from a nationwide total population survey

<div><p>Repeated exposure to traumatic experiences may put professional firefighters at increased risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To date, however, the rate of PTSD symptoms, unmet need for mental health treatment, and barriers to treatment have only been investigated in subsamples rather than the total population of firefighters. We conducted a nationwide, total population-based survey of all currently employed South Korean firefighters (n = 39,562). The overall response rate was 93.8% (n = 37,093), with 68.0% (n = 26,887) complete responses for all variables. The rate of current probable PTSD was estimated as 5.4%. Among those with current probable PTSD (n = 1,995), only a small proportion (9.7%) had received mental health treatment during the past month. For those who had not received treatment, perceived barriers of accessibility to treatment (29.3%) and concerns about potential stigma (33.8%) were reasons for not receiving treatment. Although those with higher PTSD symptom severity and functional impairment were more likely to seek treatment, greater symptom severity and functional impairment were most strongly associated with increased concerns about potential stigma. This nationwide study points to the need for new approaches to promote access to mental health treatment in professional firefighters.</p></div

Firefighters, posttraumatic stress disorder, and barriers to treatment: Results from a nationwide total population survey - Fig 2

<p><b>Mental health treatment use during the past month from any professional, among firefighters with current probable posttraumatic stress disorder (n = 1,802), according to the symptom severity (a) and perceived functional impairment (b).</b><i>Note</i>. PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder.</p

Participant response rate throughout recruitment and data analyses.

<p>^a Excluded individuals who could be faking good, answering randomly, or lying. ^b Imputed datasets were generated using the chained equations approach [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0190630#pone.0190630.ref037" target="_blank">37</a>]. ^c Numbers are expressed in range due to the varying numbers of missing values for each variable. ^d Current probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was defined as ≥ 45 on the PTSD checklist. ^e Those who had not received treatment from any professional during the past month.</p

Associations of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity and perceived functional impairment with barriers to treatment in firefighters with current probable PTSD but who had not received treatment from any professional (n = 1,802)^a.

<p>Associations of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity and perceived functional impairment with barriers to treatment in firefighters with current probable PTSD but who had not received treatment from any professional (n = 1,802)<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0190630#t003fn002" target="_blank">^a</a>.</p

Associations of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity and perceived functional impairment with mental health treatment use in firefighters with current probable PTSD (n = 1,995).

<p>Associations of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity and perceived functional impairment with mental health treatment use in firefighters with current probable PTSD (n = 1,995).</p