Results. Thirteen datasets comprising 246 patients with ASD and 237 healthy controls met inclusion criteria. No between-group differences were found in global white-matter volumes. ASD patients showed increases of white-matter volume in the right arcuate fasciculus and also in the left inferior fronto-occipital and uncinate fasciculi. These findings remained unchanged

in quartile and jackknife sensitivity analyses and also in subgroup analyses Selleck AS1842856 (pediatric versus adult samples).

Conclusions. Patients with ASD display increases of white-matter volume in tracts known to be important for language and social cognition. Whether the results apply to individuals with lower IQ or younger age and whether there are meaningful neurobiological differences between the subtypes of ASD remain to be investigated.”
“Fat accumulation in muscle may contribute to age-related declines in muscle function and is indicated by reduced attenuation of x-rays by muscle tissue in computed tomography scans. Reduced trunk muscle attenuation is associated with poor physical function, low back pain, and increased hyperkyphosis in older adults. However, variations in trunk muscle attenuation with age, sex and between specific muscles have not been investigated.

A cross-sectional

examination of trunk muscle Foretinib chemical structure attenuation in computed tomography scans was performed in 60 younger (3550 years) and 60 older (7587 years) adults randomly selected from participants in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring and Third Generation Multidetector Computed Tomography

Study. Computed tomography attenuation of 11 trunk muscles was measured at vertebral levels T8 and L3, and the effects of age, sex, and specific muscle on computed tomography attenuation of trunk muscles were determined.

Muscle attenuation varied by specific muscle (p < .001), was lower in older adults (p < .001), and was generally lower in women than in men (p < .001), Selleckchem Fludarabine although not in all muscles. Age-related differences in muscle attenuation varied with specific muscle (p < .001), with the largest age differences occurring in the paraspinal and abdominal muscles.

Trunk muscle attenuation is lower in older adults than in younger adults in both women and men, but such age-related differences vary widely between muscle groups. The reasons that some muscles exhibit larger age-related differences in fat content than others should be further explored to better understand age-related changes in functional capacity and postural stability.”
“Background. Recent genetic studies found the A allele of the variant rs1006737 in the alpha 1C subunit of the L-type voltage-gated calcium channel (CACNA1C) gene to be over-represented in patients with psychosis, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. In these disorders, attention deficits are among the main cognitive symptoms and have been related to altered neural activity in cerebral attention networks.