Neuroanatomical Correlates of Skin Conductance Orienting in Normal Humans: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Although little is known about the neuroanatomical basis of skin conductance orienting in intact normal humans, the limited literature on animals and humans with neurological and clinical disorders implicate prefrontal, temporal/amygdala, and pons brain areas in mediating skin conductance orienting. This study relates area of these structures using magnetic resonance imaging techniques to skin conductance orienting responses in 17 normal humans in order to test hypotheses that larger area of these excitatory structures will be associated with more orienting responses. Left and right hand skin conductance orienting was significantly associated with left and right prefrontal area (r = .44-.60), area of the pons (r = .43-.54), and left but not right temporal/amygdala area (r = .47-.53). No relationships were observed with areas thought to be unrelated to skin conductance activity (cerebellum, nonfrontal cortical area), medial prefrontal cortex, or the third ventricle. This appears to be the first study relating brain structure to skin conductance orienting in intact normal humans. Although preliminary at the present time, these results implicate prefrontal, pons, and temporal/amygdala areas in the mediation of skin conductance orienting in normal humans.     

Strategies and determinants for selection of alternate foot placement during human locomotion: influence of spatial and temporal constraints

During locomotion in a cluttered terrain, certain terrain surfaces such as an icy one are not appropriate for foot placement; an alternate choice is required. In a previous study we showed that the selection of foot placement is not random but systematic; the dominant choices made are not uniquely defined by the available or predicted sensory inputs. We argued that selection is guided by specific rules and involves minimal displacement of the foot from its normal landing spot. The experimental protocol involved implicit spatial constraint by requiring individuals to step on the force plate that could trigger a lighted area to be avoided, thereby requiring individuals to respond within one step-cycle. Alternate foot placement was visually identified, but not measured. The purpose of this study was to directly measure foot placement, validate and/or refine the rules used to guide selection, and identify whether the alternate foot placement choices are influenced by spatial and temporal constraints on response selection. The area to be avoided was visible from the start and therefore individuals could plan and implement appropriate avoidance strategies without any temporal constraint. Spatial constraint introduced in this experiment included requirement both to step on a specific location and to avoid stepping on a specific location on the next step. The results provide support for the rules previously identified in guiding foot placement to an alternate location. Minimal displacement of the foot from its normal landing spot was validated as an important factor for selecting alternate foot placement. When several choices satisfied this factor, additional factors guide alternate foot placement. Modifications in the plane of progression are preferred while stepping wide is avoided. When no temporal constraints are imposed on the response selection, enhancing forward progression of the body becomes the dominant determinant followed by stability and lastly by energy costs associated with the modifications. A decision algorithm for selecting foot placement is proposed based on these findings. It is clear that while visual input plays a critical role in guiding foot placement, it is not entirely based on reactive control. This has implications for implementing visually guided adaptive locomotion in legged robots.     

Adaptation to audiotactile asynchrony

Previous research has revealed the existence of perceptual mechanisms that compensate for slight temporal asynchronies between auditory and visual signals. We investigated whether temporal recalibration would also occur between auditory and tactile stimuli. Participants were exposed to streams of brief auditory and tactile stimuli presented in synchrony, or else with the auditory stimulus leading by 75 ms. After the exposure phase, the participants made temporal order judgments regarding pairs of auditory and tactile events occurring at varying stimulus onset asynchronies. The results showed that the minimal interval necessary to correctly resolve audiotactile temporal order was larger after exposure to the desynchronized streams than after exposure to the synchronous streams. This suggests the existence of a mechanism to compensate for audiotactile asynchronies that results in a widening of the temporal window for multisensory integration.     

Analysis of fMRI data by blind separation of data in a tiny spatial domain into independent temporal component

Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is a promising tool for the analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) time series. In these studies, mostly assumed is a spatially independent component map of fMRI data (spatial ICA). In this paper, we assume that the temporal courses of the signal and noises are independent within a Tiny spatial domain (temporal ICA). Then with fast-ICA algorithm, spatially neighboring fMRI data were blindly separated into several temporal courses and were preassumed to be formed by a signal time course and several noise time courses where the signal has the largest correlation coefficient with the reference signal. The final functional imaging was completed for the signals obtained from each voxel. Simulations showed that compared with the spatial ICA method, the new temporal ICA method is more effective than the spatial ICA in detecting weak signal in a fMRI dataset. As background noise, the simulations include simulated Gaussian noise and fMRI data without stimulation. Finally, vivo fMRI tests showed that the excited areas evoked by a visual stimuli are mainly in the region of the primary visual cortex and that evoked by auditory stimuli are mainly in the region of the primary temporal cortex.     

颞骨内面神经垂直段的显微解剖及其临床意义

目的：研究颞骨内面神经垂直段及其毗邻结构的显微解剖,为临床应用提供解剖学资料。方法：通过模拟临床经乳突入路的方法,分层解剖20个成人湿性头颅标本（40侧颞骨）,显露并观测颞骨内面神经垂直段及其毗邻结构。结果：面神经垂直段的长度为（17.39±1.78）mm、直径为（2.13±0.13）mm,面神经垂直段与水平段的夹角（向前）为（115.5±6.89）°,面神经垂直段近端至外半规管隆突距离为（2.86±0.31）mm,鼓索神经自面神经发出点至茎乳孔距离为（5.99±0.74）mm,面神经垂直段与鼓索神经的夹角（向上）为（38.6±1.99）°,锥隆起尖到面神经垂直段垂直距离为（2.05±0.65）mm,后半规管至面神经垂直段最短距离为（2.89±0.36）mm。有5%（2/40侧）的面神经垂直段的近端位于外半规管隆突外侧。结论：外半规管、鼓索神经、茎乳孔、锥隆起、后半规管是手术中确定面神经垂直段的重要标志。熟悉颞骨内面神经垂直段与其周围结构的毗邻关系,有利于面神经垂直段相关手术的顺利进行。     

Architectonic parcellation of the temporal operculum in rhesus monkey and its projection pattern

Summary Cyto- and myeloarchitectonic investigation of the temporal operculum and the exposed superior temporal gyrus was combined with a connection study of the projection fibers of the pertinent areas in the rhesus monkey.A belt-like organization of the auditory region with a koniocortex core (corresponding to AI) surrounded by belt areas was revealed. This organization principally resembled that of the auditory region of the cat (Rose and Woolsey, 1949; Woolsey, 1961) and that of other sensory regions (Sanides, 1972; Sanides and Krishnamurti, 1967). The belt is composed of one prokoniocortex area (proA, corresponding to AII) in parinsular location and of a caudal (paAc), lateral (paAlt) and rostral (paAr) parakoniocortex area. The latter has a particular character. It was found to be the target of thalamic projections of the caudalmost portion of GMpc. In contrast to the other parakonio areas it does not receive associations of the koniocortex.The belt areas, including the prokoniocortex, are ipsilaterally and transcallosally interconnected as in the somatic sensory (Jones and Powell, 1969a, b; Pandya and Kuypers, 1969; Pandya and Vignolo, 1969) and visual regions (Myers, 1962; Kuypers et al., 1965; Karol and Pandya, 1971).The koniocortex core is formed by two areas, Kam and Kalt, corresponding to the architectonic organization hitherto only known in man. The medial area (Kam) has a large number of homotopical callosal projections except at its medial border (to proA). The lateral area receives less callosal fibers, particularly most of its lateral portion is devoid of terminations. Since the belt areas are rich in callosal projections the supratemporal plane shows a pattern of three stripes of callosal terminations with two intermittent stripes void of terminations.While the projections of the koniocortex into the belt areas terminate prevalently in layer IV, the parakoniocortex sends fibers only into layers I and II of the koniocortex. This corresponds to results in somatic sensory (Pandya and McKenna, unpublished observations) and visual regions (Kuypers et al., 1965; Sanides and Vitzthum, 1965b; Spatz, personal communication).In contrast to other sensory regions the auditory koniocortex receives its exceptionally dense, homotopic callosal connections in the whole outer stratum with emphasis on layer III, as opposed to layer IV in the somatic sensory region.     

Geographic patterns and socioeconomic differences in the nutritional quality of household packaged food purchases in the United States

BackgroundIt is unclear whether dietary quality varies by geography in the US.PurposeAssess patterns in packaged food purchases (PFPs).MethodsWe characterized variation in PFP quality from 2008 to 2018 by 1) examining geographic clustering and 2) using regression analysis to control for household characteristics.ResultsLower quality purchases clustered in the Southeast and Appalachia, whereas higher quality purchases clustered in the West and Northeast. Spatial patterns were similar for low socioeconomic households but not high socioeconomic households. Geographic differences in quality remained after controlling for demographic composition.ConclusionThis analysis should inform research into systemic drivers of PFP quality.     

Lipoma of the temporal region: a rare case series

Lipomas are common benign tumours that can occur in most parts of the body. Lipomas arising from the deep temporal fat pad, found between the two layers of the deep temporal fascia, are rare, however; there has been only one documented case report to our knowledge. We describe a second case arising from the temporal fat pad in a patient treated at our unit, having previously reported the first one, and discuss the relevant anatomy and management.     

The geographic distribution of un-immunized children in Ontario,Canada: Hotspot detection using Bayesian spatial analysis

BackgroundIn Ontario, Canada, little is currently known about the extent to which un-immunized children may cluster geographically. Our objectives were to: describe the geographic distribution of fully un-immunized children; identify geographic clusters (hotspots) of un-immunized children; and to characterize the contribution of spatial effects and covariates on hotspots, where found.MethodsOur analytic cohort consisted of Ontario students aged 7–17 years in the 2016–2017 school year. We defined students as un-immunized if they had zero doses of any vaccine and a non-medical exemption recorded in Ontario’s registry. We calculated unadjusted proportions of un-immunized students by Census Subdivision (CSD) and then used a sequential approach to identify hotspots starting first with hotspot identification at the CSD level and then probed identified hotspots further by Dissemination Area (DA) and including covariates. Hotspots were identified using the Besag-York-Mollie Bayesian spatial model and were defined as areas with >95% probability of having two times the proportion of un-immunized students, relative to the province overall.ResultsWe identified 15,208 (0.94%) un-immunized children within our cohort consisting of more than 1.61 million students. Unadjusted proportions of un-immunized students varied greatly by geography, ranging from 0% to 21.5% by CSD. We identified 16 hotspot CSDs which clustered in five distinct areas, all of which were located in southern Ontario. The contribution of covariates and spatial effects on the risk of having un-immunized students varied greatly across hotspot areas.ConclusionsAlthough the provincial proportion (0.94%) of un-immunized students is small, geographical clustering of such students is evident in Ontario and in some areas presents an important risk for future outbreaks. Further qualitative work within these hotspot areas would be a helpful next step to better characterize the factors associated with vaccine refusal in these communities.