Older adults preserve audiovisual integration through enhanced cortical activations, not by recruiting new regions.

Effective interactions with the environment rely on the integration of multisensory signals: Our brains must efficiently combine signals that share a common source, and segregate those that do not. Healthy ageing can change or impair this process. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study assessed the neural mechanisms underlying age differences in the integration of auditory and visual spatial cues. Participants were presented with synchronous audiovisual signals at various degrees of spatial disparity and indicated their perceived sound location. Behaviourally, older adults were able to maintain localisation accuracy. At the neural level, they integrated auditory and visual cues into spatial representations along dorsal auditory and visual processing pathways similarly to their younger counterparts but showed greater activations in a widespread system of frontal, temporal, and parietal areas. According to multivariate Bayesian decoding, these areas encoded critical stimulus information beyond that which was encoded in the brain areas commonly activated by both groups. Surprisingly, however, the boost in information provided by these areas with age-related activation increases was comparable across the 2 age groups. This dissociation-between comparable information encoded in brain activation patterns across the 2 age groups, but age-related increases in regional blood-oxygen-level-dependent responses-contradicts the widespread notion that older adults recruit new regions as a compensatory mechanism to encode task-relevant information. Instead, our findings suggest that activation increases in older adults reflect nonspecific or modulatory mechanisms related to less efficient or slower processing, or greater demands on attentional resources.

Peritraumatic Plasma Omega-3 Fatty Acid Concentration Predicts Chronic Pain Severity Following Thermal Burn Injury.

Chronic pain is a significant comorbidity of burn injury affecting up to 60% of survivors. Currently, no treatments are available to prevent chronic pain after burn injury. Accumulating evidence suggests that omega-3 fatty acids (O3FAs) improve symptoms across a range of painful conditions. In this study, we evaluated whether low peritraumatic levels of O3FA predict greater pain severity during the year after burn injury. Burn survivors undergoing skin autograft were recruited from three participating burn centers. Plasma O3FA (n = 77) levels were assessed in the early aftermath of burn injury using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, and pain severity was assessed via the 0 to 10 numeric rating scale for 1 year following burn injury. Repeated-measures linear regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between peritraumatic O3FA concentrations and pain severity during the year following burn injury. Peritraumatic O3FA concentration and chronic pain severity were inversely related; lower levels of peritraumatic O3FAs predicted worse pain outcomes (ß = -0.002, P = .020). Future studies are needed to evaluate biological mechanisms mediating this association and to assess the ability of O3FAs to prevent chronic pain following burn injury.

GWAS Identifies Risk Locus for Erectile Dysfunction and Implicates Hypothalamic Neurobiology and Diabetes in Etiology.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common condition affecting more than 20% of men over 60 years, yet little is known about its genetic architecture. We performed a genome-wide association study of ED in 6,175 case subjects among 223,805 European men and identified one locus at 6q16.3 (lead variant rs57989773, OR 1.20 per C-allele; p = 5.71 × 10-14), located between MCHR2 and SIM1. In silico analysis suggests SIM1 to confer ED risk through hypothalamic dysregulation. Mendelian randomization provides evidence that genetic risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus is a cause of ED (OR 1.11 per 1-log unit higher risk of type 2 diabetes). These findings provide insights into the biological underpinnings and the causes of ED and may help prioritize the development of future therapies for this common disorder.

Effects of glucosamine and Celadrin on platelet function.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of glucosamine and celadrin on platelet function. DESIGN: Baseline values were determined on the Chronolog 570VS platelet aggregometer with whole blood aggregation impedance readings using 2 different concentrations of ADP (5 microM, 10 microM), collagen (1 microg/mL), arachidonic acid (0.5 mM/L) and an Accumetrics whole blood platelet aggregation cartridge assay for P2Y12 receptors were obtained from 24 healthy volunteers. These subjects then took the suggested doses of Glucosamine with Celadrin (Stockbridge Naturals) as advertised (estimated 1500mg daily) for 2 weeks. Platelet aggregation analyses, as described above, were obtained after treatment. Statistics performed via a McNemar test. MAIN OUTCOME: Five of twenty-four subjects had at least a 20% difference in whole blood aggregation using the 5 microM concentration of ADP. A total of 6 and 7 subjects also showed a significant difference in platelet aggregation with administration of collagen and arachidonic acid, respectively. No significant differences were found with Accumetrics assay for P2Y12 in any of the subjects. CONCLUSION: Glucosamine and celadrin may inhibit platelet aggregation in some individuals via aspirin-like effects as well as inhibition of ADP receptor P2Y1 but not P2Y12.

Serum lactoferrin and immunoglobulin G concentrations in healthy or ill neonatal foals and healthy adult horses.

BACKGROUND: Lactoferrin is a colostral glycoprotein with antimicrobial properties. HYPOTHESES: (1) Serum lactoferrin and immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentrations are correlated and increase in healthy foals after ingestion of colostrum; (2) compared to healthy foals, ill foals will have lower lactoferrin concentrations that correlate with their IgG concentration, neutrophil count, the diagnosis of sepsis, and survival; and (3) plasma concentrations of lactoferrin will be less than serum concentrations. ANIMALS: Healthy foals (n = 16), mature horses (n = 10), and ill foals 1-4 days old (n = 111) that were examined for suspected sepsis were used for blood collection. Colostrum was obtained from 10 healthy mares unrelated to the foals. METHODS: Blood was obtained from the healthy foals at birth and 1-3 days of age and from the ill foals at admission. Serum IgG was quantified by single radial immunodiffusion (SRID). Lactoferrin concentrations in colostrum and blood were determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay. The sepsis score, blood culture results, neutrophil counts, and survival were obtained on ill foals. RESULTS: The mean colostral lactoferrin concentration was 21.7 microg/mL. Compared to values at birth, serum IgG (18+/-2 versus 2,921+/-245 mg/dL, SEM) and lactoferrin (249+/-39 versus 445+/-63 ng/mL, SEM) concentrations were significantly greater in healthy foals 1-3 days old. Serum lactoferrin concentration in 1-3-day-old healthy foals was not different from mature horses or ill foals. IgG and lactoferrin concentrations were significantly correlated only in healthy foals. Serum lactoferrin concentrations were significantly lower in ill neutropenic foals. The serum IgG concentration was significantly lower in ill foals as compared to healthy foals. Only serum IgG was significantly less in ill foals with a positive sepsis score and in nonsurvivors, Plasma lactoferrin concentrations were lower than serum concentrations, although values were significantly correlated. CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Although both serum IgG and lactoferrin concentrations increase in healthy foals after ingestion of colostrum, only serum IgG is significantly correlated with the sepsis score and outcome.