Application of Eye-tracking in research on the theory of mind in ASD.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a broad diagnostic category describing a group of neurodevelopmental disorders which includes the autistic disorder. Failure to develop normal social relationships is a hallmark of autism. An inability to understand and cope with the social environment can occur regardless of IQ. One of the hypotheses of the appearance of ASD symptoms is associated with the theory of mind (TOM). ASD patients do not have the ability to attribute the full range of mental states (goal states and epistemic states) to themselves and to others. Eye-tracking allows for observation of early signs of TOM in ASD individuals, even before they are 1 year old, without the need of developed motor and language skills. This provides a window for looking at the very basics of mindreading - detecting intentionality and eyes in our environment. Studies show that ASD children fail to recognize biological motion, while being highly sensitive to physical contingency within the random movement. Their perception of faces seems disorganized and undirected, while object recognition is intact. Evidence suggests that this orientation of attention following gaze cues is diminished in ASD patients. Available data also show deficits in emotion recognition, that cannot be accounted for by impairments in face processing or visual modality alone. Such observations provide an insight into disturbances of information processing and offer an explanation for poor social functioning of ASD patients. When combined with other methods, Eye-tracking has the potential to reveal differences in processing information on a neural circuitry level. Thus, it may help in understanding the complexity of TOM mechanisms, and their role in social functioning.

Telomere length: how the length makes a difference.

Telomerase is perceived as an immortality enzyme that might provide longevity to cells and whole organisms. Importantly, it is generally inactive in most somatic cells of healthy, adult men. Consequently, its substrates, i.e. telomeres, get shorter in most human cells with time. Noteworthy, cell life limitation due to telomere attrition during cell divisions, may not be as bad as it looks since longer cell life means longer exposition to harmful factors. Consequently, telomere length (attrition rate) becomes a factor that is responsible for inducing the signaling that leads to the elimination of cells that lived long enough to acquire severe damage. It seems that telomere length that depends on many different factors (including telomerase activity but also genetic factors, a hormonal profile that reflects sex, etc.) might become a useful marker of aging and exposition to stress. Thus in the current paper, we review the factors that affect telomere length in human cells focusing on sex that all together with different environmental and hormonal regulations as well as parental aspect affect telomere attrition rate. We also raise some limitations in the assessment of telomere length that hinders a trustworthy meta-analysis that might lead to acknowledgment of the real value of this parameter.

An analysis of cognitive functioning of children and youth with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) in the context of glycemic control.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the cognitive functioning of children and youth with type 1 diabetes (T1DM). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 68 children with type 1 diabetes, aged 6-17 years, divided into 3 groups according to the level of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c): group 1: HbA1c ≤ 6.0-7.5%; group 2: HbA1c 7.6-8.5%; group 3: HbA1c over 8.6%. Wechsler's intelligence scale (WISC-R), the Trail of 10 words and Brickenkamp's and Zillmer's d2 Test of Attention were used to assess cognitive functioning. RESULTS: The research demonstrated a significant influence of low, medium or high glycaemic control on lowering the general level of functioning in verbal intelligence, and in WISC-R subtests: information, vocabulary, comprehension, number sequencing and block design. CONCLUSIONS: Children with type 1 diabetes mellitus can experience difficulties in cognitive functioning, as a consequence of high HbA1c. Additional research, involving a larger group of patients and a wider age range when the disease was diagnosed, will enable further findings on the occurrence of cognitive impairment in T1DM.

Correlation between depression and burden observed in informal caregivers of people suffering from dementia with time spent on caregiving and dementia severity.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to compare data on the examined population of informal caregivers of people suffering from dementia with previous studies, as well as to assess the correlation between (i) depression determined on the basis of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and (ii) caregiver burden measured by means of the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale and some chosen parameters, such as total time devoted to caregiving, time of caregiving in hours per week and level of dementia severity measured by Global Deterioration Scale. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 41 informal caregivers of people suffering from dementia from different backgrounds were evaluated using the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Demographic data about the time devoted to caregiving and the number of hours spend on caregiving weekly were gathered. The type of dementia and its stage were registered using the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS). With the aid of the Statistica StatSoft program, mutual correlations between the parameters were measured. The study was conducted within the framework of AAL UnderstAID--a platform that supports and helps to understand and assist caregivers in the care of a relative with dementia. The international project is co-founded by the Joint Programme Ambient Assisted Living (Grant code: ESR-aal 2012 5 107). RESULTS: No significant correlations between the level of depression severity evaluated in caregivers and the total time of taking care of a demented person or time of caregiving in hours per week were observed. Similarly, no significant correlation between depression severity level and dementia severity level measured on the GDS scale were noted. There was also no significant correlation between Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale scores and the above-mentioned parameters. CONCLUSIONS: The level of depression among caregivers do not depend on socio-demographic factors.

Plasma ghrelin and interleukin-6 levels correlate with body mass index and arterial blood pressure in males with essential hypertension.

We examined an association between ghrelin, including its major isoforms, interleukin-6 (IL-6), body mass index (BMI), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) in male overweight patients with essential hypertension. Twenty hypertensive male patients with newly diagnosed essential hypertension (EH) before starting drug treatment and 22 age-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Fasting total plasma ghrelin (TGhr), acyl ghrelin (AGhr), des-acyl ghrelin (DGhr) and IL-6 were determined and correlations between studied parameters were calculated. We found significantly lower total plasma ghrelin and higher plasma IL-6 in hypertensives when compared with the control. In patients with hypertension the negative correlations were found: between TGhr and BMI, DGhr and BMI, TGhr and MAP, and between DGhr and MAP. IL-6 positively correlated with BMI and MAP in hypertensive subjects. No correlations between all forms of ghrelin and IL-6 were noted. The changes in plasma ghrelin and IL-6 contribute independently to the elevated blood pressure in essential hypertension. Negative correlation of DGhr and MAP may suggest its hemodynamic involvement in regulation of blood pressure.