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PubMed2004

Significant correlation of trauma epidemiology with the economic conditions of a community.

HYPOTHESIS: Depressed economic conditions are associated with increased trauma and violent crime. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of prospectively collected data. SETTING AND INTERVENTIONS: Population and labor force data from 1992 to 2002 were obtained from the state Employment Development Department and the US Census Bureau. County data regarding the total number of trauma activations and mechanism of trauma were recorded. Crime statistics were obtained from the state Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Correlation statistics were performed. Health care coverage for victims of penetrating trauma was also analyzed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Correlation between unemployment rate, trauma epidemiology, and crime indexes. RESULTS: The correlation between the percentage penetrating trauma and the unemployment rate was R = 0.92 (Orange County, California) and R = 0.95 (Los Angeles County, California) (P<.001). The unemployment rate was also tightly correlated with Federal Bureau of Investigation crime indexes in both counties and in the state (P<.001). The overall county population was positively correlated with the total number of trauma occurrences in both counties (P<.001) but was negatively correlated with the number of penetrating traumas and crime indexes (P<.001). Seventy-five percent of penetrating trauma victims had no health care coverage or had state or county aid only. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of violent crime in a community is closely associated with the unemployment rate of that community and will vary longitudinally over time. The overall county population is less important. These data may be used for public policy initiatives regarding resource allocation to trauma centers, law enforcement planning, and programs aimed at crime prevention.

California↗

PubMed1996

Molecular/clinical correlations in females with fragile X.

Females who are affected by fragile X syndrome (FXS) can have significant physical, neuropsychological and emotional involvement. This study was designed to explore the relationships between these three domains and to learn how the degree of involvement in each of these phenotypic areas relates to molecular parameters including CGG repeat length and activation ratio (the proportion of normal FMR1 alleles on the active X chromosome). Three groups of females were studied: 35 women who grew up in a fragile X family but do not carry an FMR1 mutation, 92 women with a premutation, and 29 women with a full mutation. Correlations between neurocognitive, physical and emotional traits were calculated for each of the three groups. Within the full mutation group significant correlations were seen between schizotypal traits and full scale IQ. The Lie scale was significantly correlated with the physical findings index. The activation ratio correlated significantly with the measure of executive function (r = .50, P = .01). There was a trend toward correlations of activation ratio with the physical index score, outer ear prominence and IQ. CGG repeat number significantly correlated only with the physical index (r = .44, P = .01). Thus, activation ratio may be the more pertinent molecular parameter in full mutation women in determining the degree of cognitive and physical phenotypic involvement.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

How long does DNA keep the memory of its conformation? A time-dependent canonical correlation analysis of molecular dynamics simulation.

The time dependence of the correlation between motions of different parts of DNA is analyzed from a 200 ps molecular dynamics simulation of the double-stranded self-complementary d(CTGATCAG) in the B form. Each nucleotide is decomposed into three subunits corresponding to the furanose ring (SU), the base (BA), and the backbone (SK). The motion of each subunit is considered as the superimposition of rigid body translation, rigid body rotation, and internal deformation. Canonical time-dependent correlation functions calculated with coordinates describing the different components of the subunits motion are defined and computed. This allows us to probe how long a particular type of motion of one subunit influences the other types of motions of other subunits (cross correlation functions) or how long a particular subunit keeps the memory of its own conformation or location (autocorrelation functions). From autocorrelation analysis it is found that deformation decorrelates within a few tenths of picoseconds, rotational correlation times are on the order of 8 ps, while translational motions are long-time correlated. The deformation of a subunit is not correlated to the deformation of another one (at the 200 ps time scale of our simulation), but influences slightly their translation and orientation as time increases.

Base Sequence↗

PubMed2000

Two-dimensional vibrational correlation spectroscopy of in vitro hydroxyapatite maturation.

Two-dimensional (2-D) Raman and 2-D IR correlation spectroscopy are applied to analyze changes in the nu(4) region of the IR spectrum and in the nu(1) region of the Raman spectrum during the maturation of hydroxyapatite (HA) following the solution-mediated conversion of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) to HA. The nu(1) region of the Raman spectrum exhibits a frequency shift and sharpening during the maturation. Comparison of the experimental and simulated 2-D plots for this process suggests that the shift of a single peak, rather than a change in the relative intensity of two overlapped bands, is responsible for the observed spectral changes. The nu(4) mode of the PO(3-)(4) ion (T(2) symmetry in the free species) splits into a triplet with components near 563, 575, and 603 cm(-1) in HA. In addition, broad features appear at 540 and 617 cm(-1). During the latest stages of the maturation, an OH(-) librational mode develops at approximately 632 cm(-1). Changes in the relative intensities of three components of the nu(4) mode are not all correlated with each other. The synchronous 2-D plots reveal that the 563 and 603 cm(-1) pair are positively correlated while the feature at 575 cm(-1) is absent. A 587 cm(-1) mode arising from ACP is negatively correlated with the 563 and 603 cm(-1) pair and is both synchronously (positively) and asynchronously correlated with the 540 cm(-1) feature during the early stages of the maturation but is absent from 2-D plots of the later stages of the maturation. Cross correlations between the nu(4) mode and the nu(1),nu(3) contour generally confirm and extend previous assignments for the latter spectral region. Finally, the suitability of the 2-D approach for analysis of IR spectral images is examined through studies of HA crystallinity in a human iliac crest biopsy sample. Trabecular bone contains a fraction of HA that is more crystalline and mature than could be achieved in vitro during the room temperature ACP --> HA interconversion.

Biopsy↗

PubMed1996

Hippocampal place fields: relationship between degree of field overlap and cross-correlations within ensembles of hippocampal neurons.

The capacity to record from multiple neurons in awake freely moving animals provides a means for characterizing organizational principles of place field encoding within ensembles of hippocampal neurons. In this study, cross-correlations between pairs of hippocampal place cells and degree of overlap between their respective place fields were analyzed during behavioral performance of delayed matching (DMS) or non-matching sample (DNMS) tasks, or while the same rats chased pellets in a different environment. The relationship between field overlap and cross-correlations of neural spike activity within ensembles was shown to be a positive, exponentially increasing, function. Place fields from the same neurons were markedly "remapped" between the Delay and Pellet-chasing tasks, with respect to physical location and size of fields. However individual pairs of place cells within each ensemble retained nearly the same degree of overlap and cross-correlation even though the spatial environment and the tasks differed markedly. This suggested that place cells were organized in functional "clusters" which exhibited the same inter-relations with respect to place field overlap and cross-correlations, irrespective of actual field of location. When cross-correlations between place cells were compared to placement of the array recording electrodes within the hippocampus, the strongest correlations were found along previously defined posterior-projecting fiber gradients between CA3 and CA1 subfields (Ishizuka et al. [1990], J Comp Neurol 295:580-623; Li et al. [1994] (J Comp Neurol 339:181-208). These findings suggest that the functional organization of place fields conforms to anatomical principles suspected to operate within hippocampal ensembles.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Positron emission tomography correlations in and beyond medial temporal lobes.

This article discusses the potential usefulness of brain/ behavior correlational analyses in functional neuroimaging studies of memory, and how such analyses can illuminate the role of medial temporal lobes (MTL) and the hippocampus in episodic and declarative memory processes such as encoding and retrieval. Reanalysis of the results of four previously reported positron emission tomography (PET) studies yielded evidence of both positive and negative between-subjects correlations between recognition-memory accuracy and regional blood flow. The sites of these correlations were in MTL regions as well as in other cortical and subcortical areas, including frontal lobes (Brodmann areas 6, 9, 10, 11, and 47), temporal lobes (BAs 21, 22, and 38), insula, fusiform gyrus, and cuneus/precuneus. These findings were discussed with respect to issues such as localization of the correlation sites, the distinction between brain sites revealed by brain/cognition correlational analyses ("how" sites) and those yielded by cognitive subtraction methods ("what" sites), the tendency of the "how" sites in MTL to occur in the left hemisphere, the tendency of other "how" sites to occur in one or the other hemisphere, rather than bilaterally, and the meaning and "reality" of both brain/behavior correlations and task-related activations. Because of the known incidence of false-positives, all neuroimaging data, including those involving the localization of "what" and "how" memory sites in MTL and other brain regions, need to be interpreted cautiously, and findings of individual studies should not be overinterpreted.

Brain↗

PubMed1997

Analyzing sibship correlations in birth weight using large sibships from Norway.

Data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway were used to estimate sibship correlations in large sibships (each with > or = 5 infants among singleton live births surviving the first year of life), while adjusting for covariates such as infant gender, gestational age, maternal age, parity, and time since last pregnancy. This sample of 12,356 full sibs in 2,462 sibships born in Norway between 1968 and 1989 was selected to maximize the information on parity, and a robust approach to estimating both regression coefficients and the sibship correlation using generalized estimating equations (GEE) was employed. In concordance with previous studies, these data showed a high overall correlation in birth weight among full sibs (0.48 +/- 0.01), but this sibship correlation was influenced by parity. In particular, the correlation between the firstborn infant and a subsequent infant was slightly lower than between two subsequent sibs (0.44 +/- 0.01 vs. 0.50 +/- 0.01, respectively). The effect of time between pregnancies was statistically significant, but its predicted impact was modest over the period in which most of these large families were completed. While these data cannot discriminate whether factors influencing birth weight are maternal or fetal in nature, this analysis does illustrate how robust statistical models can be used to estimate sibship correlations while adjusting for covariates in family studies.

Birth Certificates↗

PubMed1989

The correlation of specific variables of tumor differentiation with response rate and survival in patients with advanced head and neck cancer treated with induction chemotherapy.

The authors have reported previously that conventionally defined grades of tumor morphology do not correlate with tumor response or survival in advanced squamous cell cancers of the head and neck (SCCHN) treated with cisplatinum combination induction therapy. This lack of correlation may be the result of the imprecision and subjectiveness of the conventional grade determination. To examine this possibility, response and survival were correlated with individual parameters of morphologic differentiation in 136 patients with advanced, untreated SCCHN. A multi-variable analysis of degree of keratinization, number of mitotic figures per high powered field, degree of nuclear differentiation, presence of vascular invasion, intensity of inflammatory response, and invasion pattern of the cancer was performed. The grade of each variable was weighted by assigning a score from 1 to 4, with 1 representing the most differentiated and 4 the least. The cumulative score of each specimen was tallied and assigned to one of three groups, less than 12, 12 to 18, and greater than 18, analogous to the conventional grades of well, moderately, and poorly differentiated, respectively. No correlation between the grade of individual morphologic variables and response to chemotherapy was demonstrated, or between tumor response and cumulative score groups. There was no correlation of the grade of individual morphologic variables or cumulative score groups with survival. Only the survival of patients achieving a complete response to chemotherapy was correlated with the cumulative score groups: 2-year survivals of 84%, 70%, and 46% for less than 12, 12 to 18, and greater than 18, respectively. Multi-parameter analysis of individual features of tumor differentiation is not superior to conventional morphologic analysis in predicting response to chemotherapy or survival in patients with advanced SCCHN.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Circulating tumor marker levels in advanced breast carcinoma correlate with the extent of metastatic disease.

The importance of the extent of metastatic disease in the circulating levels of CA 15-3 and carcinoembryonic antigens (CEA) was studied in 173 patients with advanced breast carcinoma. Estimates of the extent of metastatic disease were obtained by an objective arbitrary scale. Patients were observed clinically after serum samples were obtained, and survival was recorded. Elevated values of CA 15-3 (greater than 40 U/ml) were seen in 130 patients and CEA values (greater than 5 ng/ml) in 97 cases (75% versus 56%, P less than .0001). Elevated CA 15-3 values correlated with the estimated extent of metastatic disease (P less than .0001), number of metastases (P = .0006), and survival from study entry (P = .01). Elevated CEA values correlated with extent of disease (P less than .0001), but not with the number of metastases or with survival. No correlation was found between the elevated values of CA 15-3 or CEA and age, menopausal status, and initial tumor size or nodal status. The combination of the elevated values of CA 15-3 and CEA was more sensitive than CA 15-3 alone (P = .04), but there were no significant improvements when subgroups were considered. Significant differences, that depended on which specific organ was affected dominantly by metastases, were seen in the mean levels of CA 15-3 antigen. Similarly, patients with liver involvement had higher mean levels of CA 15-3 than those without hepatic metastases. A stepwise regression analysis of the dominant site of metastases, liver involvement, and estimated extent of disease showed that only the latter parameter retained a significant correlation with CA 15-3 antigen levels (P less than .0001). Median survival of patients who showed abnormal CA 15-3 levels was significantly shorter than that of patients with nonelevated CA 15-3 (10.1 versus 18.0 months, P = .04). This difference was not appreciated with CEA levels (10.2 versus 12.2 months, P = .4). We conclude that tumor marker levels in patients with advanced breast carcinoma correlate with the extent of metastatic disease. In addition, the CA 15-3 assay is more sensitive and correlates more accurately with the extent of disease than CEA. Finally, the observed CA 15-3 differences by organ involvement are related to the extent of disease variations. The objective evaluation of the extent of metastatic disease provides a new approach in the study and comparison of breast cancer-associated tumor markers.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Correlation of toxicity with pharmacokinetics of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (Doxil) in metastatic breast carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Doxil (ALZA Corp., Mountain View, CA) is a formulation of doxorubicin in polyethylene-glycol coated liposomes with a prolonged circulation time and unique toxicity profile. As yet, the effect of the dose schedule on toxicity and the correlation of toxicity with pharmacokinetics have not been directly addressed. METHODS: The objectives of this study were to examine the toxicity profile and pharmacokinetics of various dose schedules of Doxil in a group of patients with metastatic breast carcinoma (MBC) previously treated with chemotherapy. Forty-five patients received a total of 268 courses of Doxil (median per patient, 5; range, 1-19). Six dose schedules were investigated: 35 mg/m2 every 3 weeks (11 patients), 45 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks (5 patients), 50 mg/m(2) every 4 weeks (5 patients), 60 mg/m(2) every 4 weeks (6 patients), 65 mg/m(2) every 5 weeks (6 patients), and 70 mg/m(2) every 6 weeks (12 patients). Doxil pharmacokinetics was examined in 24 of these patients at the dose levels of 35, 45, 60, and 70 mg/m(2). RESULTS: Stomatitis was dose related, with higher incidence and severity at doses of 60-70 mg/m(2). Skin toxicity in the form of palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (PPE) developed usually after two or more courses of treatment and was schedule dependent with shorter dosing intervals leading to increased frequency and severity of skin manifestations. Myelosuppression, mainly as leukopenia/neutropenia, was dose dependent but mild and uncomplicated in most cases. Hair loss was infrequent (< 7%) and always of limited extent. Despite high cumulative doses up to 1500 mg/m(2), cardiac toxicity was observed in only 1 patient who received prior mitoxantrone and mediastinal radiotherapy. Objective responses, improvements, and durable stabilizations were observed in 9, 6, and 14 patients, respectively, indicating significant antitumor activity of Doxil in previously treated MBC patients. Doxil pharmacokinetics was well described by a monoexponential elimination curve with a long T(1/2) (median, 79 hours), a slow clearance (median, 40 mL/hour), and a small volume of distribution (median, 3.9 L). Cmax (peak plasma concentration) and AUC (area under the concentration*time curve) increased linearly with dose with a statistically significant correlation. Correlation analysis of dose and pharmacokinetic parameters with Doxil toxicites revealed that stomatitis grade and leukocyte nadir were correlated strongly with dose and Cmax, and weakly with AUC, whereas PPE grade was correlated significantly with only 1 parameter, T(1/2). CONCLUSIONS: The toxicity of Doxil is dose and schedule dependent and well correlated with pharmacokinetic parameters. Pharmacokinetic guidance of Doxil dosing may be a useful tool.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Correlation of hematopoietic progenitor cell count determined by the SE-automated hematology analyzer with CD34(+) cell count by flow cytometry in leukapheresis products.

The yield of stem cell collection after mobilization is crucial for autologous peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplantation. Quantitative determinations of CD34(+) cells using flow cytometry or stem cell culture have been used, but these methods require much time, technical experience, and expensive reagents. The automated hematology analyzer (Sysmex SE-9000trade mark, TOA, Japan) equipped with the Immature Information (IMI) channel for immature myeloid cells can detect IMI(+) cells within 90 sec. Detection is made possible by the combination of a special reagent system and direct current/radiofrequency biosensors. We studied the relation of IMI(+) cells and variable cell counts with CD34(+) cell yield in autologous stem cell harvest. In a series of 32 patients (median age, 44 years; M:F = 11:21), 184 leukaphereses were performed after mobilization regimens with chemotherapy and G-CSF or G-CSF alone. Full blood cell counts were enumerated on peripheral blood (PB) samples taken prior to each leukapheresis. Mononuclear cell (MNC) and IMI(+) cell counts by automated hematology analyzer and flow cytometry based CD34(+) cell yield were measured on the harvested product. The relationship among PB white blood cells (WBC), PB monocytes, IMI(+) cells, MNC, and CD34(+) cell yield in a single leukapheresis was estimated by Pearson correlation analysis. PB WBC count showed no correlation with CD34(+) cell yield in a single leukapheresis (r = 0.02, P = 0.81). PB monocyte count showed a weak correlation (r = 0.21, P = 0.01) and MNC in harvest also showed a weak correlation (r = 0.36, P = 0.0001) with CD34(+) cell yield. In contrast, CD34(+) cell yield correlated well with IMI(+) cell count (r = 0.68, P = 0.0001), and data could be fitted by a linear regression equation, y = 0.330 + 0.974x. IMI(+) cell assay by the automated hematology analyzer correlated well with the CD34(+) cell yield in a mobilized autologous stem cell harvest. The IMI(+) cell count might be used as a simple and efficient indicator of blood stem cell mobilization and collection.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

A family study of anthropometric traits in a Punjabi community: I. Introduction and familial correlations.

Data on 40 anthropometric measurements from 144 nuclear families in Chandigarh, India, are presented. Most families contain a pair of monozygotic or dizygotic twins, one or more singleton siblings, and their parents. Familial correlations for age-sex standardized, normalized measurements are estimated by maximum likelihood for marital, parent-child, sibling, and twin pairs. Heterogeneity tests for sex-specific subtype correlations male-male, male-female, female-female) indicate that the sex of the relative plays no significant role in the magnitude of the familial correlations except for maternal effects and differences among male and female twin pairs for a few of the variables. Marital correlations are high for body measurements, but not for head or face variables. Twin correlations seem to indicate a higher level of heritability than correlations from other family members.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2007

Genetic correlations between mandibular molar cusp areas in baboons.

Primate evolutionary studies rely significantly on dental variation given the large role that teeth play in how an organism interacts with its environment (animal and plant) and conspecifics. Variation in cusp size has been shown to vary among primate taxa, although most studies to date focused on extant and extinct hominoids. Here we test the assumed hypothesis that a significant proportion of this variation in baboons is due to the additive effects of genes. We perform quantitative genetic analyses on variation in two-dimensional (2-D) mandibular molar cusp size in a captive pedigreed breeding population of baboons (Papio hamadryas) from the Southwest National Primate Research Center. These analyses show that variation in cusp size is heritable and sexually dimorphic. Additionally, we tested for genetic correlations between cusps on the same crown, between morphological homologues along the tooth row, and between cusp area and crown buccolingual width. We find that four of the six cusp pairs on the first molar have a genetic correlation of one, save for the metaconid-hypoconid and entoconid-hypoconid, which are not statistically different from zero. The second and third molars have lower genetic correlations, although the metaconid-hypoconid correlation is similarly estimated at zero and the entoconid-protoconid correlation is estimated to be one. This cross pattern of genetic and no genetic correlation does not immediately accord with the known pattern of development and/or calcification. We propose two explanative hypotheses.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Correlates of failure following treatment with Sr-90 beta irradiation for in-stent restenosis.

We sought to determine the correlates of failure following intracoronary radiation therapy (IRT) with Sr-90 using the Novoste Beta-Cath system for the treatment of in-stent restenosis (ISR) in a broad range of patients. IRT has been shown to be more efficacious compared to placebo for the treatment of ISR in large randomized trials. However, even in patients treated with IRT, major adverse cardiac events occur in approximately 20% of cases on follow-up. This trial sought to elucidate the correlates of failure following successful IRT for ISR. To determine the correlates of IRT failure, we retrospectively compared the demographics, lesion characteristics, and clinical outcomes of 102 consecutive patients with ISR treated with Sr-90 from September 1998 to July 2001. IRT failure was defined as death, myocardial infarction (MI), or target vessel revascularization (TVR) due to repeat ISR on follow-up. A comparison of the clinical and angiographic profile of IRT failures (n = 16) vs. IRT successes (n = 86) revealed that a history of smoking (75% vs. 40%; P = 0.012), current use of calcium channel blockers (84% vs. 45%; P = 0.013), ostial location of target lesion (44% vs. 16%; P = 0.020), and mean posttreatment minimal luminal diameter (MLD; 1.64 +/- 0.19 vs. 2.21 +/- 0.29 mm; P < 0.001), respectively, were correlated with failure using univariate analysis. After multivariate regression analysis, the correlates of failure that remained significant were treatment of an ostial lesion (OR = 31.2; 95% CI = 2.6-382.7; P = 0.007) and final posttreatment MLD (P < 0.001). Ostial location of target lesion and smaller posttreatment MLD are correlated with subsequent death, MI, and TVR following therapy with Sr-90 for ISR.

Aged↗

PubMed1991

Dendritic morphology of pyramidal neurones of the visual cortex of the rat: II. Parameter correlations.

This study concerns the correlations between the various morphometric parameters obtained for the dendrites of neocortical pyramidal cells. The primary aims were to uncover underlying design principles in dendritic morphology, to see if these differed between different types of dendrite, and to see if estimates of parameters such as total dendritic shaft membrane area could be obtained from a limited number of measurements, avoiding the need to measure every dendritic segment. The data were from a sample of 39 pyramidal neurones, from layers 2/3 and 5 of the visual cortex of the rat, that had been injected with horseradish peroxidase, reconstructed, and measured with the light microscope as part of an earlier study (Larkman and Mason, '90: J. Neurosci. 10:1407-1414). Correlations between the somal area or the combined diameters of the stem segments and measures of the overall size of the dendrites were generally weak. For basal dendrites, the size of a tree was correlated with both its number of tips and the diameter of its stem segment, but these correlations were weaker for apical dendrites. Within individual cells, the diameter of any basal segment was closely related to the size of the tree arising from it, and quantitatively similar relations applied to apical oblique trees from the same cell. Terminal arbor trees showed relations that were similar in pattern but differed quantitatively, whereas apical trunk segment diameter correlations were often weak. In all cases, the number of tips in a tree was closely related to its size. Segment lengths, however, were not closely related to the size of the trees arising from them. It appears that at least some aspects of pyramidal dendritic morphology obey simple design rules. There was heterogeneity between trees of different types, although basal and oblique trees were very similar in most respects. It should prove possible to make use of correlations to estimate the sizes of basal, oblique, and terminal arbor trees from a limited number of measurements, but this does not seem to be possible for apical trunks.

Animals↗

PubMed1981

Correlation between cytometric features and mitotic frequency in human breast carcinoma.

An evaluation of cytometric features of 142 human breast cancers was performed. Twenty-two cytometric features describing density, structure and shape were correlated with mitotic frequency and labeling index of some of the tumors and with the observed recurrence rate of the tumors within 3 years after removal of the breast. A new cytometric measure was also created by combining the four features most strongly correlated with mitotic frequency of the tumors. It was found that the variance of the nuclear area was the feature that was most strongly correlated with mitotic frequency and recurrence rate. No new cytometric measure created by combining the four features most strongly correlated with mitotic frequency, correlated as well as variance of nuclear area even though the four features were optimized by multiple regression analysis for their correlation with mitotic frequency.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed2006

Regional cerebral brain metabolism correlates of neuroticism and extraversion.

Factor-analytic approaches to human personality have consistently identified several core personality traits, such as Extraversion/Introversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Consciousness, and Openness. There is an increasing recognition that certain personality traits may render individuals vulnerable to psychiatric disorders, including anxiety disorders and depression. Our purpose in this study was to explore correlates between the personality dimensions neuroticism and extraversion as assessed by the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and resting regional cerebral glucose metabolism (rCMRglu) in healthy control subjects. Based on the anxiety and depression literatures, we predicted correlations with a network of brain structures, including ventral and medial prefrontal cortex (encompassing anterior cingulate cortex and orbitofrontal cortex), insular cortex, anterior temporal pole, ventral striatum, and the amygdala. Twenty healthy women completed an (18F)FDG (18F-fluorodeoxyglucose) positron emission tomography (PET) scan at rest and the NEO-FFI inventory. We investigated correlations between scores on NEO-FFI Neuroticism and Extraversion and rCMRglu using statistical parametric mapping (SPM99). Within a priori search territories, we found significant negative correlations between Neuroticism and rCMRglu in the insular cortex and positive correlations between Extraversion and rCMRglu in the orbitofrontal cortex. No significant correlations were found involving anterior cingulate, amygdala, or ventral striatum. Neuroticism and Extraversion are associated with activity in insular cortex and orbitofrontal cortex, respectively.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Correlated attributes and categorization in the first half-year of life.

In two experiments with 36 human infants, we asked whether 3- and 6-month-olds could use correlations between attributes of individual objects to categorize. Infants learned to kick to move block mobiles that simultaneously displayed two categories defined by the figures displayed on them: the colors of the figures and the colors of the blocks. Two features were correlated, and the third varied across categories. Only 6-month-olds categorized novel category exemplars that preserved the original feature correlations (Experiment 1A), but both 3- and 6-month-olds discriminated feature recombinations that broke the original correlations (Experiment 1B). When category exemplars were presented successively, 6-month-olds also learned the feature correlations and used them to categorize (Experiment 2), but their performance was less robust. Infants' superior learning when stimuli were presented simultaneously may reflect "unitization," a learning disposition unique to immature infants. These experiments reveal that infants' ability to use correlated attributes to categorize emerges months earlier than previously thought.

Concept Formation↗