All articles tagged with #cortical thickness
Researchers at UC Davis identified significant sex-specific differences in brain development between autistic boys and girls aged 2-13, with autistic girls showing a thicker cortex at age 3 and faster cortical thinning into middle childhood. The study underscores the importance of including both sexes in autism research to fully understand the condition's biological underpinnings and address the sex bias in diagnoses.
A neuroimaging study in South Korea found that individuals with social anxiety disorder have increased cortical thickness in certain brain regions, along with reduced neuron numbers in areas related to attention and socio-emotional processing. The study, published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, identified alterations in the insula, superior parietal lobule, frontopolar cortex, and superior temporal gyrus, as well as reduced thickness in the left superior/middle frontal gyrus and left fusiform gyrus. These findings suggest distinct neural mechanisms underlying social anxiety disorder, although further research is needed to confirm the results.
A new study has found that the brain can repair its structure and regain cortical thickness after heavy drinking once alcohol use ceases. The research, conducted on individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD), showed that cortical thickness increased over time, with significant recovery observed after 7.3 months of abstinence. The study also found that quitting smoking may contribute to the recovery of cortical thickness. However, the small sample size and lack of diversity in the study limit the generalizability of the findings, and further research is needed to understand the neurocognitive and psychosocial effects of cortical thickness recovery in AUD.
A neuroimaging study conducted in Germany found that women who experienced childhood trauma had reduced cortical thickness in specific brain areas, particularly the right lingual gyrus of the occipital lobe. Individuals who experienced childhood trauma and later developed borderline personality disorder (BPD) had even thinner cortices in several additional brain areas. Childhood trauma is a major risk factor for mental health disorders, and this study adds to our understanding of the brain's response to trauma. However, the study's limitations include a small sample size and the exclusion of men.