BackgroundLightweight and portable devices that objectively measure concussion-related impairments could improve injury detection and critical decision-making in contact sports and the military, where brain injuries commonly occur but remain underreported. Current standard assessments often rely heavily on subjective methods such as symptom self-reporting. Head-mounted wearables, such as smartglasses, provide an emerging platform for consideration that could deliver the range of assessments necessary to develop a rapid and objective screen for brain injury. Standing balance assessment, one parameter that may inform a concussion diagnosis, could theoretically be performed quantitatively using current off-the-shelf smartglasses with an internal accelerometer. However, the validity of balance measurement using smartglasses has not been investigated.ObjectiveThis study aimed to perform preliminary validation of a smartglasses-based balance accelerometer measure (BAM) compared with the well-described and characterized waist-based BAM.MethodsForty-two healthy individuals (26 male, 16 female; mean age 23.8 [SD 5.2] years) participated in the study. Following the BAM protocol, each subject performed 2 trials of 6 balance stances while accelerometer and gyroscope data were recorded from smartglasses (Glass Explorer Edition). Test-retest reliability and correlation were determined relative to waist-based BAM as used in the National Institutes of Health’s Standing Balance Toolbox.ResultsBalance measurements obtained using a head-mounted wearable were highly correlated with those obtained through a waist-mounted accelerometer (Spearman rho, ρ=.85). Test-retest reliability was high (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC2,1=0.85, 95% CI 0.81-0.88) and in good agreement with waist balance measurements (ICC2,1=0.84, 95% CI 0.80-0.88). Considering the normalized path length magnitude across all 3 axes improved interdevice correlation (ρ=.90) while maintaining test-retest reliability (ICC2,1=0.87, 95% CI 0.83-0.90). All subjects successfully completed the study, demonstrating the feasibility of using a head-mounted wearable to assess balance in a healthy population.ConclusionsBalance measurements derived from the smartglasses-based accelerometer were consistent with those obtained using a waist-mounted accelerometer. Additional research is necessary to determine to what extent smartglasses-based accelerometry measures can detect balance dysfunction associated with concussion. However, given the potential for smartglasses to perform additional concussion-related assessments in an integrated, wearable platform, continued development and validation of a smartglasses-based balance assessment is warranted. This approach could lead to a wearable platform for real-time assessment of concussion-related impairments that could be further augmented with telemedicine capabilities to integrate professional clinical guidance. Smartglasses may be superior to fully immersive virtual reality headsets for this application, given their lighter wei...

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often have severe behavioral problems. Not all children with these problems respond to atypical antipsychotic medications; therefore, we investigated whether peripheral blood gene expression before treatment with risperidone, an atypical antipsychotic, was associated with improvements in severe behavioral disturbances 8 weeks following risperidone treatment in 42 ASD subjects (age 112.7±51.2 months). Exon expression levels in blood prior to risperidone treatment were compared with pre-post risperidone change in Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Irritability (ABC-I) scores. Expression of exons within 5 genes was correlated with change in ABC-I scores across all risperidone-treated subjects: GBP6, RABL5, RNF213, NFKBID, and RNF40 (α<0.001). RNF40 is located at 16p11.2, a region implicated in autism and schizophrenia. Thus, these genes expressed prior to treatment were associated with subsequent clinical response. Future studies will be needed to confirm these results and determine whether this expression profile is associated with risperidone response in other disorders, or alternative antipsychotic response within ASD.

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The internet and its associated electronic technologies have provoked a considerable wave of worry and anxiety among parents and policy makers worldwide in recent years. But in this discussion a very crucial distinction has not been sufficiently made. It is one thing to say that there are risks online. The research has clearly established the point that such perils exist, from online molesters and bullies, to exposure to problematic content. But where it is easy for people to jump beyond the evidence base is when they assert, not just that there are risks, but that the Internet is a risk-promoting environment or a specially risky environment. They imply that there are features of the Internet that increase risk for young people above what they already encounter or what they encounter in other environments, or what they used to encounter. It is hard to cite any research that as yet supports that notion. Yet, this is the narrative implicit in much of what is being written.Of course, writers generally preface their discussion of risks by talking about the benefits of the Internet, making the point that it has both risks and benefits. But then they go on to describe Internet dynamics that increase risks and that increase the potential for deviance or corruption. (Pellow, 2009) In a phrase, they assert that the Internet is a risk-and social problem "amplifier." So, for example, the contention is, not just that they can encounter sexual exploiters online, but that the Internet makes it more likely that children will be sexually abused because it has made it so easy for molesters to find them.