The impact of experimental instruction on changes in EEG power during verbal creative thinking in men and women

Features of EEG pattern during verbal creative thinking depending on experimental instruction were studied in men and women. Spectral power density was analyzed in six frequency bands (4-30 Hz). Performance of a creative task produced an increase in the power of theta (4-6 Hz) and beta2 (20-40 Hz) components and decrease in the power of alpha (8-13 Hz) and betal (13-20 Hz). Changes in the alpha and betal bands were observed, predominantly, in the posterior areas, whereas power of the thetal and beta2 bands increased in the anterior areas. Independently of instruction, women demonstrated greater synchronization in the theta1 band than men, whereas in men the desynchronization in the alpha2 band (10-13 Hz) was more pronounced. When the subjects were instructed to create original sentences, a widespread decrease in the EEG power was observed in the band of 8-30 Hz as compared to instruction "to create sentences". Thus, the instruction-related changes in EEG power were not gender-specific. They may reflect neural activity mediating selective attention.     

Dynamics of EEG-indicators in alcohol abstinence

To study the possibility of discrimination of different periods of alcohol abstinence state (acute, subacute, and arrested) the brain electrical activity of 30 patients with chronic alcoholism was recorded from 24 sites of convexital scalp surface during the detoxication. The "Synchro-EEG" program package was applied for EEG processing using 840 parameters. Sets of state-specific characters were selected, and an integral parameter for estimation of the brain functional state was developed. Parameters of coherence of biopotentials in narrow frequency subbands turned to be of the greatest informative value. As compared to the normal state, in the acute period all the frequency components were changed. Their dynamics during detoxication was different. Delta and theta activity were normalized faster then the alpha and beta frequencies. The dynamics of the spatial synchronization foci reflected the recovery of consciousness and normalization of the brain functional state.     

Indices of Coherence of EEG Rhythms in the Course of Cognitive Activity as Markers of Creative Thinking: Gender Specificity

According to the results of psychological testing, persons aged 18 to 21 years were divided into four groups, women and men with low and high productivity of divergent (creative, nonroutine) thinking (n = = 18 to 23). Results of EEG recording (19 leads) were used for calculation of the coherence coefficients for oscillations of the delta, theta, alpha1, alpha2, alpha3, beta, and gamma frequencies in lead pairs and estimation of integral indices of coherence within the anterior and posterior cortical regions and between these zones (interaction coefficients, IC1-IC3, respectively). EEG was recorded in the resting state and in the course of resolving convergent- and divergent-type cognitive test tasks. It was found that, during the performance of tests of both types, men with a higher productivity of divergent thinking demonstrated significantly higher values of IC1 (that characterizes the coherence in associative linkages within the anterior cortex) for oscillations of all EEG frequency ranges compared with the respective estimates for “low-creative” men. Similar increments were typical of the IC2 values for low- and midfrequency EEG rhythms (delta, theta, and alpha). At the same time, values of the “interregional” IC3 for theta, beta, and gamma activity in “high-creativity” men were significantly lower. In women of both groups (low and high creativity), such specificity of the IC1-IC3 patterns was practically not observed, i.e., the respective aspect demonstrated clear gender specificity. The sex of the subjects and type of the performed cognitive tests could not be considered factors significantly affecting the calculated absolute IC values. The observed specificities of integral coherence indices are probably associated with different strategies of the performance of cognitive tasks in men and women. Our findings allow us to believe that the above interrelations between integrated coherence indices can be used as EEG markers of high productivity of divergent thinking in men. The more flexible strategies of thinking in women are probably related to more variable neurophysiological cortical mechanisms (compared with those in men), and this type of organization is not clearly reflected in the pattern of intracortical interactions estimated by coherence indices.     

Prevalence of and risk factors associated with alcohol abuse in Moshi, northern Tanzania

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of and risk factors associated with alcohol abuse among women and men in Moshi in northern Tanzania. Alcohol abuse was measured by a CAGE score of 2-4, versus 0-1 for no alcohol abuse (Ewing, 1984). Crude and adjusted logistic regression models determined odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of alcohol abuse by characteristics of, respectively, women with partners (n=1200), women without partners (n=614) and men (n=788) (women's partners). Prevalence of alcohol abuse was 7.0% (95% CI: 5.6-8.4) among women with partners, 9.3% (95% CI: 7.0-11.6) among women without partners, and more than double among men at 22.8% (95% CI: 19.9-25.8). In general, Christians had higher alcohol abuse than Muslims or other religions, as did Chagga men compared with men of other ethnic groups. Other socio-demographic characteristics, such as education or income, were not significant. Sexual behaviours were significant predictors of alcohol abuse. For example, women without partners who reported more than two partners in the last year had higher alcohol abuse compared with women reporting no partners (OR=8.75; 95% CI: 2.37-32.31), as did men reporting it is 'OK to hit a partner' for any reason (OR=1.79; 95% CI: 1.16-2.77) compared with men who did not. HIV-1 infection was not significantly associated with alcohol abuse by women or men. The Christian Church in Moshi should consider raising awareness about the harmful effects of high alcohol use among its adherents. Comprehensive programmes focusing on reducing number of partners and alcohol use, particularly by men, are needed in this community.     

Genetic disposition to alcoholism. An EEG study in alcoholics and their relatives

Summary Family, twin, and adoption studies have shown that genetic factors are involved in the etiology of alcoholism. Based on earlier EEG findings in alcoholics and on the known genetic determination of the alcohol effect on the EEG, the hypothesis was tested whether the resting EEG reflects a certain disposition to alcoholism. Resting EEGs were examined for 115 alcoholics (78 males, 37 females) and matched controls. In addition, the first-degree relatives of two extreme groups of alcoholics—those with poor and those with particularly good alpha waves—were examined and compared with matched controls. The EEGs were analyzed with an EEG processor. Whereas male alcoholics did not differ from their controls, female patients showed a shift from the alpha and theta to the beta bands of the brain wave pattern. The relatives of the two extreme groups of alcoholics, who did not misuse alcohol, exhibited the same tendency. This is an argument supporting the notion that in females a poorly synchronized EEG pattern reflects a certain disposition to alcoholism. This finding is discussed in light of drinking motivation in males and females. The latter more often belong to the alpha-and gamma-types of alcoholism than do males. Because of comparable findings in schizophrenics it is argued that a genetically determined desynchronized resting EEG pattern is not specific for a certain illness, but reflects basic mechanisms that enhance the risk for different psychiatric disorders.This study was supported by the Bundesminister für Jugend, Familie und Gesundheit, Bonn (Gesch.-Z.343-4919-0/15)     

The influence of visual imagery experience on EEG spatial organization

The comparison of EEG spatial organization between groups of 23 students of graphic arts department ("professional" subjects) and 39 subjects of another specialization ("non-professional" subjects) was made in order to find EEG correlates of visual imagery experience. Changes in the spatial organization of biopotentials (spatial synchronization and spatial disorder, spectral power and coherence) were analyzed while subjects mentally composed visual images from two simple elements, right angle and oblique line. The total number of elements presented for the image composition increased with each subsequent task (in total, four tasks were presented) from the number adequate to simultaneous perception and conscious processing (less than 7 +/- 2) to a much higher number. Intergroup differences, especially, in the degree of the spatial disorder (non-linear processes), were most evident under conditions when the subjects operated with a greater number of elements (tasks 3 and 4). This parameter increased more rapidly in "professionals" than in "non-professionals". These changes were most pronounced in the right anterior cortex. In "non-professional" subjects, spatial synchronization (linear processes) increased in the right posterior area. In "professional" subjects, coherence and spectral power increased in a greater number of narrow EEG frequency subbands than in "non-professional" subjects. The findings suggest that the imagery performance in subjects with visual imagery experience involves complicated neurodynamic processes such as non-linear dynamics and numerous EEG spatial resonance systems.     

Electroencephalographic Correlates of Mental Performance of Emotional Autobiographic and Scenic Situations: II. Characteristics of Spatial Synchronization

The EEG spatial synchronization in the frequency bands , , ₁, ₂, ₁, and ₂ was studied on the basis of estimations of corresponding mean values of the coherence function in two groups of subjects (students actors and nonactors) during internal induction of emotional states by means of recall of autobiographic experience and mental performance of given scenic situations as a known character. Emotion-induced changes in the state of the cortex were reflected in statistically significant heterogeneous changes in the EEG spatial synchronization in many cortical areas and different frequency bands. The results obtained are discussed in combination with data presented earlier on changes in EEG local synchronization obtained in the course of the same experiments. The EEG bands stand out against the background of extensive changes in the local and spatial EEG synchronization: the EEG changes in these bands are most prominent. Also, the changes in the prefrontal and temporal cortical areas, most involved in actualization of emotional states, are noteworthy. Some of the findings can be interpreted as confirming the hypothesis about neurophysiological mechanisms of brain defense from functionally excessive emotions.     

Frequency-spatial organization of brain electrical activity in creative verbal thinking: role of the gender factor

Gender differences in EEG patterns associated with verbal creativity were studied by EEG mapping. The EEGs of 18 males and 21 females (right-handed university students) were recorded during a performance of Remote Associates Task (RAT) compared with the letter-fluency and simple associate's tasks. Gender differences were found in a factor structure of the indices of verbal thinking and a score of generating words was greater in women than men. No significant gender differences in originality of associations were revealed, however, gender-related differences in the EEG-patterns were found at the final and initial stages of RAT. In men, the beta2-power was increased in both hemispheres at the beginning of test. To the end of testing, the power of oscillations in the beta2 band increased only in the central part of the cortex. In women, the beta2-power was increased to a greater extent in the right than in the left hemisphere at the initial stage of task performance, whereas the final stage was characterized by a relative decrease in beta-activity in parietotemporal cortical regions and increase in the left prefrontal region. It is suggested that the verbal creative thinking in men is based mostly on "insight" strategy whereas women additionally involve the "intellectual" strategy.     

Gender differences in resting EEG related to Eysenk's Personality Traits

EEG mapping was used to study gender differences in hemispheric organization related to personality (40 male and 42 female subjects, the students 17-20 ages). The results showed, that each clearly defined personality trait (neuroticism, extraversion, psychoticizm and social conformity) characterized by special EEG pattern differenced on men and women groups. At the same time, more close interaction of gender and neuroticism was observed, but gender and extraversion were less connected. Neuroticism related patterns of coherence in the alpha2- and beta2-bands were associated with an activity changes in anterior cortex in men but posterior--in women, at that the positive correlations were observed in the beta2-band in the former case and negative ones in the second. There are two opposing tendencies of the interaction between extraversion and gender in a modulation of the resting theta-rhythm: an increase of cortex connections in men and decrease ones in women. The specificity of spatial-temporal EEG patterns in men associated mostly with a psychoticizm value but in women--with a social conformism. In either case these personality traits related to activity of frontal cortex in the left hemisphere.     

Multiple parameter comparative EEG analysis in alcoholism and narcotic dependence

Multiparametric comparative analysis of spatial organization of EEG was carried out in 137 alcoholics and 131 heroin addicts. Common and different deviations from normal EEG (105 control subjects) were found. Global alterations of EEG spatial organization were observed in drug addicts (as compared to alcoholics). Such changes characterized increasing synchronizing effects of mesolimbic and brainstem structures on the brain cortex. The ethanol effects were more specific and asymmetric. Changes in EEG spectral-coherence characteristics were revealed in all frequency band, however, maximal changes took place in the high-frequency theta in drug addicts and in narrow-frequency alpha subranges in alcoholics. Different effects on the high-frequency EEG component (19.00-21.25 Hz) and information-energy index (coherence-to-spectral power ratio) suggest the difference influence of ethanol and heroin on emotional-motivational and cognitive processes as well as the level of consciousness. The obtained data on EEG discrimination of alcoholism and drug addiction (the inverse problem solution) on the basis of "specific" EEG patterns appear to have considerable promise in development of systems of occupational selection.     

EEG Dynamics in Women during Pregnancy and after Delivery

Clinical and spectral analyses of EEG recorded in the first trimester of pregnancy and six to nine months postpartum were performed in 11 women. It was shown that, in all examined women, the spectral power of virtually all rhythms of baseline postpartum EEG was uniquely decreased compared to the EEG during pregnancy in all derivations. To a lesser extent, this was characteristic of the ₂ rhythm. Changes in the postpartum EEG were most manifest during hyperventilation, predominantly, in the form of burst and paroxysmal activity. The women were divided into groups with and without postpartum paroxysmal activity. It was observed that abnormal pregnancy was more frequent in women with burst EEG activity in the nopregnant state. This index can be used as a test to reveal the group of risk of unfavorable course of pregnancy.     

Randomised controlled trial of general practitioner intervention in patients with excessive alcohol consumption.

OBJECTIVE: To determine effectiveness of advice from general practitioners to heavy drinkers to reduce their excessive alcohol consumption (35 U or more a week for men, 21 U or more for women). DESIGN: Randomised, controlled double blind trial over 12 months with interim assessment at six months. SETTING: Group practices (n = 47; list size averaging 10,000) recruited from Medical Research Council''s general practice research framework, mostly in rural or small urban settings. PATIENTS: Patients recruited after questionnaire survey. Of total of 2571 (61.2%) of 4203 patients invited for interview who attended, 909 (35.4%) stated that in past seven days they had drunk above the limits set for study and had not received advice; they were randomised to control and treatment groups. INTERVENTIONS: Patients in treatment group were interviewed by general practitioner (who had had a training session) and received advice and information about how to reduce consumption and also given a drinking diary. END POINT: Study aimed at detecting a reduction in proportion of men with excessive alcohol consumption of 30% in treatment group and 20% in control group (for women 40% and 20%, respectively) with a power of 90% at 5% level of significance. In addition, corroborative measures such as estimation of gamma-glutamyltransferase activity were included. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: At one year a mean reduction in consumption of alcohol of 18.2 (SE 1.5) U/week had occurred in treated men compared with a reduction of 8.1 (1.6) U/week in controls (p less than 0.001). The proportion of men with excessive consumption at interview had dropped by 43.7% in the treatment group compared with 25.5% in controls (p less than 0.001). A mean reduction in weekly consumption of 11.5 (1.6) U occurred in treated women compared with 6.3 (2.0) U in controls (p less than 0.05), with proportionate reductions of excessive drinkers in treatment and control groups of 47.7% and 29.2% respectively. Reduction in consumption increased significantly with number of general practitioner interventions. At one year the mean value for gamma-glutamyltransferase activity had dropped significantly more in treated men (-2.4 (0.9)IU/l) than in controls (+1.1(1.0)IU/l; t = 2.7, p less than 0.01). Reduction in gamma-glutamyltransferase activity tended to increase with number of intervention sessions in men. Changes in gamma-glutamyltransferase activity in women and changes in other indicators in both sexes did not differ significantly between treatment and control groups. CONCLUSIONS: If the results of this study were applied to the United Kingdom intervention by general practitioners could each year reduce to moderate levels the alcohol consumption of some 250000 men and 67500 women who currently drink to excess. General practitioners and other members of the primary health care team should therefore be encouraged to include counselling about alcohol consumption in their preventive activities.     

Are general practitioners doing enough to promote healthy lifestyle? Findings of the Medical Research Council's general practice research framework study on lifestyle and health.

The health survey questionnaire was used to collect information about cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, physical exercise, and dieting and weight. Completed questionnaires were received from 25,496 men and 36,657 women registered with 47 group practices in England and Scotland. The proportions of respondents who stated that they had a problem ranged from 1% (women and drinking, n = 406) to 34% (women and weight, n = 12,526). Between 49% (women and drinking, n = 18,048) and 67% (men (n = 17,095) and women (n = 24,550) and weight) thought that their general practitioners should be interested in their lifestyle. The proportions who could recall having received relevant advice ranged from 2% (women and drinking, n = 591) to 24% (women and weight, n = 8946). Advice about smoking had been given to 4055 (40%) of the women and 2941 (39%) of the men who smoked. Only 96 (10%) of the 989 women and 331 (17%) of the 1948 men who drank excessively could recall having received advice about alcohol consumption. These results suggest that patients are concerned about their lifestyle, that most would welcome relevant counselling, and that doctors should become more concerned with prevention of this kind.     

Retention of orienting reaction habituation in chronic alcoholics

A polygraphic study on resistance to habituation of the somatic (EMG), autonomic (finger plethysmogram, galvanic skin reaction, respiration) and EEG (acoustic-evoked potential and EEG-blocking reaction) components of the orienting reaction, elicited by a repetitive auditory stimulus during successive (weekly) sessions was performed in 67 chronic alcoholics and in 70 matched normal subjects (control group). The study showed significant retention disturbances of orienting reaction habituation (i.e., of learning), or the "saving" of stimulations, achieved from one session to the other to obtain the habituation criterion, the savings being less in alcoholics than in control subjects. The severity of habituation retention disturbances depended on patients' ages, types of alcoholism, alcohol consumption intensity and chronicity, as well as the type of resting EEG.     

Sex, age, geographical location, smoking, and alcohol consumption influence serum selenium concentrations in the USA: third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994.

Selenium has been reported to reduce the risk for heart diseases and cancer. We examined the association of sex, age, geographical location, serum cotinine concentrations, a measure of smoking intensity, and alcohol consumption with serum selenium concentrations in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), 1988-1994. Study sample consisted of 14,619 apparently healthy individuals (male: 7,102; female: 7,517) aged 14 to >90 years. Sex, age, geographical location, serum cotinine concentrations, and alcohol consumption significantly influenced serum selenium concentrations (P < 0.05). The mean (+/- standard error) serum selenium concentration in men (124.5 +/- 0.20 ng/mL) was significantly higher than in women (122.0 +/- 0.20 ng/mL) (P < 0.0001). Men in the 31-50 y age group had the highest mean serum selenium concentration. In the same age group, women had the lowest mean serum selenium concentration. In both sexes, participants living in the Midwest and West had significantly higher serum selenium concentrations than those living in South and Northeast geographical locations. Serum cotinine was negatively associated with serum selenium concentrations in both men (beta = -0.0108; P < 0.0001 for trend) and women (beta = -0.0097; P < 0.0001 for trend). Alcohol consumption is positively associated with serum selenium in women (beta = 0.0462; P = 0.0044 for trend) but not in men (beta = 0.0015; P = 0.8496 for trend). Although, sex, age, geographical location, smoking, and alcohol intake influenced serum selenium concentrations, clinically low serum selenium concentrations are not common in the USA.     

Characteristics of interhemispheric EEG band power distribution in high anxiety individuals under emotionally neutral and aversive arousal conditions

The 62-channel EEG was recorded in control (CI, n = 21) and high anxiety (HA, n = 18) individuals under emotionally neutral (eyes closed, eyes open, and neutral videoclip) as well as under emotionally positive and aversive arousal conditions elicited by affective videoclips. In the present study the first three experimental conditions (eyes closed--eyes open--viewing emotionally neutral films) modeled increasing non-emotional arousal. Findings from this continuum show that in the HA individuals the lowest level of tonic arousal (eyes closed) was associated with stronger right-sided parietotemporal theta1 and beta1 activity. Group differences during cortical arousal increased by sensory stimulation (eyes open, neutral clips presentation) were marked only by persisting favored right hemisphere beta1 activity in high anxiety individuals. Under aversive arousal condition, attended by high intensity experience of emotions of anger, fear, disgust and anxiety, the HA subjects selectively desynchronized the right parietotemporal beta1 power which was initially higher in the control conditions. The obtained findings allow to suggest that peculiarities of right-sided parietotemporal EEG theta1 and beta1 activity in HA individuals under studied emotionally neutral and aversive arousal conditions point to overactivated withdrawal system in "checking" and "control" modes.     

Comparative analysis of EEG spatial organization in the rats with different level of genetically determinated anxiety under ethanol

The pecularities of EEG changes in the rats with geneticaly different level of anxiety was studed after ethanol injection. The biopotentials spatial synchronization and entropy in the "high anxious" rats (strain MR) did not increase under low dose; on the contrary the above changes were characteristic for the rats without anxiety signs (strain MNRA). After injection of middle and high ethanol doses the "high anxious" rats as compared with "low anxious" ones had the "simplification" of reaction type--the increase of narrow frequency coherence (i.e. linear biopotentials relationship) and spectral power of theta-activity (5.75-7.25 Hz), which was combined with the decrease of nonlinear biopotential characteristics. This fact is interpreted as the predominance of subcortical mechanisms of the brain functional state regulation over cortical ones. The significant decrease of high frequency EEG components in "high anxious" rats takes place under more high ethanol doses, presumably reflecting the increase of the anxiolytic level of ethanol effect.     

Gender-Dependent Frequency–Spatial Organization of the Brain Cortex Activity during Convergent and Divergent Thinking: I. Analysis of the EEG Power

The frequency–spatial organization of the brain cortex activity of men and women was studied during convergent (CTh) and divergent (DTh) thinking by means of EEG power mapping in a broad frequency band. Right-handed 17- to 23-year-old students (36 men and 30 women) participated in the study. Mental arithmetic was used as a model of CTh. Functional changes in the EEG patterns in the ₁ and ₁ frequency bands were distinct in CTh: the activation of the frontal cortical regions with a predominant involvement of right-hemispheric mechanisms of sustained attention was characteristic of the men, whereas, in the women, desynchronization of the ₁ rhythm was shifted to the caudal part of the cortex with a stronger left-hemispheric control over the calculating operations. This difference may be indicative of the involvement of different attention mechanisms and, consequently, the predominant use of the verbal or visuospatial strategies of CTh in men and women. Regardless of the gender, DTh was accompanied by an increase in the EEG power in the ₂ band. The successful performance of a divergent task was determined by different frequency components of the brain activation in men and women. In men, successful performance was associated with a substantial increase in the power of the ₂ rhythm and weak EEG desynchronization in the ₁ band; in women, successful performance was characterized by a lower increase in the amplitude of the ₂ oscillations as compared to noncreative persons and stronger EEG desynchronization in the ₁ band. The reciprocal changes in the power of the ₁ and ₂ rhythms in men and women during successful DTh may reflect the difference in interactions between cortical and subcortical structures in the regulation of voluntary, involuntary, and differential attention.     

Common genetic origins for EEG, alcoholism and anxiety: the role of CRH-BP

The resting EEG is a dynamic index of cortical activation, cognitive function and consciousness and is therefore an intermediate phenotype for many behaviors in which arousal is implicated such as anxiety and alcoholism. We performed a dense whole genome linkage scan using 3878 unlinked SNPs in a large pedigree derived from a population isolate sample of 328 Plains American Indians. Alpha (8-13 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz) and beta (13-30 Hz) EEG power was heritable (0.58-0.27) and stable over a 2 year period (r = 0.82-0.53). Genetic correlations between frequency bands were high (0.75). Linkage peaks for EEG power in all three frequency bands converged on chromosome 5q13-14 with genome-wide significant LOD scores of 3.5 (empirical p<0.0001) for alpha and beta power. A logical candidate gene, corticotropin releasing hormone-binding protein (CRH-BP), was located at the apex of these convergent linkage peaks. CRH-BP was significantly associated with alpha power in the Plains Indians and also in a replication sample of 188 Caucasians. Moreover, the same SNPs and haplotypes, located within the CRH-BP haplotype block, were also associated with anxiety disorders in the Plains Indians and alcohol use disorders in the Caucasians. CRH-BP modulates CRH which influences cortical and hippocampal EEG activity and is the primary mediator of the neuroendocrine stress response. Our results suggest a likely role for CRH-BP in stress-related alcoholism and highlight the use of the resting EEG as an intermediate phenotype for arousal-related behaviors such as anxiety and addiction.     

Prevalence of Sarcopenia and Its Relationship with Sites of Fragility Fractures in Elderly Chinese Men and Women

Objective

Sarcopenia might be associated with bone fragility in elderly individuals. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia and its association with fragility fracture sites in elderly Chinese patients.

Methods

Patients (322 men and 435 women) aged 65–94 years and with a history of fragility fractures in the ankle, wrist, vertebrae or hip, and healthy men (n = 1263) and women (n = 1057) aged 65–92 years without a history of fractures were enrolled. Whole-body dual energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to analyze skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), fat mass and bone mineral density. Sarcopenia was defined as SMI less than two standard deviations below the mean of a young reference group.

Results

Sarcopenia occurrence varied with fracture location. Sarcopenia was more common in females with vertebral and hip fractures and in men with hip and ankle fractures than in the non-fracture group). Sarcopenia was significantly more prevalent in men with wrist, hip and ankle fractures than in women. SMI was correlated with BMD in different fracture groups. Logistic regression analyses revealed that lower SMI was associated with an increased risk of hip fracture both in men and women and ankle fracture in men.

Discussion

Sarcopenia may be an independent risk factor for hip and ankle fractures in men, and for hip fractures in women.