In blind individuals, visually deprived occipital areas are activated by non-visual stimuli. The extent of this cross-modal activation depends on the age at onset of blindness. Cross-modal inputs have access to several anatomical pathways to reactivate deprived visual areas. Ectopic cross-modal subcortical connections have been shown in anophthalmic animals but not in animals deprived of sight ...

BACKGROUND The existence of health inequalities between least and most socially deprived areas is now well established. AIM To use Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicators to explore the characteristics of primary care in deprived communities. DESIGN OF STUDY Two-year study. SETTING Primary care in England. METHOD QOF data were obtained for each practice in England in 2004-2005 a...

OBJECTIVES To determine the extent to which type of hospital admission (emergency compared with elective) and surgical procedure varied by socioeconomic circumstances, age, sex, and year of admission for colorectal, breast, and lung cancer. DESIGN Repeated cross sectional study with data from individual patients, 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2006. SETTING Hospital episode statistics (HES) datas...

PURPOSE Behavioral problems occur more frequently among adolescents in deprived areas, but most evidence concerns urbanized areas. Our aim was to assess the impact of area deprivation and urbanization on the occurrence and development of behavioral problems among adolescents in a mixed urban and rural area and to examine the contributory factors. METHODS We obtained data from the first two wa...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To investigate the association between the level of social deprivation in electoral wards and various life events. Life events include mortality, self reported long term illness, and for women: still-birth, underweight birth, birth while a teenager, and sole registered birth. Associations with area deprivation are tested before and after allowing for levels of personal deprivati...

BACKGROUND Few studies have examined potential disparities in access to transportation infrastructures, an important determinant of population health. PURPOSE To examine individual- and area-level disparities in access to the road network, public transportation system, and a public bicycle share program in Montreal, Canada. METHODS Examining associations between sociodemographic variables a...

Data from the longitudinal West of Scotland Twenty-07 STUDY: Health in the Community was used to examine whether, over a 20 year period, the self-reported health of people living in deprived areas became poorer faster compared to those living in more affluent areas. Three cohorts (born in the early 1930s, 1950s and 1970s) are included, covering 60 years of the life span. Using multilevel growth...

This study aimed to describe active travel (walking or cycling) in Scotland and explore potential demographic, geographic, and socio-economic inequalities in active travel. We extracted data for the period 2012-13 (39,585 journey stages) from the Scottish Household Survey. Survey travel diaries recorded all journeys made on the previous day by sampled individuals aged 16 + living within Scotlan...