• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.357-373
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• 2006

Virtual reality (VR) provides a virtual experiment (VE) context consisting of information presented to the senses of the user. The user perceiver and interprets the VE context, and then naturally recognizes a level of realism in the VE. Presence is often thought of as the sense of 'being there' in the n. Presence includes overall feelings about the information conveyed from a virtual avatar to the user. Therefore, there must be brain mechanisms for integrating sensory information about presence.'Feeling of presence' is related with the user's cognition and perception about information on communication through medium. Thus 'feeling of presence' may characterize perceptual mechanisms in the brain. We studied these mechanisms by presenting a VR that consisted of an avatar telling a story about a social conversation. We performed covariance analysis on subjective brain activity (fMRI) during the story presentation with a presence score. The data analysis revealed that activity in several brain areas was correlated with the presence store. A positive correlation was shown in the right lingual gyrus, right cuneus, left lingual gyrus, right fusiform gyrus, left inferior temporal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex and right posterior cingulate cortex of the brain. This study showed the brain mechanism to be related the feeling of presence and brain activities in our subjects, using VR to communicate information.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.267-273
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• 2003

The present study attempted to observe what changes the supply of highly concentrated (30%) oxygen cause to people's ability of visuospatial cognition, compared to air of normal oxygen concentration (21%). This study sampled eight male university students (the average age : 23.5) as subjects for functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) study It also developed equipment that supplies 21% and 30% oxygen) at a constant rate of 8L/min. Two questionnaires containing 20 questions were developed to measure the ability of visuospatial cognition, and accuracy was calculated from the result of task performance. The experiment paradigm consisted of the run conducting tasks at 30%'s concentration of oxygen and another run at 21%'s concentration of oxygen. Each run was composed of four blocks and each block included eight control tasks and five visuospatial taks. 3T MRI was used and fMRI was obtained through the single-shot EPI method. The activation in the occipital-associated area, bilateral superior parietal lobes, bilateral inferior parietal lobes. bilateral precuneus, bilateral postcentral gyri, bilateral middle frontal gyri, bilateral inferior frontal gyri, bilateral medial frontal gyri, bilateral superior frontal gyri, bilateral cingulate gyri was significantly increased at the 30%'s concentration of oxygen rather than 21%'s. Furthermore, the result of task performance showed the accuracy increased at 30%'s concentration of oxygen rather than 21%'s. From the result of this study, it is concluded that the supply of highly concentrated oxygen has a positive effect on the ability of visuospatial cognition.

• Proceedings of the KSMRM Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.76-76
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• 2003

목적： fMRI와 뇌파의 동시측정 방법은 높은 시간적-공간적 해상도를 동시에 달성할 수 있는 뇌기능 측정을 가능케 하고, 각각의 방법이 제공하는 정보를 상호보완적으로 동시에 이용할 수 있도록 하는 유용한 방법이다. 그러나 자기공명영상을 얻기 위한 경사자계가 유발하는 잡음과 높은 자기장 내에서의 심장박동으로 인한 미세한 움직임 때문에 생기는 잡음이 뇌파신호의 질을 크게 저하하는 요소로 작용하여 이를 해결하기 위한 계측시스템의 최적화와 신호처리 방법의 개발이 요구된다. 본 논문에서는 평균차감법과 recursive least square 적응 필터링 방법에 기반한 심장 박동잡음의 감소를 위한 신호처리 방법의 개발 결과에 대한 연구 결과를 제시한다.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.82-91
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• 2018

Objectives: Synchronous electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been used to explore sleep stage dependent functional brain networks. Despite a growing number of sleep studies using EEG-fMRI, few studies have conducted network analysis on whole night sleep due to difficulty in data acquisition, artifacts, and sleep management within the MRI scanner. Methods: In order to perform network analysis for whole night sleep, we proposed experimental procedures and data processing techniques for EEG-fMRI. We acquired 6-7 hours of EEG-fMRI data per participant and conducted signal processing to reduce artifacts in both EEG and fMRI. We then generated a functional brain atlas with 68 brain regions using independent component analysis of sleep fMRI data. Using this functional atlas, we constructed sleep level dependent functional brain networks. Results: When we evaluated functional connectivity distribution, sleep showed significantly reduced functional connectivity for the whole brain compared to that during wakefulness. REM sleep showed statistically different connectivity patterns compared to non-REM sleep in sleep-related subcortical brain circuits. Conclusion: This study suggests the feasibility of exploring functional brain networks using sleep EEG-fMRI for whole night sleep via appropriate experimental procedures and signal processing techniques for fMRI and EEG.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.108-116
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• 2006

Purpose : High-resolution spiral-scan imaging is performed at 3 Tesla MRI system. Since the gradient waveforms for the spiral-scan imaging have lower slopes than those for the Echo Planar Imaging (EPI), they can be implemented with the gradient systems having lower slew rates. The spiral-scan imaging also involves less eddy currents due to the smooth gradient waveforms. The spiral-scan imaging method does not suffer from high specific absorption rate (SAR), which is one of the main obstacles in high field imaging for rf echo-based fast imaging methods such as fast spin echo techniques. Thus, the spiral-scan imaging has a great potential for the high-speed imaging in high magnetic fields. In this paper, we presented various high-resolution images obtained by the spiral-scan methods at 3T MRI system for various applications. Materials and Methods : High-resolution spiral-scan imaging technique is implemented at 3T whole body MRI system. An efficient and fast higher-order shimming technique is developed to reduce the inhomogeneity, and the single-shot and interleaved spiral-scan imaging methods are developed. Spin-echo and gradient-echo based spiral-scan imaging methods are implemented, and image contrast and signal-tonoise ratio are controlled by the echo time, repetition time, and the rf flip angles. Results : Spiral-scan images having various resolutions are obtained at 3T MRI system. Since the absolute magnitude of the inhomogeneity is increasing in higher magnetic fields, higher order shimming to reduce the inhomogeneity becomes more important. A fast shimming technique in which axial, sagittal, and coronal sectional inhomogeneity maps are obtained in one scan is developed, and the shimming method based on the analysis of spherical harmonics of the inhomogeneity map is applied. For phantom and invivo head imaging, image matrix size of about $100{\times}100$ is obtained by a single-shot spiral-scan imaging, and a matrix size of $256{\times}256$ is obtained by the interleaved spiral-scan imaging with the number of interleaves of from 6 to 12. Conclusion : High field imaging becomes increasingly important due to the improved signal-to-noise ratio, larger spectral separation, and the higher BOLD-based contrast. The increasing SAR is, however, a limiting factor in high field imaging. Since the spiral-scan imaging has a very low SAR, and lower hardware requirements for the implementation of the technique compared to EPI, it is suitable for a rapid imaging in high fields. In this paper, the spiral-scan imaging with various resolutions from $100{\times}100$ to $256{\times}256$ by controlling the number of interleaves are developed for the high-speed imaging in high magnetic fields.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1995 no.11
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• pp.173-176
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• 1995

We have developed a fast steady state free precession interferometry (SSFPI) technique which is useful for the fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging). As is known, SSFP sequence with a suitable adjustment of gradient (readout) allows us to measure precession angle $\theta$ which is in turn related to the field inhomogeneity [1-3]. When the method is applied to the susceptibility effect based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), it was found that the direct susceptibility effect measurement was possible without perturbations such as the backgrounds and inflow effect. In this paper, simulation results and experimental results obtained with 2.0 Tesla MRI system are also presented.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility Conference
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• 1999.03a
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• pp.231-236
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• 1999

외부의 자극에 따른 인간 감성 변화의 실체를 파악하고자 심리학, 생리학, 의공학 등의 분야에서 많은 연구가 이루어져 왔다. 본 논문은 fMRI의 기본 원리와 지금까지 저자들의 fMRI 연구 내용을 중심으로 감성 변화의 측정에 이용 또는 응용 가능성이 있는 실험 결과들에 대해서 서술하고자 한다. 먼저 자극강도에 따른 해당피질에서의 활성화 영역의 분석을 통해 외부 자극과 반응 영역간의 정량적인 측정이 가능하다는 것을 보였다. 둘째로 시간축 신호의 해석을 통해 감성 변화의 추이를 관찰할 수 있다는 것을 보였다. 마지막으로 간섭요인 (소음)이 뇌기능에 미치는 영향에 대한 분석을 통해 감성의 변화가 이의의 뇌기능 수행에 미치는 영향을 유추해 보았다.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.71-77
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• 2007

Advance of neuroimaging technique has greatly influenced recent brain research field. Among various neuroimaging modalities, positron emission tomography has played a key role in molecular neuroimaging though functional MRI has taken over its role in the cognitive neuroscience. As the analysis technique for PET data is more sophisticated, the complexity of the method is more increasing. Despite the wide usage of the neuroimaging techniques, the assumption and limitation of procedures have not often been dealt with for the clinician and researchers, which might be critical for reliability and interpretation of the results. In the current paper, steps of voxel-based statistical analysis of PET including preprocessing, intensity normalization, spatial normalization, and partial volume correction will be revisited in terms of the principles and limitations. Additionally, new image analysis techniques such as surface-based PET analysis, correlational analysis and multimodal imaging by combining PET and DTI, PET and TMS or EEG will also be discussed.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.525-534
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• 1996

We have developed a fast steady state free precession interferometry (SSFPI) technique which is useful for the fMRl (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging). As is known, SSFP sequence with a suitable adjustment of Vadient (readeut) allows us to measure precession angle 6 which in tw relates to the field inhomogeneity. Combining the two pulses (known as FID and Echo) in FADE (Fast Acquisition Double Echo) sequence, for example, one can obtain the interference term which is directly related to the precession angle It has been known that a fast high resolution magnetic field mapping is possible by use of the modified FADE sequence or SSFPI, and we have attempted to use the SSFPI technique for the susceptibility-induced fMRl. When the method is applied to the susceptibility effect based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRl), it was found that the direct susceptibility effect measurement was possible without perturbations such as the backgrounds and inflow effect. In this paper, simulation results and experimental results obtained with 2.0 Tesla MRI system are presented.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 2011

Neuroimaging in psychiatry encompasses the powerful tools available for the in vivo study of brain structure and function. MRI including the volumetry, voxel-base morphometry(VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) are useful for assessing brain structure, whereas function MRI, positron emission tomography(PET) and magnetoencephalography(MEG) are well established for probing brain function. These tools are well tolerated by the vast majority of psychiatric patients because they provide a powerful but noninvasive means to directly evaluate the brain. Although neuroimaging technology is currently used only to rule in or rule out general medical conditions as opposed to diagnosing primary mental disorders, it may be used to confirm or make psychiatric diagnoses in the future. In addition, neuroimaging may be valuable for predicting the natural course of psychiatric illness as well as treatment response.