• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.585-595
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• 2020

Magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) has become an important technique for examining changes in human brain structure with neurological disorders. Brain development is a very complex process, and is affected by neurogenesiss and genetic programs. As age increases, structures of the brain change, which can contribute to the formation of brain diseases. Among the various factors, Gender is one of the greatest influential factors that affect the development of a healthy brain. The images were analyzed through various programs found in FSL such as SIENAX, FIRST, and Vertex analysis. Our results show that significant gender-related differences in subcortical areas were observed at the particular age group. The magnitude of these differences between gender and volume varied depending on the area investigated. In this study, we used more advanced 3T MRI for the structural analysis of subcortical structures between each gender. In addition, Vertex Analysis was used to visualize the volumetric differences in subcortical structures between each gender. This study is limited to groups in their 70s, therefore, further studies are needed for wider age groups.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.49-60
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• 2018

Trait anger is one of the psychological traits associated with experiences of anger. Individuals with high trait anger become angry easily at trivial events, and experience anger more frequently, intensely, and over a longer duration. This study aimed to investigate neural responses during experiences of anger, and identify the neural correlates of trait anger. Thirty five adults participated in the functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) experiment. They were scanned while they recalled an anger-inducing memory that was supposed to evoke an experience of anger. During the angry recall compared to the emotionally neutral recall, our participants showed greater neural activation in the right superior temporal gyrus (BA38), left inferior frontal gyrus (BA45), right thalamus, right insula (BA13), bilateral cuneus (BA17), and right cerebellum anterior lobe. The correlation analysis revealed that trait anger scores were positively associated with right insula activity during the angry recall. Individuals with higher trait anger were more likely to show greater activity in the right insula in response to past experiences of anger, as previously implicated in various studies of emotional processing. This finding suggests that trait anger may be an important factor in modulating anger-related brain activity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.81 no.6
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• pp.1412-1423
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• 2020

Purpose Some patients with neonatal seizures show diffuse, symmetric diffusion-restricted lesions in the cerebral white matter. The aim of this study was to describe clinical and imaging findings of patients with neonatal seizures who had diffuse, symmetric diffusion-restricted lesions without any structural or metabolic etiology. Materials and Methods A total of 56 neonates aged less than 1 week underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for evaluation of seizures from November 2008 to February 2017. After excluding 43 patients, 13 patients showed diffuse white matter abnormality on diffusion-weighted imaging. Initial and follow-up clinical and MRI findings were analyzed retrospectively. Results All 13 patients were born at full term. Among the ten patients who underwent a stool test for viruses, six were positive for rotavirus and one for astrovirus. MRI revealed diffuse, symmetric diffusion-restricted lesions distributed along the cerebral white matter, thalami, and midbrain variably. Conclusion Diffuse, symmetric diffusion-restricted lesions involving the cerebral white matter can be seen in patients with neonatal seizures without any structural or metabolic etiology. Rotavirus is commonly but not exclusively detected in these patients. Nevertheless, viral infection-associated encephalopathy should be considered for patients with characteristic clinical and MRI findings.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2011

In this study, we examined the impact caused by chronic exposure to Mn by investigating the degree of brain activation based on the data of recognition activities using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). A questionnaire survey, blood tests, and fMRI tests were carried out with respect to two groups. Group 1 was an exposure group consisting of 15 male workers who are 34 years old or older, and who worked for longer than 10 years in a shipbuilding factory as a welder. Group 2 was a control group consisting of 15 workers in manufacturing industries with the same gender and age. The results showed that blood Mn concentration of Group 1($1.3\;{\mu}g/dl$) was significantly higher than that of Group 2($0.8\;{\mu}g/dl$)(p < 0.001), and Pallidal Index (PI) of Group 1 was also significantly higher than that of Group 2 (p < 0.001). PI value of the group whose blood Mn concentration was $0.93\;{\mu}g/dl$ or higher was significantly higher than that of the group whose blood Mn concentration was less than $0.93 \;{\mu}g/dl$ (p < 0.001). As for brain activity area within the control group, the right and the left areas of occipital cortex showed significant activity and the left area of middle temporal cortex, the right area of superior inferior frontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex showed significant activity. Unlike the control group, the exposure group showed significant activity on the right area of superior inferior temporal cortex, the left of insula area. In the comparison of brain activity areas between the two groups, the exposure group showed significantly higher activation than the control group in such areas as the right inferior temporal cortex, the left area of superior parietal cortex and occipital cortex, and cerebellum including middle temporal cortex. However, in nowhere the control group showed more activated area than the exposure group. As the final outcome, chronic exposure to Mn increased brain activity during implementation of arithmetic task. In an identical task, activation increased in superior inferior temporal cortex, and insula area. And it was discovered that brain activity increase in temporal area and occipital area was more pronounced in the exposure group than in the control group. This result suggests that chronic exposure to Mn in the work environment affects brain activation neuro-network.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.159-169
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze research trends and find whether Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) of refugees could affect structural or functional changes of brains of those under MRI, focusing on volumes, functional connectivities, and metabolites. Methods: A literature search was done using PubMed, Embase, RISS, and KMBase to identify studies that matched our research purpose. A total of eight studies were identified using Prisma flow diagram by two reviewers independently. Results: Eight studies were identified. Three studies were on North Korean defectors as subjects. The number of studies that observed structural changes, functional changes, and metabolite changes in brains was 2, 5, and 2, respectively. Although each study observed various parts of the brain, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was observed commonly in three studies. The PTSD group showed reduction of ACC volume and N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) metabolite in ACC compared to the non- PTSD group. When exposed to negative stimuli, the PTSD group showed higher neural activity than the non-PTSD group, but not vice versa. Conclusion: ACC showed significant difference in volume, neural activity, and NAA metabolite between the PTSD and the non-PTSD group, resulting in significant differences in structural changes, functional changes, metabolite changes, respectively. This study showed the need for conducting more research using various biomarkers to clarify the relationship between PTSD of refugees and their brain changes.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.57-62
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• 2012

Objectives : Characteristic symptoms, including hyperactivity and easy distractibility, in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suggest that their brain status, even at rest, might differ from that of healthy children. This study was conducted in order to determine whether resting state brain activity is compromised in medication-naive children with ADHD. Methods : Twenty medication-naive children with ADHD (mean age $10.3{\pm}2.5$) and 28 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers (mean age $10.3{\pm}2.0$) underwent measurements for resting state brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Among resting state related-independent components (RSICs) extracted from fMRI data using independent component analysis, a significant difference in RSICs was observed between groups, using a mixed Gaussian/gamma model. Results : Except for IQ, which was higher in the healthy control group, no demographic difference was observed between the two groups (p<.001). Significantly less activation of one RSIC, which includes the bilateral precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex, occipito-temporal junction, and anterior cingulate cortex, was observed in the ADHD group, compared with the control group (p<.05). Conclusion : An abnormal RSIC, posterior default mode network (DMN), was observed in the medication-naive ADHD group. Results of our study suggest that abnormality of posterior DMN is one of the main pathophysiologies of ADHD.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.39-47
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• 2022

Objective : This study investigated brain functional connectivity in male firefighters who showed subclinical post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Methods : We compared the data of 17 firefighters who were not diagnosed with PTSD and 18 healthy controls who had no trauma exposure. The following instruments were applied to assess psychiatric symptoms: Korean version of the Post-traumatic stress disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5-K), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). For all subjects, functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed, and functional connectivity was compared between the two groups (family-wise error-corrected p<0.05). Additionally, correlations between psychiatric symptoms and functional connectivity were explored. Results : The following connectivity was higher than that of healthy controls: 1) the central opercular cortex-superior temporal gyrus, 2) planum polare-parahippocampal gyrus, 3) angular gyrus-amygdala, and 4) temporal fusiform cortex-parahippocampal gyrus. The functional connectivity of 1) the lateral occipital cortex-inferior temporal gyrus, 2) superior parietal lobule-caudate, and 3) middle temporal gyrus-thalamus were lower in firefighters. In firefighters, the connectivity of the planum polare-parahippocampal gyrus showed a negative correlation with the severity of arousal symptoms (rho=-0.586, p=0.013). The connectivity of the middle temporal gyrus-thalamus showed a positive correlation with the severity of intrusion (rho=0.552, p=0.022) and arousal symptoms (rho=0.619, p=0.008). The connectivity of the temporal fusiform cortex-parahippocampal gyrus was negatively correlated with intrusion (rho=-0.491, p=0.045) and arousal (rho=-0.579, p=0.015). Conclusion : Our results indicate that the brain functional connectivity is associated with occupational trauma exposure in firefighters without PTSD. Therefore, this study provides evidence that close monitoring and early intervention are important for firefighters with traumatic experience even at a subthreshold level.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.637-648
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• 2013

The relationship between the cerebral cortex and human intelligence has been studied using various methods, and related brain areas involved in intellectual manifestation have been discovered individually. Such studies have also shown the cerebellum is closely involved in various cognitive functions such as language, memory, and information processing. However, studies showing an activity difference between the cerebral cortex and cerebellum when performing specific tasks are hard to find. This study searched and analyzed the active regions of the cerebral cortex and cerebellum seen while performing the inference of geometrical figures. A WAIS intelligence test was conducted using 81 healthy boys (16.3 years of age on average), and five categories were classified. While performing the inference of shapes, their brain images were taken using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). As a result, the activity in 12 brain regions was observed, including in the cerebral cortex, the bilateral inferior parietal, the visual cortex, bilateral superior parietal, frontal-Inf-Tri-R, and bilateral caudate, while activities in 5 discrete areas were seen in the cerebellum. In particular, the higher the intelligence (IQ) of the subject, the stronger their activity. Among those with the most superior intelligence, subjects with an IQ of 140-147 showed significantly higher activity compared to the other groups. Such results seem to represent a very high utilization of intelligence in a highly gifted group, and we can expect to use this to determine the super gifted.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.77-81
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• 2011

It is a well-known clinical fact that contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography exaggerates vertebral arterial ostial stenosis and sometimes shows pseudostenosis. Considering the clinical significance of a lesion in the posterior circulation ischemia, the importance of an accurate imaging diagnosis of ostial stenosis should not be underestimated. We were able to differentiate pseudo stenosis of the ostium from true stenosis using thin-slab maximum-intensity-projection(MIP) images which are thought to be helpful for minimizing standard full thickness MIP images.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.544-555
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• 2002

The aim of this study is to develop the $^1H$-MRS data postprocessing software for both single-voxel and multi-voxel technique, which plays and important role as a diagnostic tool in clinical field. This software is based on graphical user interface(GUI) under windows operating system of personal computer(PC). In case of single-voxel MRS, both of raw data in time-domain and spectrum data in frequency-domain are simultaneously displayed in a screen. Several functions such as DC correction, zero filling, line broadening, Lorentz-Gauss filtering and phase correction, etc. are included to increase the quality of spectrum data. In case of multi-voxel analysis, spectroscopic image reconstructed by 3-D FFT was displayed as a spectral grid and overlapped over previously obtained T1- or T2-weighted image for the spectra to be spatially registered with the image. The analysis of MRS peaks were performed by obtaining the ratio of peak area. In single-voxel method, statistically processed peak-area ratios of MRS data obtained from normal human brain are presented. Using multi-voxel method, MR spectroscopic image and metabolite image acquired from brain tumor are demonstrated.