• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.97-107
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• 2013

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate attention, memory and executive function in patients with narcolepsy. Methods: This study included 23 narcoleptic patients whose diagnosis were confirmed by the International Classification of Sleep Disorders(ICSD) at Chonnam National University Hospital Sleep Disorders Clinic or an other hospital in Korea, from 2005 to 2008, as well as 23 normal controls. All participants were given an IQ test for Korean-Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and several neuropsychological function tests (the d2 test for attention function, the Rey Complex Figure Test for nonverbal memory, the Korean-California Verbal Learning Test [K-CVLT] for verbal memory, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test for executive function). Clinical features of narcoleptic patients, including the frequency of excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucination, were investigated by a structured clinical interview administered by a neuropsychiatist. Excessive daytime sleepiness was evaluated by the Epworth sleepiness scale. Results: Characteristic symptoms of narcolepsy observed in this study included excessive daytime sleepiness (n=23, 100.0%), cataplexy (n=19, 82.6%), hypnagogic hallucination (n=5, 21.7%) and sleep paralysis (n=12, 52.2%). In nocturnal polysomnographic findings, stage 2 sleep and REM latency were found to be significantly decreased in narcoleptic patients compared with the control group, and were accompanied by significant increases in stage 1 sleep. Narcoleptic patients had lower scores than the control group on total number, Total Number-Total Error, Concentration Performance and Fluctuation Rate on the d2 test, which measures attention. Also, there were significant differences between the performance of patient and control groups on the B list of the K-CVLT, which measures verbal memory. Conclusion: Narcoleptic patients showed decreased attention and verbal memory performance compared to the control group; however, in many areas, narcoleptic patients still demonstrated normal cognitive function.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2014

Objectives : Mild cognitive impairment(MCI) and dementia of Alzheimer's type(AD) are characterized by progressive decline of cognitive abilities and a wide range of neuropsychiatric symptoms like depression. Among various diagnostic tools of AD, many studies showed that elevated levels of serum total homocysteine are associated with increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders. We investigated whether elevated homocysteine concentrations are associated with depressive symptoms in MCI and AD. Methods : A total of 86 patients diagnosed with MCI or AD participated. Total serum homocysteine levels in fasting blood samples were measured. We examined cognitive symptoms by MMSE-KC, Global Deterioration Scale(GDS), Clinical dementia rating(CDR) and depressive symptoms by Korean version of Geriatric Depression Scale(K-GDS). Results : The total serum homocysteine levels were significantly higher in MCI with depression than in MCI without depression. There was no significant difference in the mean homocysteine levels between AD patients with depression and AD patients without depression. The total homocysteine levels showed a negative correlation with MMSE-KC and a positive correlation with CDR, GDS. Conclusions : These findings suggest that elevated homocysteine level is a risk factor for the decline of cognitive function and depression. We found a significant relationship between elevated serum homocysteine level and depressive symptoms in MCI. But our study had several limitations, thus more research is needed to confirm this finding.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.85 no.1
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• pp.184-196
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• 2024

Purpose We investigated potentially promising imaging findings and their combinations in the evaluation of cognitive decline. Materials and Methods This retrospective study included 138 patients with subjective cognitive impairments, who underwent brain MRI. We classified the same group of patients into Alzheimer's disease (AD) and non-AD groups, based on the neuropsychiatric evaluation. We analyzed imaging findings, including white matter hyperintensity (WMH) and cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), using the Kruskal-Wallis test for group comparison, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for assessing the diagnostic performance of imaging findings. Results CMBs in the lobar or deep locations demonstrated higher prevalence in the patients with AD compared to those in the non-AD group. The presence of lobar CMBs combined with periventricular WMH (area under the ROC curve [AUC] = 0.702 [95% confidence interval: 0.599-0.806], p < 0.001) showed the highest performance in differentiation of AD from non-AD group. Conclusion Combinations of imaging findings can serve as useful additive diagnostic tools in the assessment of cognitive decline.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 2021

Objectives : The aim of this study was to compare activities of daily living (ADLs) according to degenerative changes in brain [i.e., medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA), white matter hyperintensities] and to examine the association between neurocognitive functions and ADLs in Korean patients with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods : Participants were 111 elderly subjects diagnosed with AD or MCI in this cross-sectional study. MTA in brain MRI was rated with standardized visual rating scales (Scheltens scale) and the subjects were divided into two groups according to Scheltens scale. ADLs was evaluated with the Korean version of Blessed Dementia Scale-Activity of daily living (BDS-ADL). Neurocognitive function was evaluated with the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease assessment packet (CERAD-K). Independent t-test was performed to compare ADLs with the degree of MTA. Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to analyze the relationship between ADLs and neurocognitive functions. Results : The group with high severity of the MTA showed significantly higher BDS-ADL scores (p<0.05). The BDS-ADL score showed the strongest correlation with the word list recognition test among sub-items of the CERAD-K test (r=-0.568). Findings from the hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that the scores of MMSE-K and word list recognition test were factors that predict ADLs (F=44.611, p<0.001). Conclusions : ADLs of AD and MCI patients had significant association with MTA. Our study, which identifies factors correlated with ADLs can provide useful information in clinical settings. Further evaluation is needed to confirm the association between certain brain structures and ADLs.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.715-721
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• 2021

Cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease are serious social problems associated with the rising elderly population in Korea. 1,2,3,4,6-Penta-O-galloyl-β-ᴅ-glucopyranose (PGG) is a gallotannin isolated from medicinal plants such as Rhus chinensis. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of PGG on biomarkers related to cognitive function in human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cells. Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity is considered to be one of the main therapeutic strategies. PGG inhibited AChE activity in the test tube as well as in SK-N-SH cells. In addition, PGG induced protein and mRNA expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is a mammalian neurotrophin that plays major roles in the development, maintenance, repair, and survival of neuronal populations. As one of the underlying molecular mechanisms that induce BDNF expression, PGG induced the activation of Ca²⁺/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII)-cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) pathway. In conclusion, PGG may be an useful material for improving cognitive function.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.339-348
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to verify the validity and reliability of the computerized general neurocognitive test using intuitive evaluation techniques to reflect the needs of the elderly and to validate neurocognitive function appropriately. The subjects were 100 elderly people who were over 60 healthy people. To evaluate the comprehensive neurocognitive function of the elderly, Computerized Neuro-cognitive Function Test (CNT, cybermedic. Co., Korea) developed by CyberMedic was used. The test consist of attention test, memory test and the problem solving ability test. As a result of correlation analysis of CNT test items, it was possible to confirm the characteristics of measuring single domain of attention and memory test. The problem-solving ability test also showed a high level of significant correlation, although the purpose of measurement was different, but a comprehensive cognitive function test for problem solving was possible. In the reliability analysis, the half reliability and internal consistency of test - retest were significantly higher. As a result of the above study, we conclude that the comprehensive neurocognitive test items constituted in this study have achieved reproducibility and effectiveness.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.403-414
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• 2011

The current study examined brain regions associated with aesthetic experience to fractal images using functional MRI. The aesthetic estimations of the images showed that there is a general consensus regarding the perception of beautiful images. Out of 270 fractal images, fifty images rated highest(beautiful images) and fifty images rated lowest(non-beautiful images) were selected and presented to the participants. The two conditions were presented using the block design. Frontal lobes, cingulate gyri, and insula, the areas related to the cognitive and emotional processing in aesthetic experience, were activated when beautiful images were presented. In contrast, the middle occipital gyri and precuneus, the areas associated with experience of negative emotions, were activated when non-beautiful images were presented. The conjunction analysis showed activations in temporal areas in response to beautiful images and activations in parietal areas in response to non-beautiful images. These results indicate that beautiful images elicit semantic interpretations whereas non-beautiful images facilitate abstract processes.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.71-78
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• 2022

Parkinson's disease (PD) is clinically characterized by a variety of motor and non-motor symptoms, including cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Integrating a large variety of symptoms into a small number of clinical subtypes could be valuable for appropriate and early therapeutic intervention. As a first step toward this aim, this study attempted to identify correlation patterns among motor, cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms in PD without dementia. One hundred four non-demented patients with PD underwent a comprehensive motor, neuropsychological, and neuropsychiatric assessments. Factor analysis was performed to identify correlation patterns among demographic, motor, cognitive and neuropsychiatric variables. The eight factors were extracted: 1 motor-related, 3 cognitive-related and 4 neuropsychiatric factors. We indentified that characteristics of correlation can have associated symptom pattern in the disease process of Parkinson's disease. The current results suggest that a broad range of motor and non-motor symptoms in PD may be reducible to a small number of clinical parameters, which may be useful for identifying clinical subtypes of PD for individual patients.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.229-236
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the combined intervention of occupation-based intervention and computerized cognitive rehabilitation treatment affects the psychosocial function, cognitive function, and depression of stroke patients. 23 stroke patients were divided into experimental group(n=11) and a control group(n=12), and the experimental group and the control group received CoTras for 4 weeks and 30 minutes each, and additionally the experimental group received task-based intervention for 30 minutes before the start of CoTras. It was conducted 20 times for a total of 4 weeks. Self-efficacy scale, stress scale, depression scale, neurobehavioral cognitive status examination were used. As a result of the study, the experimental group showed significant improvement in improvement of self-efficacy, stress, and depression than the control group, and the experimental group showed a small effect difference in magnitude of effect from the control group in cognitive function. Based on this study, it is possible to utilize the simultaneous task-based intervention with CoTras to improve psychosocial function, depression and cognitive function in stroke patients.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.68-78
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• 1996

Objective : The Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE) and Brief Cognitive Rating Scale(BCRS) are frequently using screening tests fur evaluating the cognitive function in clinical practice and research. The authors tried to evaluate the clinical usefulness of these tests for the patients with non-traumatic subcortical cerebrovascular disease. Method : We administered the MMSE and BCRS to 85 patients and 195 normal control group. In order to compare the test results according to the lesion site, we divided patients into left sided lesion group(21 patients), right sided lesion group(31 patients) and both sided lesion group(13 patients). Their cognitive function was evaluated by the BNA and daily living functional activity was examined by the IADLs(Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale)and GERRI(Geriatric Evaluation by Relative's Rating Instrument). Results : The results are as follows : 1) In the BNA, the patients scored significantly lower than control group at all items(except Right-Left Orientation and Motor Impersistence), but there were no difference in the MMSE(total score and all 5 items), and only 2 items(recent memory and self-care) were significantly different between two groups in the BCRS. 2) In the comparison by lateralization, there were significant differences among three groups at 3 items(Left Tactile Form Perception, Left Finger Localization and Right Finger Localization) in the BNA. But, there were no difference in the MMSE and BCRS. 3) In the correlation between daily living functioning and the MMSE/BCRS, control group showed no relation(except item of cognitive functioning), but patient group was significantly correlated with 3 items(social functioning, instrumental activities of daily living and cognitive functioning). Conclusions : These findings suggest that MMSE and BCRS are not useful as the test for cognitive function and discrimination of lateralization in patients with non-traumatic subcortical cerebrovascular disease. However, scores of these tests may be related with the functional level(such as daily living function) of patients.