• 생물정신의학
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.3-11
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• 1999

At the beginning, researches on the biology of depression or affective illness have focused mainly on the receptor functions and neuroendocrine activities. And the studies of the past years did not break new theoretical background, but the recent advances in the research on the molecular mechanisms underlying neural communication and signal transduction do add some insights to many established ideas. This article will overview some of the more recent advances in the clinical researches of depression. Our major concerns to be presented here include the followings : (1) alterations in the post-synaptic neural transduction ; (2) changes in the neurons of hypothalamic neuropeptides ; (3) decreased peptidase enzyme activities ; (4) associations of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis abnormalities with serotonin neurotransmission ; (5) role of serotonin transporter ; (6) changes in the responsiveness of intracellular calcium ion levels ; (7) the inositol deficiency theory of lithium and depression ; (8) the transcription factors including immediate early genes ; (9) recent genetic studies in some families. This brief overview will suggest that changes in DNA occur during antidepressant therapy. These changes at the DNA level initiating a cascade of events underlying antidepressant modality will give us the insights on the molecular biological basis of the pathogenesis of depression and cues for a new class of antidepressants.

• 생물정신의학
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.14-25
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• 2004

The current understanding of the mechanisms of pharmacotherapy for depression is characterized by an emphasis on increasing synaptic availability of serotonin, noradrenaline, and possibly dopamine, while minimizing side effects. The acute effects of current available effective antidepressants include blocking selective serotonin or noradrenaline reuptake, alpha2 autoreceptors or monoamine oxidase. Although efficacious, current treatments often produce partial or limited symptomatic improvement rather than remission. While current pharmacotherapies target monoaminergic systems, distinct neurobiological underpinnings and other systems are likely involved in the pathogenesis of depression. Recently, several promising hypotheses of depression and antidepressant action have been formulated. These hypotheses are largely based on dsyregulation of neural plasticity, CREB, BDNF, corticotropin-releasing factor, glucocorticoid, hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis and cytokines. Based on these new theories and hypotheses of depression, a number of new and novel agents, including corticotropin-releasing factor antagonists, antiglucocorticoids, and substance P antagonists show a considerable promise for refining treatment options for depression. In this article, the current available pharmacotherapies, current understanding of neurobiology and pathogenesis of depression and new and promising directions in pharmacological research on depression will be discussed.

• 생물정신의학
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.129-135
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• 2013

Aggression can be defined as 'behavior intended to harm another' which can be seen both from humans and animals. However, trying to understand aggression in a simplistic view may make it difficult to develop an integrated approach. So, we tried to explain aggression in a multidisciplinary approach, affected by various factors such as neuroanatomical structures, neurotransmitter, genes, and sex hormone. Parallel with animal models, human aggression can be understood with two phenomena, offensive aggression and defensive aggression. Neurobiological model of aggression give a chance to explain aggression with an imbalance between prefrontal regulatory influences and hyper-reactivity of the subcortical areas involved in affective evaluation, finally in an aspect of brain organization. Serotonin and GABA usually inhibit aggression and norepinephrine while glutamate and dopamine precipitate aggressive behavior. As there is no one gene which has been identified as a cause of aggression, functions between gene to gene interaction and gene to environment interaction are being magnified. Contributions of sex hormone to aggression, especially molecular biologic interaction of testosterone and regulation of estrogen receptor have been emphasized during the research on aggression. This multidisciplinary approach on aggression with types, neurochemical bases, and animal models can bring integrated interpretation on aggression.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.160-172
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• 2005

ADHD는 소아정신질환 가운데 가장 흔한 신경발달학적 질환으로 간주되고 있다. ADHD의 원인은 아직 명확하게 밝혀지지는 않았지만 다양한 유전적 및 신경학적 요인들이 관여하는 것은 틀림없고, 이들이 신경계의 특정 부위와 경로에 이상을 초래하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 이 논문에서는 최근의 연구들을 중심으로 ADHD의 원인과 관련한 신경발달학적 측면을 고찰하고자 한다. 방법은 Medline검색을 통해 최근 발표된 논문들, ADHD관련 단행본, ADHD를 특집으로 한 몇 개의 잡지에 실린 종설 논문들 및 연관 참고문헌 등을 토대로 조사하였다. 결과는 ADHD의 신경발달학적 측면에서 일부 유전적인 요인과 임신 및 출생전후의 환경적 요인 등이 복합적으로 작용하여 발달하는 뇌를 변형시킴으로서 주로 대뇌의 prefrontal cortex-striatal network를 구조적으로 혹은 기능적으로 저하되어 발생하는 것으로 생각할 수 있다. 임신 2기에 ADHD의 발생과 관련한 대뇌 및 소뇌 이상을 초래한다는 주장을 하기도 하였으며, 이들 이상은 더 이상 진행하지 않고 고정된 것이라는 주장도 있지만, ADHD의 원인과 관련하여 신경발달학적으로 어떤 시기에, 어떤 손상이나 영향에 의해, 어떤 이상이 초래하여 발생하는지에 대해서는 아직 연구가 매우 부족하다. 결론적으로 주의력 체계와 관련한 신경전달회로의 차이, 도파민계와 노에피네프린계의 기능이나 증상과 관련한 차이 등 을 포함하여 신경발달학적인 면에 대한 보다 심도 있는 연구들이 시행되어야 할 것이다.

• 정신신체의학
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.149-157
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• 1999

인간은 에너지 섭취와 소모에 있어 변동이 심한 편이지만 비교적 일정한 체중을 유지하고 적절하게 섭식행동을 조절한다. 그러나 이러한 조절기전에 문제가 발생하면 비만이나 그 이외의 다른 섭식장애를 일으키게 되며 다양한 후유증을 야기한다. 본 논문에서는 최근에 소개되기 시작한 호르몬인 leptin이 섭식의 조절과 에너지의 항상성을 조절하는데 있어 어떻게 중요한 작용을 하게되는지 조사하여 주로 정신과 영역에서 관심을 기울일 만한 부분에 대해 고찰하고자 한다. Leptin이 처음 발견되었을 때 그 역할은 주로 음식의 섭취를 제한하고 에너지의 소모를 증가시키는 호르몬으로 소개되었지만, 점차 그 이외의 다른 신체 기능 즉, 생식주기나 신경대분기계에도 영향을 미치는 것으로 보고되면서 정선과 영역에서 차지하는 비중도 확대되고 있다. 그러나 leptin의 작용기전은 매우 복잡하며 많은 부분이 아직도 불분명한 상태에 있다. 이에 저자들은 중추신경계에서 현재까지 알려진 leptin의 작용기전에 대해 살펴보고 섭식과 관련된 그 밖의 다른 신경전달물질들과의 상호작용 그리고 섭식장애와의 관련성에 대해서 최근 문헌들을 조사하여 함께 고찰하고자 한다.

• 수면정신생리
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.49-55
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• 2009

This review aims to introduce the basic neurobiological aspects of dream. There have been long debates on whether the neurobiology of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is identical to that of dream. However, many theories on dream are based on the findings of REM sleep. Bizarre cognition and intense emotion in dream have been suggested to derive from physiological (e.g. desynchronized gamma oscillation and postsynaptic inhibition), chemical (e.g. decreased noradrenalin and serotonin, increased acetylcholine and modulation of dopamine), anatomical (e.g. deactivation of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and activation of limbic and paralimbic areas) change in REM sleep. In addition, dream has been suggested to play its neurobiological roles. Processing of negative emotion may be one of the functions of dream. Dream is also supposed to consolidate memory, especially semantic memory. Despite a number of hypotheses and debates, the neurobiological mechanism of dream generation has not been concluded.

• 생물정신의학
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.3-19
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• 2001

Recent basic and clinical studies demonstrate a major role for neural plasticity in the etiology and treatment of depression and stress-related illness. The neural plasticity is reflected both in the birth of new cell in the adult brain(neurogenesis) and the death of genetically healthy cells(apoptosis) in the response to the individual's interaction with the environment. The neural plasticity includes adaptations of intracellular signal transduction pathway and gene expression, as well as alterations in neuronal morphology and cell survival. At the cellular level, repeated stress causes shortening and debranching of dendrite in the CA3 region of hippocampus and suppress neurogenesis of dentate gyrus granule neurons. At the molecular level, both form of structural remodeling appear to be mediated by glucocorticoid hormone working in concert with glutamate and N-methyl-D-aspartate(NMDA) receptor, along with transmitters such as serotonin and GABA-benzodiazepine system. In addition, the decreased expression and reduced level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) could contribute the atrophy and decreased function of stress-vulnerable hippocampal neurons. It is also suggested that atrophy and death of neurons in the hippocampus, as well as prefrontal cortex and possibly other regions, could contribute to the pathophysiology of depression. Antidepressant treatment could oppose these adverse cellular effects, which may be regarded as a loss of neural plasticity, by blocking or reversing the atrophy of hippocampal neurons and by increasing cell survival and function via up-regulation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element-binding proteins(CREB) and BDNF. In this article, the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie stress, depression, and action of antidepressant are precisely discussed.

• 생물정신의학
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.62-70
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• 2001

Alzheimer's disease(AD) is associated with a characteristic neuropathology. The major hallmarks of AD are senile plaques (SPs) and neurofibrillary tangles(NFTs). ${\beta}$-amyloid protein($A{\beta}$) is derived from the proteolysis of amyloid precursor protein(APP) and then converted to SPs. Mature SPs produce cytotoxicity through direct toxic effects and activation of microglia and complement. NFTs are composed of paired helical filaments(PHFs) including abnormally phosphorylated form of the microtubule-associated protein(MAP) tau and increased tau level in cerebrospinal fluid may be observed in most AD. The aggregation of $A{\beta}$ and tau formation are thought to be a final common pathway of AD. Acetylcholine, dopamine, serotonin, GABA and their receptors are associated with AD. Especially, decreased nicotinic acetylcholine receptors(nAChRs) in AD are reported. Genetic lesions associated with AD are mutations in the structural genes for the APP located on chromosome 21, presenilin(PSN)1 located on chromosome 14 and PSN2 located on chromosome 1. Also, trisomy 21, Apo-E gene located on chromosome 19, PMF locus, low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein and ${\alpha}$-macroglobulin increase risk of AD. In this article, we will review about the neurobiology of AD and some newly developed research areas.

• 생물정신의학
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.108-115
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• 2016

Aggression and aggressive behaviors, often explained as harmful social interaction with the intention of hurting or inflicting damage upon another, have been considered as an adaptive mechanism from the evolutionary psychological point of view. However, various studies on aggression and aggressive behaviors have been done with psychopathological approach as the extreme aggressive behaviors may harm themselves and others at the same time. Recently, researchers have attempted to explain aggression in terms of neurobiological substrates rather than based on traditional psychopathological and/or behavioral concept. In this regard, there have been findings of differences in neurotransmitters and their receptors, and genetic polymorphisms. In this review article, we provide a brief overview of the literature about seven most frequently reported neurotransmitters including neurohormones (serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, nitric oxide, oxytocin and vasopressin) and an associated enzyme (monoamine oxidase A), which are known to be related with aggression and aggressive behaviors.

• 한국발생생물학회지:발생과생식
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.63-77
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• 2009

신경리포푸신증(NCLs)은 신경퇴행 축적 질환으로 뇌에 자기형광물질을 포함한 다양한 물질의 축적이 야기되어 발생하며, 노던에필렙시를 제외한 모든 신경포푸신증은 리소즘 축적 질환으로 분류된다. 이러한 신경리포푸신증은 전세계적으로 12,500명 중 1명에게 발생되는 높은 발병 빈도를 나타내며, 그 발병 시기에 따라 영아형, 영유아형, 유년형, 그리고 성인형과 같이 분류된다. 신경리포푸신증이 유발하는 의학적 증상로는 시각 손실, 발작, 간질, 진행성 정신지체등을 야기하여 소아성 치매라는 이야기를 들으며, 증상이 심할 경우 환자가 사망에 이르게 된다. 신경퇴행성 리포푸신증의 원인은 유전자의 돌연변이 때문이라고 알려져 있으며, 일부의 연구를 통해 태아의 발생과정 상 문제를 통해 질병이 야기되는 경우도 관찰이 되고 있으나, 아직 그 분자 발생학적 기전이 명확하게 규명되어 있지 않은 현실이다. 현재 전 세계적으로 많은 연구가 수행되고 있어 그 결과가 주목되는 바이다.