• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.23-40
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• 2002

This study is to examine brain regions that are involved in picture encoding in normal adults using fMRI methods. In Scan 1, the picture encoding was studied during a semantic categorization task in comparison with word. In Scan 2 task type effects were studied both during a picture naming task and during a semantic categorization task with pictures. Subjects were asked to make decision either by pressing a mouse button (Scan 1) or by responding subvocally (naming or saying yes/no) (Scan 2). Regardless of stimulus type, left prefrontal, bilateral occipital, and parietal activations were observed during semantic processing in comparison with fixation baseline. Processing of word stimulus relative to picture resulted in activations in prefrontal and parieto-temporal regions in the left side while that of picture stimulus relative to word resultd in activations in bilateral extrastriatal visual cortices and parahippocampal regions. In spite of the same task demands, stimulus-specific information processings were involved and mediated by different neural substrates; the word encoding was associated with more semantic/lexical processings than pictures and the picture processing associated with more perceptual and novelty related information processings than word. Activations of dorsal part of inferior prefrontal region, i.e., Broca's areas were found both during the picture naming and during the semantic tasks subvocally performed Especially, during the picture naming task, greater occipital activations were found bilaterally relative to the semantic categorization task. indicating a possibility that greater and higher visual processing was involved in retrieving the name referred by picture stimuli.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.106-110
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• 2010

Hippocampal sclerosis (HS) is one of the most common features of intractable temporal lobe epilepsy. Generally it can be identified through brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with high degree of sensitivity and specificity. Typical brain MRI findings of HS are hippocampal atrophy with hyperintense signal confined to the lesion. On the other hand cortical dysplasia exhibits blurring of the gray-white matter junction and abnormal white matter signal intensity. We present a case where preoperative brain MRI strongly suggested the presence of diffuse cortical dysplasia in the left temporal lobe but postoperative pathology revealed the temporal lesion to be unremarkable except for hippocampal sclerosis.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.603-606
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• 2010

Paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis, a remote effect of cancer without nervous system metastasis, is rare, especially in childhood. Here, we report a case of paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis associated with an ovarian mature teratoma in an adolescent girl. The 15-year-old girl developed neuropsychiatric symptoms, memory loss, seizures, and unconsciousness. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings were normal, while single photon emission computed tomography imaging showed hypoperfusion in both temporal lobes. Ultrasound and MRI of the abdomen revealed a left ovarian cystic mass. The patient experienced a significant recovery of cognitive function after surgical resection of the tumor, which was pathologically identified as a mature ovarian teratoma, and treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.574-577
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• 2001

A 54-year-old homosexual man was diagnosed as human immunodeficiency virus-1-positive in 1992. He was admitted to a tertiary hospital in March, 2000 because of right flank pain, fever and intermittent cough. A chest roentgenogram showed right-sided pleural effusion, and closed thoracostomy was performed for drainage Salmonella species and Escherichia coli were isolated from the pleural fluid. In spite of 6 weeks of antibiotic treatment, fever did not subside and the general condition gradually deteriorated, and under the diagnosis of lung abscess with empyema thoracis, right pleuropneumonectomy was performed. The general condition improved postoperatively until day 10 when he showed sudden change in mental status to stuporous and developed focal seizure. Brain CT showed multiple abscesses in right frontal and left frontotemporal lobes and he expired on postoperative day 14.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.247-261
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• 1999

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the normal values of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and cerebrovascular reserve (CVR) in normal children to aged volunteers using Tc-99m HMPAO, Materials and Methods: Thirty four right-handed normal volunteers (20 males, 14 females, mean age $40.3{\pm}24.9$ years, range 4 to 82 years) were underwent rost/acetazolamide (ACZ) brain SPECT using Tc-99m HMPAO and the sequential injection and subtraction method. rCBF was estimated on the basis of a semiquantitative approach by means of right/left ratio, region/cerebellum and region to whole brain ratios in (rental, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes, basal ganglia, thalami, and cerebellum. CVR was measured by means of % perfusion increase calculated as % mean count change compared to rest rCBF in each regions. Results: Mean values of right to left ratios range from 1.004 to 1.018, rCBF was highest in cerebellum and lowest in basal ganglia and thalami. Frontal and temporal rCBF decreased while occipital and thalamic rCBF increased according to age. No sexual difference of rCBF was noted. Mean CVR was $29.9{\pm}12.9%$. Mean CVR significantly increased to late teens, and declined thereafter. After 6th decade, CVR in both frontal lobes, left parietal lobe and right basal ganglia decreased significantly with advancing age. There was no sexual difference of CVR. Conclusion: Quantitative assessment of CVR was possible by ACZ Tc-99m HMPAO brain SPECT. It revealed that rCBF and CVR changed according to age in normal Korean volunteers. There was no sexual difference.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.271-275
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• 2001

Hyposexuality after stroke has been frequently observed, but hypersexuality as a sequela of stroke has not been commonly documented. We report a patient who exhibited hypersexuality and obsessive-compulsive behaviors after stroke in the region of the left mesial frontal cortex and both basal ganglia. At 2 months after stroke, he visited psychiatric unit due to these symptoms. His motor function was almost full recovered. He was treated with fluvoxamine and perphenazine. With two-month medication, his hypersexuality and obsessive-compulsive behavior disappeared. This case may indicate that basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit plays an important role in the mediation of sexual behavior and obsessive-compulsive behavior. Since changes in sexual activity may not be spontaneously reported, a systemic inquiry into patient's sexual functioning after infarction in frontal lobe or basal ganglia is warranted.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.81 no.4
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• pp.912-919
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• 2020

Purpose This study aimed to compare the brain perfusion status of patients with chronic kidney disease to a normal control group to identify any significant differences. Materials and Methods The perfusion state of the brain was measured by MRI using the arterial spin labeling technique in 36 patients undergoing hemodialysis due to chronic kidney disease and 36 normal controls. Images were then analyzed in a voxel-wise manner to detect brain areas showing significant perfusion differences between the two groups. Results Patients with chronic kidney disease showed increased perfusion in the form of large clusters across the right fronto-parieto-temporal lobe and the left parieto-occipital lobe. In addition, perfusion increased in the bilateral thalami, midbrain, pons, and cerebellum (p < 0.01, familywise error corrected). Conclusion Brain perfusion appears to increase in patients with chronic kidney disease compared to normal controls. Uremic toxicity is thought to be the cause of this increase as it can cause damage to the microscopic blood vessels and their surrounding structures.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 2005

Impaired processing of facial information is one of the broad ranges of cognitive deficits seen in patients with schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the differences in brain activities involved in the process of facial working memory between schizophrenic patients and healthy comparison subjects. Ten patients with schizophrenia were recruited along with matched healthy volunteers as a comparison group. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess cortical activities during the performance of a 1-back working memory paradigm using images of neutral faces as mnemonic content. The patient group performed the tasks with reduced accuracy. Group analysis revealed that left fusiform gyrus, right superior frontal gyrus, bilateral middle frontal gyri/insula, left middle temporal gyrus, precuneus and vermis of cerebellum and showed decreased cortical activities in the patient group. On the other hand, an increased level of activation in lateral prefrontal cortex and parietal lobule was observed from the patient group, all in the right hemisphere. A decreased level of activity in the left fusiform gyrus among the patient group implicates inefficient processing of facial information. An increased level of activation in prefrontal and parietal neural networks from the patient group confirms earlier findings on the impaired working memory of patients with schizophrenia.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.121-128
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• 2001

Objectives: In narcoleptic patients diagnosed with ICSD (international classification of sleep disorders, 1990) criteria, nocturnal polysomnography, and MSLT (multiple sleep latency test), we tried to find characteristic features of quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) in a wakeful state. Methods: We compared eight drug-free narcoleptic patients with sex- and age-matched normal controls, using computerized electroencephalographic mapping technique and spectral analysis. Absolute power, relative power, interhemispheric asymmetry, interhemispheric and intrahemispheric coherence, and mean frequency in each frequency band (delta, theta, alpha and beta) were measured and analyzed. Results: Compared with normal controls, narcoleptic patients showed decrease in monopolar interhemispheric coherence of alpha frequency bands in occipital ($O_1/O_2$), parietal ($P_3/P_4$), and temporal ($T_5/T_6$) areas and beta frequency band in the occipital ($O_1/O_2$) area. Monopolar intrahemispheric coherences of alpha frequency bands in left hemispheric areas ($T_3/T_5$, $C_3/P_3$ & $F_3/O_1$) decreased. Decrease of monopolar interhemispheric asymmetry of delta frequency band in the occipital ($O_1/O_2$) area was also noted. The monopolar absolute powers of beta frequency bands decreased in occipital ($O_2,\;O_z$) areas. Conclusion: Decreases in coherences of narcoleptic patients compared with normal controls may indicate fewer posterior neocortical interhemispheric neuronal connections, and fewer left intrahemispheric neuronal connections than normal controls in a wakeful state. Therefore, we suggest that abnormal neurophysiological sites of narcolepsy may involve complex areas such as neocortex and subcortex as well as the brainstem.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2007

Purpose: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has recently been clinically applied in the treatment of drug resistant depressed patients. There are mixed findings about the efficacy of rTMS on depression. Furthermore, the influence of rTMS on the physiology of the brain is not clear. We prospectively evaluated changes of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) between pre- and post-rTMS treatment in patients with drug resistant depression. Materials and Methods: Twelve patients with drug-resistant depression (7 male, 5 female; age range: $19{\sim}52$ years; mean age: $29.3{\pm}9.3$ years) were given rTMS on right prefrontal lobe with low frequency (1 Hz) and on left prefrontal lobe with high frequency (20 Hz), with 20-minute-duration each day for 3 weeks. Tc-99m ECD brain perfusion SPECT was obtained before and after rTMS treatment. The changes of cerebral perfusion were analyzed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM; t=3.14, uncorrected p<0.01, voxel=100). Results: Following areas showed significant increase in rCBF after 3 weeks rTMS treatment: the cingulate gyrus, fusiform gyrus of right temporal lobe, precuneus, and left lateral globus pallidus. Significant decrement was noted in: the precental and middle frontal gyrus of right frontal lobe, and fusiform gyrus of left occipital lobe. Conclusion: Low-frequency rTMS on the right prefrontal cortex and high-frequency rTMS on the left prefrontal cortex for 3 weeks as an add-on regimen have increased and decreased rCBF in the specific brain regions in drug-resistant depressed patients. Further analyses correlating clinical characteristics and treatment paradigm with functional imaging data may be helpful in clarifying the pathophysiology of drug-resistant depressed patients.