• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.439-445
• /
• 2018

T-type calcium channels are low voltage-activated calcium channels that evoke small and transient calcium currents. Recently, T-type calcium channels have been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and neural tube defects. However, their function during embryonic development is largely unknown. Here, we investigated the function and expression of T-type calcium channels in embryonic neural progenitor cells (NPCs). First, we compared the expression of T-type calcium channel subtypes (CaV3.1, 3.2, and 3.3) in NPCs and differentiated neural cells (neurons and astrocytes). We detected all subtypes in neurons but not in astrocytes. In NPCs, CaV3.1 was the dominant subtype, whereas CaV3.2 was weakly expressed, and CaV3.3 was not detected. Next, we determined CaV3.1 expression levels in the cortex during early brain development. Expression levels of CaV3.1 in the embryonic period were transiently decreased during the perinatal period and increased at postnatal day 11. We then pharmacologically blocked T-type calcium channels to determine the effects in neuronal cells. The blockade of T-type calcium channels reduced cell viability, and induced apoptotic cell death in NPCs but not in differentiated astrocytes. Furthermore, blocking T-type calcium channels rapidly reduced AKT-phosphorylation (Ser473) and $GSK3{\beta}$-phosphorylation (Ser9). Our results suggest that T-type calcium channels play essential roles in maintaining NPC viability, and T-type calcium channel blockers are toxic to embryonic neural cells, and may potentially be responsible for neurodevelopmental disorders.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.9-18
• /
• 2016

This study reported a case study that showed educational usefulness of SAFMEDS (Say All Fast a Minute Every Day Shuffled) on the improvement of Fluency. The participants were 3 experts with special teacher and speech and pathology, who enrolled a graduate level course, Research in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The SAFMEDS strategy was employed as a study tool for the participants to acquire fluent verbal repertoires related to the key terminologies of Skinner's (1957) analysis of verbal behavior, list 60 pairs of terms. The participants developed 60 term flash cards which presented a target term on the front of the card, and its definition on the back. During the intervention, the participants were required to see the definition and says its term. The results of this study indicated that the SAFMEDS was effective to improve participants' fluent verbal repertoires in terms of both accuracy and fluency. The results of this study would be able to contribute for education professionals to improve certain target operant's accuracy and fluency.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.11 no.11
• /
• pp.753-766
• /
• 2013

Even though civilization is developing at a fast rate, human beings and their living environments do not look happy. Given that the civilization comes from the human mind, which is changing in interaction with human body, society, and nature, it is hard to think that the human mind is changing in the desirable direction. This paper described a whole changing paradigm of the human mind and its causes through the cognitive mechanism in the brain from which all the diverse minds are formed. According to the cognitive mechanism, the human mind can change from the first free and peaceful mind through the middle mind to the last obsessive and anguish mind in accordance with the change of one of the factors in the origin of the human mind. Today's unfavorable changes in human beings, society, and the natural environment including the excessive development of civilization are the results of the undesirable changes of the human mind. This paper specified the respective characteristics of the first, middle, and the last mind and discussed where individuals' minds are and where they are going. Lastly, this paper suggested the specific ways to return to the first original mind based on the cognitive mechanism.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.447-456
• /
• 2021

This study analyzed 28 domestic and foreign studies related Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets treatment techniques from 1984 to 2020 to prepare basic data for the development of PROMPT intervention programs and examination tools. According to the analysis, continuous research has been conducted since 1984 when the prompt study was first started, and the method of research was 16 intervention studies, with the highest number of speech disorders, and the target age being 3 to 5 years old, the most frequently conducted for infancy. The treatment was the most frequent in the 16th sessions, and the activities were based on the Motor Speech Hierarchy(MSH), except for the subjects of the non-verbal autism spectrum disorder. According to the analysis of the dependent variables, 'speech production' was the most common, followed by 'speech motor control', 'articulation', and 'speech intelligibility' were highest. Combined with all these studies, it suggests that PROMPT, which are directly useful for exercise spoken word production, are effectively being used outside the country and that it is necessary to develop a PROMPT program that can be applied domestically, in Korea.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.70-77
• /
• 2022

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have been attracting significant attention in modern society, owing to the increased incidence rate of various diseases along with population growth. EDCs are found in many commercial products, including some plastic bottles and containers, detergents, liners of metal food cans, flame retardants, food, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides. EDCs have a hormonal effect on the human body, which disrupts the endocrine system, notably affecting sexual differentiation and normal reproduction, and can trigger cancer as well. Recently, the association between neurological diseases and EDCs has become a hot topic of research in the field of neuroscience. Considering that EDCs negatively affect not only neuronal proliferation and neurotransmission but also the formation of the neuronal networks, EDCs may induce neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder as well as neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. In light of these potentially deleterious outcomes, important efforts have been underway to minimize the exposure to EDCs through appropriate regulations and policies around the world, but chemicals that have not yet been associated with endocrine disrupting properties are still in wide use. Therefore, more epidemiological investigations and research are needed to fully understand the effects of EDCs on the nervous system.

• Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association
• /
• v.57 no.2
• /
• pp.190-208
• /
• 2018

Objectives To initiate and develop a treatment guideline in multidisciplinary approaches for related professions who are either working and/or living with children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders who show behavioral problems. Methods To collect and reflect opinions from multiple professions who assumedly have different interventions or mediations on behavioral problems, a self-report survey and Focus Group Interview (FGI) were conducted for a group of child and adolescent psychiatrists, behavioral therapists, special education teachers, social welfare workers, and caregivers. Results According to a self-report survey and FGI results from multiple professional groups, aggressive behavior is the mostly common behavioral problem necessitating urgent interventions. However, both mainly used intervention strategies and effective treatment methods were different depending on professional backgrounds, such as pharmacological treatment, parent training, and behavior therapy, even though they shared an importance of improving communication skills. In addition, there was a common understanding of necessity to include parent training in a guideline. Lastly the data suggested lack of proper treatment facilities, qualified behavior therapists, and lack of standardized treatment guideline in the field needed to be improved for a quality of current therapeutic services. Conclusion It is supported that several subjects should be included in the guidelines, such as how to deal with aggressive behavior, parent training, and biological aspects of neurodevelopmental disorders. Also, it is expected that publishing the guideline would be helpful to above multiple professions as it is investigated that there are lack of treatment facility and qualified behavioral therapists compared to need at the moment.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.868-880
• /
• 2023

This study is a qualitative study conducted to analyze the functions and needs of social robots for parents of children with developmental disabilities in order to utilize care robots for treatment of children with developmental disabilities. The subjects of the study were 11 primary caregivers with children under the age of 18 whose children were diagnosed with developmental disabilities or who had been receiving special education for more than one year. The interview questionnaire was composed of a semi-structured questionnaire and consisted of awareness, necessity, expectation, concern, and other opinions about social robots. The interview was conducted as a non-face-to-face online video interview due to COVID 19. As a result of the study, 4 themes and 7 sub-topics were derived. The four topics were derived from the unfamiliar but soon-to-be-faced reality, social robots with active functions, opinions on the appearance and materials of social robots, and concerns about social robots. Through this study, it was possible to identify the expectations and suggestions of the main caregivers for social robots, which could not be identified in quantitative studies, and if these can be reflected in social robots to be developed in the future, it is expected that positive results with higher acceptance will be derived.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.100-112
• /
• 1999

Objective：In life-long disabilities like autism and mental retardation, the authors thought that it is important for clinician to consider the quality of life of a primary caregiver for long-term management and prognosis. This study was to investigate the factors of children and family environment affecting the quality of life and depression in mothers with autistic and/or mentally retarded children. Methods：41 autistic and/or mentally retarded children aged 5-12 years with their mothers were surveyed from September, 1998 to January, 1999, with K-CBCL, K-BDI, K-FES, and K-SBQOL scale and compared with data from 35 normal control subjects. Results：1) Total K-BDI and K-SBQOL scores of mothers with mentally handicapped children were significantly poorer than the scores of normal control group. Independence, intellectual/cultural orientation and active recreation subscales of K-FES in mentally handicapped children were significantly decreased than those in normal control group. 2) Total K-BDI score of mothers with mentally handicapped children was correlated with their children’s behavioral problems, especially internalizing and thought symptoms, and with family cohesion, expressiveness, conflict and independence. 3) Totol K-SB quality of life score of mothers with mentally handicapped children was correlated with their children’s behavioral problems, especially attention problem, and with family cohesion, conflict, independence, intellectual/cultural orientation, and moral-religional emphasis. 4) The quality of life of mothers with mentally handicapped children was predicted by attention problem($R^2$=.36, p=.000) and social competence($R^2$=.07, p=.038) in children and family cohesion ($R^2$=.16, p=.001). 5) Depression of mothers with mentally handicapped children was predicted by internalizing symptom ($R^2$=.21, p=.003) and thought disorder($R^2$=.06, p=.048) in children and family cohesion($R^2$=.14, p=.008). Conclusion：Reducing behavioral problems and family therapeutic intervention in autistic and mentally retarded children can improve the quality of life of primary caregivers and long-term prognosis of the children, although those are not curative.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.139-152
• /
• 2002

Objectives：This study was conducted to compare the clinical and neuropsychological characteristics by DSM-IV subtypes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) patients who did not have comorbid psychiatric disorders. Methods：5-15 year old children with ADHD were recruited at psychiatric outpatient clinic of Yeungnam University hospital and the patients with comorbidity or neurological abnormalities were excluded. Finally, total 404 children with ADHD were selected for this study. There were 234 subjects of ADHD-C(57.9%), 156 subjects of ADHD-I(38.6%) and 14 subjects of ADHD-HI(3.5%), who fulfilled the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. The mean age of the total subjects was 9.63±2.49 years old. The psychopathology, IQ, behavioral problems, neuropsychological executive function were evaluated before pharmacological treatment. The measures were Korean Personality Inventory of Child(K-PIC) for psychopathology, 4 behavioral check lists(ADDES-HV, ACTeRS, CAP, SNAP) for behavioral symptoms of ADHD, K-ABC and KEDI-WISC for IQ and Conner's CPT, WCST, SST for neuropsychological executive functions. Results：1) The prevalence of subtypes was ADHD-C, ADHD-I, ADHD-HI in decreasing order. There was no sex difference of prevalence among three subtypes. The mean age of ADHD-I was older than other subtypes. 2) There was significant differences of psychopathology among subtypes, the ADHD-C and ADHD-HI had higher than the ADHD-I in the scores of delinquent, hyperactivity and psychosis；the ADHD-C had higher than the ADHD-I in the scores of family relation and autism, the scores of ego resilience were lower than the ADHD-I. However, there was no difference in anxiety, depression and somatization scores among them. 3) The results of behavioral symptom check lists, the ADHD-C had higher the score of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity than the ADHD-I. Meanwhile the results of ACTeRs, which rated by the teachers, were different. 4) There were significant differences of sequential processing scale and arithmetics among subtypes in IQ using K-ABC, but there was no significant difference between the ADHD-C and the ADHD-I after excluding the ADHD-HI due to small numbers. 5) There was numerical difference among subtypes but did not reach statistical significance in three neuropsychological executive function tests. Conclusion：In conclusion, our results revealed that there was significant difference in clinical features among three subtypes but, no significant difference in executive functions.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.47-56
• /
• 2008

Risperidone is a widely prescribed atypical antipsychotic agent. Approved by the FDA as the first drug to treat irritability associated with autism in children, it is also used to treat tic disorder and Tourette's syndrome. Its adverse reactions related to dentistry include dry mouth, the mechanism of which is yet to be identified. The aim of this study is to identify, at the cellular level, how and to what extent risperidone affects intracellular free calcium concentration ($[Ca^{2+}]_i$), an primary intracellular factor in the regulation of fluid secretion in salivary gland cells. The human salivary gland cell line (HSG) was grown in MEM supplemented with 10% BCS. In order to measure $[Ca^{2+}]_i$, Fura-2/AM was loaded in the HSG, and fluorescence at 340 nm/380 nm excitation was measured in the 500 nm emission ratio. After every experiment, a calibration experiment was conducted in order to readjust the ratio to the actual $[Ca^{2+}]_i$. Changes in $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ were measured in the presence of carbachol, ATP and histamine. The researcher then explored how the pretreatment of risperidone affected such changes. Findings of this study include: 1. In HSG, $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ increased due to the addition of carbachol, ATP and histamine. The presence of risperidone inhibited the action of histamine on this process, while making little effect on that of carbachol and ATP. 2. A quantification of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ in relation to histamine of different concentrations indicates that the effect of histamine was concentration dependent with an $EC_{50}$ of $3.3{\pm}0.5\;{\mu}M$. 3. The inhibitory effect of risperidone on histamine-induced $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ was concentration-dependent with an $IC_{50}$ of $104.4{\pm}14\;nM$. 4. Risperidone inhibits histamine-induced Ca2+ release from endoplasmic reticulum and influx of extracellular $Ca^{2+}$ in HSG cells(p<0.05).