• BMB Reports
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• 제49권8호
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• pp.405-413
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• 2016

Tau proteins, which stabilize the structure and regulate the dynamics of microtubules, also play important roles in axonal transport and signal transduction. Tau proteins are missorted, aggregated, and found as tau inclusions under many pathological conditions associated with neurodegenerative disorders, which are collectively known as tauopathies. In the adult human brain, tau protein can be expressed in six isoforms due to alternative splicing. The aberrant splicing of tau pre-mRNA has been consistently identified in a variety of tauopathies but is not restricted to these types of disorders as it is also present in patients with non-tau proteinopathies and RNAopathies. Tau mis-splicing results in isoform-specific impairments in normal physiological function and enhanced recruitment of excessive tau isoforms into the pathological process. A variety of factors are involved in the complex set of mechanisms underlying tau mis-splicing, but variation in the cis-element, methylation of the MAPT gene, genetic polymorphisms, the quantity and activity of spliceosomal proteins, and the patency of other RNA-binding proteins, are related to aberrant splicing. Currently, there is a lack of appropriate therapeutic strategies aimed at correcting the tau mis-splicing process in patients with neurodegenerative disorders. Thus, a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between tau mis-splicing and neurodegenerative disorders will aid in the development of efficient therapeutic strategies for patients with a tauopathy or other, related neurodegenerative disorders.

• 영어영문학
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• 제64권1호
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• pp.3-24
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• 2018

Stories are important instruments for configuring our cognitive and social worlds, but they do not necessarily make us more caring or less aggressive and self-involved. The ability to tell and follow a story requires cognitive capacities that are basic to the neurobiology of mental functioning, and so it would stand to reason that our experiences with stories would draw on and re-shape patterns of interaction that extend beyond the immediate experience of reading or listening to a narrative. Our intuitive, bodily-based ability to understand the actions of other people is fundamental to social relations, including the circuit between the representation of a configured action emplotted in a narrative and the reader's or listener's activity of following the story as we assimilate its patterns into the figures that shape our worlds. The activity of following a narrative can have a variety of beneficial or potentially noxious social consequences, either promoting the shared intentionality that neurobiologically oriented cultural anthropologists identify as a unique human capacity supporting culturally productive collaboration, or habitualizing and thereby naturalizing particular patterns of perception into rigid ideological constructs. The doubling of "me" and "not-me" in narrative acts of identification may promote the "we-intentionality" that makes socially beneficial cooperation possible, or it can set off mimetic conflict and various contagion effects. Neuroscience cannot predict what the social consequences of narrative will be, but it can identify the brain- and body-based processes through which (for better or worse) stories exercise social power.

• 한국의학물리학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국의학물리학회 2006년도 제33회 추계학술대회 발표논문집
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• pp.29-29
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• 2006

• 한국의학물리학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국의학물리학회 2006년도 제33회 추계학술대회 발표논문집
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• pp.30-30
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• 2006

• 인지과학
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.375-398
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• 2006

인간은 보고, 듣고, 따라하고, 행하고, 느끼면서 배운다. 이 모든 과정에 뇌가 관여한다. 최근 뇌과학 연구의 비약적 발전과 뇌과학 연구와 인지과학 연구의 활발한 협력은 '뇌기반 학습과학(Brain-Based Learning Science)', '교육신경과학(Educational Neuroscience)', 혹은 신경교육학(Neuro-Education)이라 불리우는 새로운 연구 분야를 탄생시켰다. 뇌기반 학습과학은 기존의 '학습과학'을 넘어서 실제 학습과 교육환경에 적지 않은 변화를 줄 것으로 기대되는 만큼 그 가능성에 대해 회의적인 입장도 공존하고 있다. 이 논문에서는 뇌기반 학습과학의 정의와 기본가정을 살펴보고, 인지신경과학의 최신 연구가 어떻게 이루어지고 있는지를 소개하고 이러한 연구결과에서 교육적 함의를 도출해 보고자 하였다. 또한 신경계에 대한 신화적 사고와 그 문제점을 열거하고, 뇌과학과 학습-교육 현장의 연계 가능성 및 향후 뇌기반 학습과학의 전망과 한계에 대해 논의하였다.

• 한국산학기술학회논문지
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• 제12권5호
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• pp.2222-2229
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• 2011

기초의학 강의 요원의 부족은 교육에 대한 부담과 연구활동 위축이라는 이중고를 초래하고 있다. 기초의학 강의의 효율성을 높이기 위하여 다양한 연구 및 해결책이 제시되어 왔으며, 통합강의 역시 그 대안의 하나로서 대두되고 있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 새롭게 부각되고 있는 기초의학 통합강의에 대한 가상강의(cyber lecture) 적용의 실효성과 타당성을 설문조사와 교과목 운영의 경험을 중심으로 분석하였다. 설문조사에 대해 학생들은 가상강의의 내용, 난이도, 진행 및 멀티미디어 컨텐츠 등에 대해 대체로 만족스러운 의견을 제시하였다. 또한 가상강의가 통합강의 운영을 보완해주는데 효율적일 것이라는 의견과 더불어, 향후 통합강의에서 가상강의의 비중을 학대할 필요성에 대해서도 찬성의견이 반대의견보다 지배적임을 알 수 있었다. 뿐만 아니라, 통합강의 실습의 일부분을 가상강의에서 운영하는 방안에 대해서도 대체로 긍정적이었다. 통계분석 결과, 가상강의에 대해 긍정적이거나 부정적인 의견들은 기초신경학 통합강의 성적이 우수한 학생과 보통이하인 학생들 사이에 유의한 차이를 보이지 않았으나($x^2$ 검증 결과), 성적이 우수한 학생일수록 가상강의의 효율성에 대해 긍정적이라는 경향은 알 수 있었다(Spearman 등위상관계수를 산출한 결과). 본 연구결과를 통해 제시된 개선방안과 축적된 경험을 바탕으로 점차 가상강의의 비중을 높이고 강의교수들 간의 유기적 협조가 이루어진다면 가상강의는 향후 기초의학 통합강의 운영의 새로운 패러다임(paradigm)이 될 것으로 사료된다.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제43권4호
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• pp.360-372
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• 2020

The basal ganglia network has been implicated in the control of adaptive behavior, possibly by integrating motor learning and motivational processes. Both positive and negative reinforcement appear to shape our behavioral adaptation by modulating the function of the basal ganglia. Here, we examined a transgenic mouse line (G2CT) in which synaptic transmissions onto the medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the basal ganglia are depressed. We found that the level of collaterals from direct pathway MSNs in the external segment of the globus pallidus (GPe) ('bridging collaterals') was decreased in these mice, and this was accompanied by behavioral inhibition under stress. Furthermore, additional manipulations that could further decrease or restore the level of the bridging collaterals resulted in an increase in behavioral inhibition or active behavior in the G2CT mice, respectively. Collectively, our data indicate that the striatum of the basal ganglia network integrates negative emotions and controls appropriate coping responses in which the bridging collateral connections in the GPe play a critical regulatory role.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제25권6호
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• pp.603-611
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• 2021

Taste-responsive neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NST), the first gustatory nucleus, often respond to thermal or mechanical stimulation. Alcohol, not a typical taste modality, is a rewarding stimulus. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of ethanol (EtOH) and/or temperature as stimuli to the tongue on the activity of taste-responsive neurons in hamster NST. In the first set of experiments, we recorded the activity of 113 gustatory NST neurons in urethane-anesthetized hamsters and evaluated responses to four basic taste stimuli, 25% EtOH, and 40℃ and 4℃ distilled water (dH₂O). Sixty cells responded to 25% EtOH, with most of them also being sucrose sensitive. The response to 25% EtOH was significantly correlated with the sucrose-evoked response. A significant correlation was also observed between sucrose- and 40℃ dH₂O- and between 25% EtOH- and 40℃ dH₂O-evoked firings. In a subset of the cells, we evaluated neuronal activities in response to a series of EtOH concentrations, alone and in combination with 32 mM sucrose (EtOH/Suc) at room temperature (RT, 22℃-23℃), 40℃, and 4℃. Neuronal responses to EtOH at RT and 40℃ increased as the concentrations increased. The firing rates to EtOH/Suc were greater than those to EtOH or sucrose alone. The responses were enhanced when solutions were applied at 40℃ but diminished at 4℃. In summary, EtOH activates most sucrose-responsive NST gustatory cells, and the concomitant presence of sucrose or warm temperatures enhance this response. Our findings may contribute to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying appetitive alcohol consumption.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• 제5권2호
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• pp.108-112
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• 2009

Alzheimer's disease(AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized pathologically by senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and synapse loss. Especially, extracellular beta-amyloid (Abeta) deposition is a major pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In AD senile plaques, high level of iron and car-bonylated Abeta were detected. Iron has a Lewis acid property which can increase the electrophilicity of carbonyls, which may react catalytically with nucleophiles, such as amines. Hence, this study investigated whether or not iron could promote the carbonylation of amine with malondialdehyde (MDA) in the physiological condition. As the basic study, we examined that iron might promote the conjugation reaction between propylamine, monoamine molecule and MDA in the physiological condition. As the concentration of iron increased, the fluorescence intensity produced from the conjugation reaction increased in a dose-dependent manner. Instead of propylamine, we applied the same reaction condition to Abeta 1-40 peptide, one of major components founded in AD senile plaques for the conjugation reaction. As the result, the fluorescence intensity produced from the conjugation reaction between Abeta 1-40 peptide and MDA showed the similar trend to that of the reaction used with propylamine. This study suggests that iron can accelerate the conjugation reaction of MDA to Abeta 1-40 peptide and play an another important role in deterioration of AD brain.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.27-35
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• 2016

Purpose: Among RF pulses, a sinc pulse is typically used for slice selection due to its frequency-selective feature. When a sinc pulse is implemented in practice, it needs to be apodized to avoid truncation artifacts at the expense of broadening the transition region of the excited-band profile. Here a sinc pulse tailored by a new apodization function is proposed that produces a sharper transition region with well suppression of truncation artifacts in comparison with conventional tailored sinc pulses. A multiband pulse designed using this newly apodized sinc pulse is also suggested inheriting the better performance of the newly apodized sinc pulse. Materials and Methods: A new apodization function is introduced to taper a sinc pulse, playing a role to slightly shift the first zero-crossing of a tailored sinc pulse from the peak of the main lobe and thereby producing a narrower bandwidth as well as a sharper pass-band in the excitation profile. The newly apodized sinc pulse was also utilized to design a multiband pulse which inherits the performance of its constituent. Performances of the proposed sinc pulse and the multiband pulse generated with it were demonstrated by Bloch simulation and phantom imaging. Results: In both simulations and experiments, the newly apodized sinc pulse yielded a narrower bandwidth and a sharper transition of the pass-band profile with a desirable degree of side-lobe suppression than the commonly used Hanning-windowed sinc pulse. The multiband pulse designed using the newly apodized sinc pulse also showed the better performance in multi-slice excitation than the one designed with the Hanning-windowed sinc pulse. Conclusion: The new tailored sinc pulse proposed here provides a better performance in slice (or slab) selection than conventional tailored sinc pulses. Thanks to the availability of analytical expression, it can also be utilized for multiband pulse design with great flexibility and readiness in implementation, transferring its better performance.