• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.34-43
• /
• 2007

Background: Previous research has suggested that single doses of a standardised Panax ginseng extract can decrease fasted blood-glucose levels and modulate cognitive performance in healthy young volunteers. The latter has generally been seen in terms of improved secondary memory performance. However, both the cognitive effects of chronic administration of ginseng and the potential modulation of working memory have received comparatively little research attention. Aims: The current double-blind, placebo-controlled, balanced cross-over study investigated the effects of 8-weeks administration of Korean ginseng extract (200 mg) on cognitive performance, gluco-regulatory parameters and ratings of subjective mood and 'quality of life'. Methods: 'Eighteen healthy young participants were assessed pre-dose and 3 hours post-dose on the mornings of Day 1, Day 29 and Day 57 of 8 week treatment regimens of both placebo and ginseng. A four-week placebo wash-out separated the treatment phases. Each assessment included the Cognitive Drug Research battery, computerised working memory tasks, and Bond-Lader mood scales. The WHO Quality of Life scale (WHOQOL-BREF) was completed once per visit. Gluco-regulatory parameters were assessed with assays of blood glucose, insulin and HbA1c. Results: Data from the 16 participants that completed the study showed that there were no significant, acute treatment related differences on Day 1 of treatment, or in gluco-regulatory parameters throughout the study. However, time related performance improvements were evident following chronic administration of ginseng on the '3-Back' and 'Corsi-block' computerised working memory tasks. Ginseng was also associated with an improved score on the 'social relations' subscale of the WHOQOL-100, and a significant shift on the 'calm' factor of the Bond-Lader mood scales (from calm/relaxed towards excited/tense). Conclusion: The results of the current study suggest that Korean ginseng extract can modulate working memory performance and subjective ratings of 'quality of life' and mood. Replication with a larger sample size may further elucidate the actions of this product.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.44-52
• /
• 2018

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects and find the correlation of LOTCA-G and SS-QOL on the cognitive function and quality of life of elderly stroke patients. The time period of the experiment was from March 1, 2018 to March 30, 2018, and the study sample was composed of 102 stroke out-patients who participated in the rehabilitation center in G-city and received treatment of LOTCA-G and SS-QOL. The raw scores of the cognitive function of the elderly stroke patients varied depending on their gender, age, education, and marital status, but the differences were not statistically significant. Second, the raw scores of the quality of life of the elderly stroke patients varied depending on their gender, age, education, and marital status, but only marital status showed significance (p <0.01). The elderly stroke patients' cognitive function and the quality of life showed a statistically significant correlation (p <0.01). LOTCA-G and SS-QOL generally showed significant correlation even among sub-categories, but energy, one of the sub-categories of quality of life, did not show significant correlation with any of the other sub-categories of cognitive function. By combining the study results, it was possible to see that there were high levels of correlation between cognitive function and quality of life in elderly stroke patients shown through LOTCA-G and SS-QOL. Based on this study, if the raw scores of cognitive function and quality of life could be validated and various basic data could be provided for increasing quality of life, it can be considered that the stroke patients' quality of life will be improved.

• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.282-295
• /
• 2011

Prior research has reported that student epistemological beliefs might affect their participation in learning and the process of conceptual change. The purposes of this study were to investigate the characteristics of sixth grade students epistemological beliefs about science and the relation between their epistemological beliefs about science and factors related their learning. For this research questions, 245 sixth grade students participated and various test instruments were used in this study. Students answered two types of questionnaires on epistemological beliefs about science and three test instruments on factors related students' learning(achievement in science, science inquiry skills, and cognitive levels). The results of this study were as follows. First, a large number of elementary school students believed that the purpose of science to perform activities like simple experiments. A lot of students believed that scientific knowledge was changeable according to the nature of scientific knowledge and that scientific knowledge could be learnt on their own. Also, many students believed experiment results to be basis on which to form personal scientific conceptions. Second, students who believed in more modern epistemology about science represented higher levels of science learning achievement, science inquiry skills, and cognitive levels. Therefore, when developing science curriculum, science educators need to consider how to develop student modern epistemological beliefs about science.

• Journal of Science of Art and Design
• /
• v.3
• /
• pp.225-247
• /
• 2001

The analysis of art work that is objective and theoretical needs the help of the cognitive psychology, for the pictorial semiotics requires psychology. The first step to the analysis of art work is about the visual elements and their relations. But the semiotics is lack of the method of the analysis of art work and the some authors don't have treated or been interested in psychological analysis. The main problem of visual semiotics is the density of pictorial representation. It makes the semantic of art work impossible at the very early process of analysis. But the density is not only a matter of visual representation, verbal language also has this problem. The point is that art work functions more art than denotation, but verbal language does more denotation than art. This difference makes difficult to apply the method of language or semiotics to visual art. The possibility of pictorial syntax or perceptual semantics should begin considering the unification of perception and semantics. In principles these two field can be unified. At atomism and holism these are parallel. Therefore perceptual semantics is possible The cognitive psychology can help to formulation of perceptual semantics. At first, the visual representation is incremental and it can be divided at three steps. In these steps each sensation, perception and cognition level has their own role. Perceptual representation of art work should be specified at these three levels. And each of these levels, the special properties of art work should be drawn and examined in the possibility of semiotics. The investigation of psychological levels and semiotic level should be circulated. It will help to formulate the method of analysis of art work.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.9-17
• /
• 2016

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive brain disease, for which there is no effective drug therapy at present. Ginsenoside Rg1 (G-Rg1) and G-Rg2 have been reported to alleviate memory deterioration. However, the mechanism of their anti-AD effect has not yet been clearly elucidated. Methods: Ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem MS (UPLC/MS)-based metabolomics was used to identify metabolites that are differentially expressed in the brains of AD mice with or without ginsenoside treatment. The cognitive function of mice and pathological changes in the brain were also assessed using the Morris water maze (MWM) and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Results: The impaired cognitive function and increased hippocampal $A{\beta}$ deposition in AD mice were ameliorated by G-Rg1 and G-Rg2. In addition, a total of 11 potential biomarkers that are associated with the metabolism of lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs), hypoxanthine, and sphingolipids were identified in the brains of AD mice and their levels were partly restored after treatment with G-Rg1 and G-Rg2. G-Rg1 and G-Rg2 treatment influenced the levels of hypoxanthine, dihydrosphingosine, hexadecasphinganine, LPC C 16:0, and LPC C 18:0 in AD mice. Additionally, G-Rg1 treatment also influenced the levels of phytosphingosine, LPC C 13:0, LPC C 15:0, LPC C 18:1, and LPC C 18:3 in AD mice. Conclusion: These results indicate that the improvements in cognitive function and morphological changes produced by G-Rg1 and G-Rg2 treatment are caused by regulation of related brain metabolic pathways. This will extend our understanding of the mechanisms involved in the effects of G-Rg1 and G-Rg2 on AD.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.281-296
• /
• 2021

The beneficial effects of hypoxic preconditioning are abolished in the diabetes. The present study was designed to investigate the protective effects and mechanisms of repeated episodes of whole body hypoxic preconditioning (WBHP) in db/db mice. The protective effects of preconditioning were explored on diabetes-induced vascular dysfunction, cognitive impairment and ischemia-reperfusion (IR)-induced increase in myocardial injury. Sixteen-week old db/db (diabetic) and C57BL/6 (non-diabetic) mice were employed. There was a significant impairment in cognitive function (Morris Water Maze test), endothelial function (acetylcholine-induced relaxation in aortic rings) and a significant increase in IR-induced heart injury (Langendorff apparatus) in db/db mice. WBHP stimulus was given by exposing mice to four alternate cycles of low (8%) and normal air O₂ for 10 min each. A single episode of WBHP failed to produce protection; however, two and three episodes of WBHP significantly produced beneficial effects on the heart, brain and blood vessels. There was a significant increase in the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nitric oxide (NO) in response to 3 episodes of WBHP. Moreover, pretreatment with the BDNF receptor, TrkB antagonist (ANA-12) and NO synthase inhibitor (L-NAME) attenuated the protective effects imparted by three episodes of WBHP. These pharmacological agents abolished WBHP-induced restoration of p-GSK-3β/GSK-3β ratio and Nrf2 levels in IR-subjected hearts. It is concluded that repeated episodes of WHBP attenuate cognitive impairment, vascular dysfunction and enhancement in IR-induced myocardial injury in diabetic mice be due to increase in NO and BDNF levels that may eventually activate GSK-3β and Nrf2 signaling pathway to confer protection.

• Journal of the military operations research society of Korea
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.51-59
• /
• 1984

Military personnel encounter a variety of noise environments. During exercises, high intensity noise levels are often encountered. Twenty-four subjects were required to respond to symbols presented under two levels of task difficulty, two levels of presentation rate, two levels of display orientation, and three levels of noise intensity. The purpose of the experiment was to determine whether noise intensity and display orientation had any effect on a short-term memory task. Results showed that continuous white noise at intensity levels of 30, 85, and 105 db had no effect on the shortterm memory task. Presentation rate and task difficulty demonstrated a significant relationship with task performance as did their two-way interaction. This two-way interaction between presentation rate and task difficulty exhibited a different pattern for the two levels of display orientation.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.95-107
• /
• 2011

Recent intervention studies document that mother-child dyads with higher levels of Emotional Availability (EA) report fewer child behavior problems than dyads with lower EA. This study examines possible mechanisms that lead to this result by looking at the parent-child micro-system as a whole, with multi-dimensional relationships that include individual differences in the child's cognitive level, parental stress and parent-child interaction. A total 67 children ($1{\frac{1}{2}}$ to $5\;{\frac{1}{2}}$ years of age) and their mothers were videotaped during 30-min play interactions. Interactions were coded using the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales (Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1998). Mothers completed Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, Child Behavior Checklist/$1\;{\frac{1}{2}}$ - 5, and the Ages Stages Questionnaire. The findings showed that mothers with higher levels of parenting stress were more likely to be intrusive, hostile, insensitive, and had a tendency to do less structuring in play. The children of stressed and depressed mothers demonstrated less involvement and responsiveness towards their mothers. Children who have higher dyadic EA scores experienced fewer externalizing and internalizing problems. SEM analyses results showed a mediation effect of EA on the association between maternal psychological well-being and child behavior problems. Fewer deficits in child communication skills and problem solving skills that were related with lower parenting stress and depression were associated with higher maternal non-intrusiveness. Higher non-intrusiveness was related to less internalizing and externalizing problems that indicated the indirect effect of child cognitive competence. Possible interpretations and implications of the study findings are discussed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.51-62
• /
• 2021

Here, we investigated the prebiotic and antioxidant effects of Actinidia arguta sprout water extract (AASWE) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cognitive deficit mice. AASWE increased viable cell count, titratable acidity, and acetic acid production in Lactobacillus reuteri strain and showed a cytoprotective effect on LPS-induced inflammation in HT-29 cells. We assessed the behavior of LPS-induced cognitive deficit mice using Y-maze, passive avoidance and Morris water maze tests and found that administration of AASWE significantly improved learning and memory function. The AASWE group showed antioxidant activity through downregulation of malondialdehyde levels and upregulation of superoxide dismutase levels in brain tissue. In addition, the AASWE group exhibited activation of the cholinergic system with decreased acetylcholinesterase activity in brain tissue. Furthermore, AASWE effectively downregulated inflammatory mediators such as phosphorylated-JNK, phosphorylated-NF-κB, TNF-α and interleukin-6. The major bioactive compounds of AASWE were identified as quercetin-3-O-arabinopyranosyl(1→2)-rhamnopyranosyl(1→6)-glucopyranose, quercetin-3-O-apiosyl(1 → 2)-galactoside, rutin, and 3-caffeoylquinic acid. Based on these results, we suggest that AASWE not only increases the growth of beneficial bacteria in the intestines, but also shows an ameliorating effect on LPS-induced cognitive impairment.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.162-172
• /
• 2005

The purpose of this study was to examine the students' responses when students were confronted with anomalous situations in physics. 16 students were selected from one middle school in Busan by examining the pre-test results. To measure students' responses and cognitive conflict levels, written Cognitive Conflict Levels Test(CCLT) developed in a previous study was used together with interviews. Students' responses were tape-recorded. Two kinds of anomalous situations were presented. One was a quantitative demonstration with scale, the other was a qualitative demonstration without scale. In the quantitative group, all students observed anomalous situations correctly. However, in the qualitative group, many of their observations of anomalous situations were incorrect. The students who observed anomalous situations based on preconceptions tended not to abandon their preconceptions, and suggested confirmation experiments which were supposedly to support their preconceptions. The students who recognized results very differently from their preconceptions when confronted with anomalous situations abandoned their preconceptions and suggested alternative experiments. The students who changed their beliefs about preconceptions showed higher cognitive conflict levels than who didn't abandon their preconceptions.