• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.228-231
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• 2009

Recent studies have focused on human empathic behavior regarding to physical, cognitive, and emotional aspects. Especially empathy is considered as a multidisciplinary study because of its wide application. However, majority of the studies have been focusing on empathy induced by negative emotion and physical pain. As a result, the purpose of this study, based on Loggia et al. (2008), is to investigate if empathy could be induced by positive events, and consequently if the positive empathy could increase subjective value of reward. According to the result of experiment which involved eight participants, we could confirm the inducement of empathy by positive events significantly; its power is not so strong though. However there was no interaction between empathy type (positive and no empathy) and whether the target received the reward or not. But if we would recruit more participants and additionally analyze correlation among trait/empathic state questionnaire, subjective ratings of the reward and emotion of the target, we suggest that this study would be valuable in that it could expand the empathy studies.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.65-69
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• 1998

The hippocampus and prefrontal cortex are regarded as the highest-order association cortices. The hippocampus has been proposed to store "cognitive maps" of external environments, and the prefrontal cortex is known to be involved in the planning of behavior, among other functions. Considering the prominent functional roles played by these structures, it is not surprising to find direct monosynaptic projections from the hippocampus to the prefrontal cortex. Rhythmic stimulation of this projection patterned after the hippocampal EEG theta rhythm induced stable long-term potentiation of field potentials in the prefrontal cortex. Comparison of behavioral correlates of hippocampal and prefrontal cortical neurons during an a-arm radial maze, working memory task shows a striking contrast. Hippocampal neurons exhibit clear place-specific firing patterns, whereas prefrontal cortical neurons do not show spatial selectivity, but are correlated to different stages of the behavioral task. These data lead to the hypothesis that the role of hippocampal projection to the prefrontal cortex is not to impose spatial representations upon prefrontal activity, but to provide a mechanism for learning the spatial context in which particular behaviors are appropriate.propriate.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.111-118
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• 2008

We identified the characteristic impairmants of linguistic semantic memory in patients with prodromal Alzheimer's disease(AD) and mild AD. To elucidate the earliest changes of semantic language function in subjects with AD, performances on confrontation naming test and verbal fluency task were compared among patients with AD patients (n=20), mild AD patients (n=27) and healthy elderly controls (n=20). Tasks in this study included the confrontation naming test of Test of Lexical Processing in Aphasia(TLPA/Japanese) and one-minute verbal fluency task (semantic/ phonetic categories). The results were as follows: 1) Performances of the prodromal AD group showed the comparable to those of the control group on the confrontation naming test, 2) In the semantic/phonetic verbal fluency tasks, the performances of the control group were better than those of the prodromal AD and mild AD groups, but no significant differences were shown between the prodromal AD and the mild AD group.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.91-98
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• 2010

Neurostimulation approaches have been developed and explored to modulate neuroplastic changes of cortical function in human brain. As one of the most primary noninvasive tools, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was extensively studied in the field of neuroscience. The alternation of cortical neurons depending on the polarity of the tDCS has been used for improving cognitive processing including working memory, learning, and language in normal individuals, as well as in patients with neurological or psychiatric diseases. In addition, tDCS has great advantages: it is a non-invasive, painless, safe, and cost-effective approach to enhance brain function in normal subjects and patients with neurological disorders. Numerous previous studies have confirmed the efficacy of tDCS. However, tDCS has not been considered for clinical applications and research in the field of physical therapy. Therefore, this review will focus on the general principles of tDCS and its related application parameters, and provide consideration of motor behavioral research and clinical applications in physical therapy.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.8
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• pp.467-474
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• 2009

The modification of proteins by reversible phosphorylation is a key mechanism in the regulation of various physiological functions. Abnormal protein kinase or phosphatase activity can cause disease by altering the phosphorylation of critical proteins in normal cellular and disease processes. Alzheimer' disease (AD), typically occurring in the elderly, is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder characterized by memory loss and cognitive decline. Accumulating evidence suggests that protein kinase and phosphatase activity are altered in the brain tissue of AD patients. Tau is a highly recognized phosphoprotein that undergoes hyperphosphorylation to form neurofibrillary tangles, a neuropathlogical hallmark with amyloid plaques in AD brains. This study is a brief overview of the altered protein phosphorylation pathways found in AD. Understanding the molecular mechanisms by which the activities of protein kinases and phosphatases are altered as well as the phosphorylation events in AD can potentially reveal novel insights into the role aberrant phosphorylation plays in the pathogenesis of AD, providing support for protein phosphorylation as a potential treatment strategy for AD.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.71-77
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• 2007

Advance of neuroimaging technique has greatly influenced recent brain research field. Among various neuroimaging modalities, positron emission tomography has played a key role in molecular neuroimaging though functional MRI has taken over its role in the cognitive neuroscience. As the analysis technique for PET data is more sophisticated, the complexity of the method is more increasing. Despite the wide usage of the neuroimaging techniques, the assumption and limitation of procedures have not often been dealt with for the clinician and researchers, which might be critical for reliability and interpretation of the results. In the current paper, steps of voxel-based statistical analysis of PET including preprocessing, intensity normalization, spatial normalization, and partial volume correction will be revisited in terms of the principles and limitations. Additionally, new image analysis techniques such as surface-based PET analysis, correlational analysis and multimodal imaging by combining PET and DTI, PET and TMS or EEG will also be discussed.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.357-381
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• 2009

Although it is known that there are personality characteristic variances in the sensitivity to environmental feedback, the trait individual difference has scarcely been explored in the context of recognition memory decision. The present study investigated this issue by examining the relationship between the feedback-based adaptive flexibility of recognition criterion positioning and personality differences in general sensitivity to non-laboratory outcomes. Experiment 1 demonstrated that veridical feedback itself had little effect on the recognition decision criterion whereas Experiment 2 demonstrated that biased feedback manipulations selectively restricted to high confidence errors, induced shifts even in the overall Old/New category criterion. Critically, individual differences in stable personality characteristic linked to reward seeking(Behavioral Activation System-BAS) and anxiety avoidance (Behavioral Inhibition System-BIS) has been shown to predict the sensitivity of subjects to this form of feedback-induced criterion learning. This data further support the idea that incremental reinforcement-based learning mechanism not often considered important during explicit recognition decisions may play a key role in criterion setting.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 1990

Mental represention as an empirical fact raises certain ontological problems regarding both the subject and the object of representation, that is,the existence of the mimd and that of the represented world. Propsitional attitudes, for instance, presuppose the subject of such inguistic representation, as well as the propositional fact reffered. But the ontological status of the reference is an open question. Mental representations as events also present problems of ontology. How mental events interact wiht physical events, how they are related with neural events,and in what way mental events are functionally autonomous,and such are the problems remaining to be answered. The world of mental representation may be seen as a theoretical world,of which the ontological status depends on the progress in the corresponding empirical science,that is,neuroscience. But the problem of realism in the philosophy of science is still an issue of debate. These,then are philosophical issues related to the ontological status of mental representation. Their solutions,or approaches to them,however, must waite for the further progress in cognitive science,which has philosophy as a humble participant among other disciplines.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.111-119
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• 2018

Objectives: To investigate the characteristics of patients diagnosed with dementia or mild cognitive impairment who are treated by means of a blend between Western and Korean medicine. Methods: We searched for outpatients with dementia or mild cognitive impairment by means of a collaboration between Western and Korean medicine from August 1, 2015, to July 31, 2017, through electronic medical records in Wonkwang Hospital. The records were retrospectively analyzed according to the patients' demographic and clinical characteristics, pathway of medical care, diagnostic tests, treatment, and medical expenses. Results: Thirteen patients were included in the analysis. Among them, six patients were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, five with dementia, Alzheimer's type, one patient with frontotemporal dementia, and one patient with unspecified dementia. Twelve of the thirteen patients were over 60 years of age. The number of pathways from the Dept. of Neurology to the Dept. of Neuropsychiatry of Korean Medicine was almost the same as the opposite pathway. The most used diagnostic test in Korean medicine was a neuropsychological test such as SNSB, MMSE and GDS. In Western medicine, hematology and neuroimaging were frequently used for patients. Acupuncture in Korean medicine and medication in Western medicine were the most frequently used. In Korean medicine, uncovered service costs were much higher than covered service costs,. whereas, in Western medicine, covered service costs were higher than uncovered service costs. Conclusions: This study describes the basic characteristics of dementia and mild cognitive impairment patients treated by a collaboration between Western and Korean medicine. Based on these results, a clinical pathway of the collaborative practice system between Western and Korean medicine for dementia patients needs to be developed.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2020

This paper introduces SNUDM, an analysis program for Ratcliff's diffusion model, which has been one of the most important models in cognitive psychology over the past 35 years and which has come to occupy an important place in cognitive neuroscience in recent years. The analysis tool is designed with the basic principles of easy comprehension and simplicity in use. A diffusion process was programmed as the limit of a simple random walk in a manner resembling Ratcliff & Tuerlinckx(2002). The response time distribution of the model was constructed by simulating the time taken by a random walk until it reaches a threshold with small steps. The optimal parameter values in the model are found to be the smallest value of the chi-square values obtained by comparing the resulting distribution and the experimental data using Simplex method. For simplicity and ease of use, the input file used here is created as a file containing the quantile of the reaction time, the trials and other information. The number of participants and the number of conditions required for such work programs are given in a way that answers the question. Using this analysis tool, the experimental data of Ratcliff, Gomez, & McKoon(2004) were analyzed. We found the very similar pattern of parameter values to Ratcliff et al.(2004) found. When comparing DMAT, fast-dm and SNUDM with the generated data, we found that when the number of trials is small, SNUDM estimates the boundary parameter to a value similar to fast-dm and less than the DMAT. In addition, when the number of trials was large, it was confirmed that all three tools estimate parameters similarly.