• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.495-502
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to explore North Korean immigrant elementary students' cognitive and affective characteristics related to science education. A total of 68 North Korean immigrant students enrolled in 3 to 6 grades and 133 South Korean students in 4 and 6 grades in 3 South Korean elementary schools participated in the study. A short version of Group Assessment of Logical Thinking(GALT) was used to investigate the students' levels of logical thinking, and the Enjoyment of Science Lessons Scale(ESLS) of the Test of Science Related Attitudes(TOSRA) was administrated to examine their attitudes towards science lessons. The statistical analysis of data revealed that the level of logical thinking of the North Korean immigrant elementary students was very low and that this was also the case for the South Korean students. Especially, the mean score of logical thinking of the North Korean immigrant 6 graders was much lower when compared with that of the South Korean counterparts. For both the North Korean immigrant students and South Korean students, the enjoyment of science lessons decreased as they progressed through higher grades. This decreasing trend, however, turned out to be more serious in the South Korean elementary students. Based on these results, suggestions were presented to help successful science learning of North Korean immigrant elementary students.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of relaxation on stress and blood pressure of the college students induced by a cognitive distress game. Methods: The subjects for this research were 18 individuals whose stress index scores were below 4.0 (Asan city). The 18 subjects were divided into two, 9 students were assigned to the experimental group and the other 9 students to the control group randomly. Survey was used to gather data to recognize general characteristics and the level of stress and blood pressure were measured before and after cognitive distress game and relaxation. The gathered data were analyzed with frequency, $X^2$-test, Wilcoxon signed ranks test and Mann Whitney U test using SPSS 14.0 program. Results: Both level of stress and blood pressure displayed a statistically significant difference pre and post cognitive distress game. Relaxation had a statistically significant effect on level of stress. Relaxation, however, did not have statistically significant effect on blood pressure. Conclusion: The above results suggest that while relaxation was effective in reducing level of stress for college students, and therefore recommendable as a means to deal with stress. However, to investigate the effects on physiological index such as blood pressure, further research is needed.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1311-1315
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• 2009

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of sesaminol glucosides (SG) on age-related cognitive deficits in senescence-accelerated mice P8 (SAMP8). Male SAMP8 (9 month-old) were randomly divided into 3 groups and received diets containing 0, 0.25, or 0.5% SG for 12 weeks. Step-through latency of the SAMP8 control group was higher than that of the senescence-accelerated resistant mice (SAMR) group, whereas it was lowered in the SG-supplemented group on the passive-avoidance test. In the Morris water maze, the escape latency of the SAMP8 control group was increased and recovered in the 0.5% SG-supplemented group. The SG supplementation significantly decreased thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) levels in brains of the SAMP8. On the other hand, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase activities in brains of the SG supplemented group decreased compared with the SAMP8 control group. These results suggest that SG could attenuate cognitive deficits caused by aging through its antioxidant capacity.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2019

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is highly prevalent in dementia, with no specifically effective treatment having yet been discovered. Amyloid plaques are one of the key hallmarks of AD. Transgenic mouse models exhibiting Alzheimer's disease-like pathology have been widely used to study the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease. In this study, we showed an age-dependent correlation between cognitive function, pathological findings, and [F-18] Florbetaben (FBB) PET images. Nineteen transgenic mice (12 with AD, 7 with controls) were used for this study. We observed an increase in ${\beta}$-Amyloid deposition ($A{\beta}$) in brain tissue and [F-18] FBB amyloid PET imaging in the AD group. The [F-18] FBB data showed a mildly negative trend with cognitive function. Pathological findings were negatively correlated with cognitive functions. These finding suggests that amyloid beta deposition can be well-monitored with [F-18] FBB PET and a decline in cognitive function is related to the increase in amyloid plaque burden.

• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.295-304
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• 2021

Olfactory neuropathology is a cause of olfactory loss in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Olfactory dysfunction is also associated with memory and cognitive dysfunction and is an incidental finding of AD dementia. Here we review neuropathological research on the olfactory system in AD, considering both structural and functional evidence. Experimental and clinical findings identify olfactory dysfunction as an early indicator of AD. In keeping with this, amyloid-β production and neuroinflammation are related to underlying causes of impaired olfaction. Notably, physiological features of the spatial map in the olfactory system suggest the evidence of ongoing neurodegeneration. Our aim in this review is to examine olfactory pathology findings essential to identifying mechanisms of olfactory dysfunction in the development of AD in hopes of supporting investigations leading towards revealing potential diagnostic methods and causes of early pathogenesis in the olfactory system.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.290-301
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• 2022

Increasing life expectancy leads to a rise in the prevalence of aging-related mental diseases and a concomitant increase in the financial and societal pressures related to their prevention and management. This issue is attracting increasing attention from researchers. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether a healing program in a forest environment is effective for improving cognitive function, depression, anxiety, and stress in elderly people. A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. The experimental group consisted of 18 males and females aged 60 to 80 years who participated in a forest healing program for seven days, while the comparison group comprised 10 people with similar demographics. For the process of data analysis, this study performed a cross-analysis to determine the homogeneity of the data and carried out the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, a nonparametric statistical test, to verify the significance of each group. Participation in the forest healing program led to a significant improve-ment in cognitive function (p=0.030). The levels of depression decreased, but this result was not statistically significant. The levels of anxiety decreased significantly (p=0.004). The mean cortisol score, a measurement of stress, decreased, but it was not statistically significant. These findings confirmed the effectiveness of this program for improving certain mental conditions of elderly people, and affirmed that the use of long-term forest healing programs can be expected to alleviate national pressures created by aging societies.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.77-85
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• 2022

Purpose: Aging process comes with cognitive impairment due to decreased neuronal cell number, activity, and neuronal circuit. Alteration of inhibitory neurons contributes to cognitive impairment in normal aging and is responsible for disrupting the excitation/inhibition balance by reducing the synthesis of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Morus nigra (Mulberry) is a natural physiologically active substance that has been proven to have anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, and anti-inflammatory effects through many studies. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the mulberry extract (ME) on cognitive function through anti-oxidant enzyme and GABAergic neuronal activity in aged rat brain. Methods: Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned as the young group (8 weeks, n= 8), aging group (67 weeks, n= 8), and aging+ mulberry extract group (67 weeks, n= 8). The aging+ mulberry extract group was orally administered 500 mg/kg/d mulberry extract for 6 weeks. Results: The aging+ mulberry extract group improved spatial and short-term memory. The antioxidant potential of ME increased the expression of superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1) and decreased inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Also, the aging+ mulberry extract group significantly increased the expression of GABAergic interneuron in hippocampus cornu ammonis1 (CA1) compared to the aging group. Conclusion: The number of GABAergic inhibitory interneurons was deceased and memory functions in the aging process, but those symptoms were improved and restored by mulberry extract administration.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.68-74
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to develop an infographic-based STEAM program for high school students and test its effectiveness. In this study, we converged high school 'art' education with 'Korean language' and 'mathematics.' The program was divided into four phases. The effectiveness of the program was analyzed by conducting matched pair t-test for 377 students at a girl's high school in Seoul before and after the program. The study found that the students' self-concept on mathematics and their attitude towards choosing science and engineering career showed significant increases after the program. By connecting high school courses through data visualization based on cognitive information design, findings from this study suggest that our infographic-based STEAM program should be implemented more frequently at high schools.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.728-735
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• 2005

In this study, relationships between student the cognitive affective characteristics and conceptual understanding from individual computer-assisted instruction were investigated. Tests regarding field dependence-independence, learning strategy, self-regulated ability, visual learning preference, goal orientation, self-efficacy on ability, and computer attitude were administered. After having been taught by means of a CAl program, a conception test on molecular motion was administered. It was found that student conceptual understanding was significantly related to field independence, learning strategy, self-regulated ability among the cognitive characteristics and visual learning preference, goal orientation, self-efficacy on ability among the affective characteristics. Multiple regression analysis of the cognitive characteristics on conceptual understanding found that field dependence-independence was the most significant predictor. Self-regulated ability and a deep learning strategy were also found to have predictive power. Lastly, analysis of the affective characteristics, visual learning preference and self-efficacy on ability exposed them to be significant predictors of student conceptual understanding.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.7
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• pp.450-456
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• 2017

Mammalian physiology and behavior are regulated by an internal time-keeping system, referred to as circadian rhythm. The circadian timing system has a hierarchical organization composed of the master clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and local clocks in extra-SCN brain regions and peripheral organs. The circadian clock molecular mechanism involves a network of transcription-translation feedback loops. In addition to the clinical association between circadian rhythm disruption and mood disorders, recent studies have suggested a molecular link between mood regulation and circadian rhythm. Specifically, genetic deletion of the circadian nuclear receptor Rev-$erb{\alpha}$ induces mania-like behavior caused by increased midbrain dopaminergic (DAergic) tone at dusk. The association between circadian rhythm and emotion-related behaviors can be applied to pathological conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases. In Parkinson's disease (PD), DAergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta progressively degenerate leading to motor dysfunction. Patients with PD also exhibit non-motor symptoms, including sleep disorder and neuropsychiatric disorders. Thus, it is important to understand the mechanisms that link the molecular circadian clock and brain machinery in the regulation of emotional behaviors and related midbrain DAergic neuronal circuits in healthy and pathological states. This review summarizes the current literature regarding the association between circadian rhythm and mood regulation from a chronobiological perspective, and may provide insight into therapeutic approaches to target psychiatric symptoms in neurodegenerative diseases involving circadian rhythm dysfunction.