• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 1999

The effects of Sahyangsohapwon on the enhancement of learning and memory of AD model rats were studied with Morris water maze and radial arm maze. Sample group was electrolytically lesioned on nbM, and then daily treated with the medicine for two months. Control group with nbM lesion, and sham group with the sham operation were treated the vehicle for same duration. The following results were observed. In the learning trials of Morris water maze, all three groups were improved in learning capacity as trials were repeated, but the sham group showed more prominent improvement in learning compared with the control group(p<0.01). 2. In memory retention test of Morris water maze, the sham group marked more significant improvement statistically in memory retention compared with the control group(p<0.05). 3. In the learning of radial arm maze, the sham group shows better learning capacity significantly compared with the control group(p<0.05). With the experimental results above, Sahyangsohapwon can be supposed to have the improving effects on the learning and memory of AD rats induced by electronical injury of nbM.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 1994

Male rats aged 15 months, which had been over-trained with 12 arm radial maze up to the criterion of 1 or 2 errors an average per trial, were divided into two groups and 7 months after the over-training and were studied the effect of red ginseng trial saponin fraction (PT) on the spatial memory function. The rats which could be improved the performance of 9.75$\pm$1.26 (within 185$\pm$8.2 1 sec) were classified into "normal group" (n=4) and the ones, which showed R-maze performance of 7.0$\pm$2.87 within 300 sec, "deteriorated memory group" (n=5). PT was dissolved in distilled water and injected into the deteriorated memory group intraperitoneally at 30 min before R-maze for 3 consecutive days. The injected amount of PT on the 1st day was 10mg/rat, 1mg/rat both on the 2nd the 3rd day. As results, the performance was restored to 9.4$\pm$2.0 after stopping ginseng administration, although the lower performance values (1.4$\pm$0.89, 2.8$\pm$0.83, 3.8$\pm$0.84, respectively) were exerted during the three days of PT administration than before PT administration (7.0$\pm$2.87) since 1 day after administratitan of PT. The restored performance values were continuously maintained up to the level of the "normal group". However, any lower performance values were not observed when PT was administered via intraperitoneal route to the normal group in about of 2 mg/rat except 10mg1ra1. The number of errors when the foods in arms were put at only 6 places was clearly reduced during the 9 days of consecutive administration of PT as compared with untreated control. These results indicated that PT administration may enhance their cognitive function after a long lapse of time not only in the memory deteriorated rats but also in normal ones. The reason exerted lower performance values during PT administration in this paper was discussed as compared with the results of T-maze behavior of another 3-month-aged rats. of another 3-month-aged rats.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.83-94
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• 1998

Objectives : Phencyclidine(PCP) or PCP-like substances such as ketamine have been known to rekindle the cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. The aims of this study were to identify whether PCP-like substances can produce cognitive deficit in schizophrenia, to discuss relation with aging process, and finally to speculate underlying neurochemical mecha-nisms by various drug responses. Methods : In experiment I, radial maze tests were done in 24 Sprague-Dawley rats for 3 days to get baseline data. Being divided into 4 groups(6 rats respectively) of normal aged, normal adult controls, atropine-treated and ketamine-treated, the radial maze tests were repeated on every week for 6 weeks, and then the rats were sacrificed by intracardiac perfusion with phosphate-buffered 10% formaldehyde solution for histology. The brain specimen was stained with hematoxylin-eosin to count cells in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. In experiment II, radial maze tests were done for 48 rats before any drug treatment and only after ketamine administration. Thereafter, haloperidol, bromocriptine, clonidine, nimodipine, tacrine, valproic acid, naloxone and fluoxetine were intramuscularly injected on every other day in addition to ketamine. Radial maze tests were repeated on every week for 6 weeks, and then rats were prepared by the same procedure for histology. Results : 1) Reaction times of radial maze tests of atropine-treated rats were significantly prolonged than those of normal aged(p<0.05) or normal adult controls(p<0.05). Cell numbers of prefrontal cortex & hippocampus in ketamine-treated rats were significantly reduced than those in normal aged (p<0.05) or normal adult controls(p<0.005). 2) Reduced cell numbers by ketamine became significantly raised by tacrine administration in prefrontal cortex & hippocampus(p<0.05), while there were no significant changes on radial maze tests. Cell numbers also tended to be raised by nimodipine, fluoxetine and haloperidol administration. Conclusions : In conclusion, the visuospatial memory disorders in ketamine-induced psychotic rats might be partly asso-ciated with aging process. Furthermore, the responses to the various drugs suggested cholinergic system might have an important role in the neurochemical mechanism of the cognitive dysfunction in ketamine-induced psychosis. Otherwise, calcium metabolism as well as serotonergic and dopaminergic systems seemed to be possibly related.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.19-35
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• 1998

Some oriental medicine turned out to have a significant clinical effect on the cure for dementia. Therefore, thorough scientific tests for physiological effect of oriental medicne are needed. This study is aimed at doing experimental studies on the effects of two medicines, Jowiseungcheongtang and hyungbangjihwangtang, on the cure for dementia.For the demonstration of the effect of the two medicines on aged rats, we perfomed a radial arm medicines on aged rats, water maze task, known for their proper learning paradigm for behavior.Previous studies on aging and dementia show that aged rats displayed significant impariments in the learning of the radial arm maze task compared with younger rats. As in experiment 1, we found that the learning of the radial arm maze task compared with younger rats. As in experiment 1, we found that the learning deficits aged rats exhibit in radial arm maze task were improved with the application of each medicine. The resutls suggest that these two medicine can be effective to patients whose working or shortterm memory is impaired. In experiment 2 we studied the effect of the two medicines on the deficit of the aged rats with the Morris water maze task known for measuring long-tern memory. We did not find significant results between the performance of the ages rats and the younger ones. Considered the different results previous studies have reported, more thorough studies are needed to investigate the effect of the medicines on long-term memory.In conclusion, the results we found in experiment 1 and 2 suggest that Jowisengcheongtang and hyungbangjihwangtang can have useful effects for the cure of age-related memory (especially for short-term memory)deficits. Recent interests in dementia urges researchers concerned to explore the effect of oriental medicine on the disease. As there have been relatively few behavioral or scientific studies on dementia using oriental medicine to date, further studies are expected are expected to continue to elucidate 'what the wisdom of the oriental medicine tells about dementia'.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.63-78
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• 2002

Kupunggibodan(KU), Gamisamul-tang(GA) and Whangryunhaedok-tang(WH) are clinically the most popular prescriptions as an herbal medicine in the treatment of ischemia. In order to compare and evaluate their protective effects on the ischema-induced cognitive deficits by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), we examined its ability to improve ischemia-induced cell loss and impairements of learning and memory in the Morris water maze and eight-arm radial arm maze. Focal cerebral ischemia produced a marked cell loss, decrease in acetylcholinesterase(AchE) reactivity in the hippocampus, and learning and memory deficits in two behavioral tasks. Pretreatment with WH (100 mg/kg, p.o.) produced a substantial increase in acquisition in the Morris water maze. Pretreatment with KU increased the perfomance of the resention test in the Morris water maze. WH, KU and GA caused a significant improvement in choice accuracy in radial arm maze test. WH was superior to KU and GA in perfomance of the radial arm maze test. Consistent with behavioral data, staining with cresyl violet showed that pretreatments with WH, but not KU and GA significantly recovered the ischemia-induced cell loss in the hippcampal CA1 area. In addition, pretreatments with WH and KU recovered the ischemia-induced reduction of AchE reactivity in the hippocampal CA1 area. These results demonstrated that KU, GA and WH have protective effects against ischimea-induced learning and memory impairments and that the efficacy was the order of WH>KU>GA in tratment of ischemia induced memory deficits. The present studies provide an evidence of KU, GA and WH as putative treatment of vascular dementia. Supported by a fund from the Ministry of Health and Welfare(HMP-00-OO-04-0004), and the Brain Korea 21 Project from Korean Ministry of Education, Korea.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1777-1783
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• 2004

This study was conducted to determine the effects Wonjiseokchangpo-san on brain damage in transient focal cerebral ischemia. Rats were used for testing in the following three models: Morris Water Maze, Eight-Arm Radial Maze, and Histochemistry. In the Morris Water Maze Model, the Wonjiseokchangpo-san group showed significant decrease in the 3rd and 6th training session compared with the ischemia group. A retention test, in the Morris Water Maze Model, was performed on the 7th day without the escape platform. The Wonjiseokchangpo-san group showed significant increase compared to the ischemia group. In the Eight-Arm radial Maze model, the Wonjiseokchangpo-san group showed significant decrease in the error rate compared to the ischemia group. In the density of hippocampal CA1 cell of the cresyl violet-stained section, the Wonjiseokahangpo-san group showed significant increase compared to the ischemia group. These results suggest that Wonjiseokchangpo-san may have a significant protective effect on brain damage and cognitive dysfunction in transient focal cerebral ischemia.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.2 s.62
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• pp.52-62
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• 2005

Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the effects of Geupunggibodan on brain damage in transient focal cerebral ischemia in rats. Methods: Rats were used for testing in the following three models: Morris water maze, eight-ann radial maze, and histochemistry. Results: In the Morris water maze model, the Geupunggibodan group showed significant decrease in the 3rd, 4th and 6th training sessions compared with the ischemia, group. A retention test in the Morris water maze model was performed on the 7th day without the escape platform. The Geupunggibodan group showed significant increase compared to the ischemia group. In the eight-ann radial maze model, the Geupunggibodan group showed significant decrease in the error rate compared to the ischemia group. In the density of hippocampal CA1 cell of the cresyl violet-stained section, the Geupunggibodan group showed significant increase compared to the ischemia group. Conclusions: These results suggest that Geupunggibodan may have a significant protective effect on brain damage and cognitive dysfunction in transient focal cerebral ischemia.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.39-49
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• 2000

This study was conducted to prove that there exists a relation between the spleen and learning and memory as Oriental medicine believesTo promote the function of the Spleen, Guibitang was administered to rats in this study. Rats were 250～300g Sprague-Dawley, and were divided into three groups. One was the normal group without any pretreatment. Another was the control group which was administered normal saline and the abdominal injection of L-NAME before learning and memory test. And the 3rd was the sample group, to which was administered Guibitang extract and (no 'the') abdominal injection of L-NAME before the learning and memory test. Each group was made up of 12 rats. Morris water maze and radial arm maze tasks were performed in the learning test and Morris water maze task in the memory test. For 2 days to evaluate the ability of learning in the Morris water maze, 16 trials were carried out and first latency(lapse time to find the escape platform for the first time) was measured. The next day, to evaluate the ability of memory, the escape platform was eliminated from the maze, and total path, target entry number, first latency and memory score were measured. 48hrs before the radial arm maze task was performed, bait was deprived from each group. After learning test, bait was permitted to each group. So 85% of the body weight was maintained for 6 days of the test. Each of the eight arms was baited; correct choice numer and error were counted; each trial was finished when the rat had entered each of the eight arms, or more than 10 minutes had elapsed. The results were as follows: In the learning test, the first latency of the sample group in the Morris water maze showed evident improvement of learning compared to control group at the 11th, 12th, 13th trial of 16 trials, and correct choice number in radial arm maze showed noticeable improvement compared to the control group at 3rd, 4th and 5th; In the memory test, the memory score of the sample group showed evident improvement compared to the control group. From the above results, the administration of Guibitang, which tonifies the function of the Spleen, could enhance the ability of learning and memory. So it was suggested that the Spleen has a relation with learning and memory.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.61-73
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• 2006

Objective : This study was to investigate the effects of Banhabaekchulchunma-Tang(BCT) on Dementia induced by focal ischemic injury in the rats. Method : Experimental groups were divided into 4 groups ; Normal group, Control group, BCT1 group and BCT2 group. Control group were no treated after focal brain ischemic injury. BCT1 group were administered BCT 0.3 ml/kg to focal brain ischemic injuried rats for 21 days, BCT2 group were administered BCT 1.2 ml/kg to focal brain ischemic injuried rats for 21 days. The present author observed the number of errors on the eight-arm radial maze task , the rate of correct choice on the eight-arm radial maze task, the values of density of Cresyl Violet-stained sections in the hippocampal CA1 and the values of density of Acetlycholin Esterase(AchE) stained nuclei in the hippocampal CA1. Result : 1. The number of errors in the eight-arm radial maze task was significantly decreased in BCT1 group on 1-6th days. And it was significantly decreased in BCT2 group on 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th day compared with control group. 2. The rate of correct choice on the eight-arm radial maze task was increased in BCT1 group and BCT2 group compared with control group, but the value was not significant. 3. The values of density of Cresyl Violet-stained sections in the hippocampal CA1 were significantly increased in BCT1 group and BCT2 group compared with control group. 4. The values of density of AchE stained nuclei in the hippocampal CA1 were significantly increased in BCT1 group compared with control group. Conclusion : The present author thought that Banhabaekchulchunma-Tang could be used to cure dementia derived by the phlegm retention of fluid.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.45-56
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• 2006

Objective: Yukmijibwang-Tang(UJT) has been used for Dementia derived by deficiency of Kidney-Yin in the oriental medicine. This study was planned to examine the effects of UJT on the memory loss induced by focal brain ischemic injury in the rats. Methods : Experimental groups were divided into 4 groups ; Normal group, Control group, UJT1 group and UJT2 group. Control group were no treated after focal brain ischemic injury. UJT1 group were administered UJT 0.3 $m{\ell}/kg$ to focal brain ischemic injuried rats for 21 days, UJT2 group were administered UJT 1.2 $m{\ell}/kg$ to focal brain ischemic injuried rats for 21 days. The present author observed the number of errors on the eight-arm radial maze task, the rate of correct choice on the eight-arm radial maze task, the values of density of Cresy1 violet- stained sections in the hippocampal CA1 and the values of density of Acetlycholine Esterase (AchE)stained nuclei in the hippocampal CA1. Results : The number of errors in the Eigth-arm radial maze task was significantly decreased in UJT1 group on 1, 2, 3, 5, 6days, And it was significantly decreased in UJT2 group on 1-6days compared with control group. The rate of correct choice in the eight-arm radial maze task was significantly increased in UJT1, UJT2 group compared with control group. The values of density of Cresyl violet-stained stained sections in the hippocampal CA1 were significantly increased in UJT1, UJT2 group compared with control group. The values of density of AchE in the hippocampal CA1 were increased in UJT1, UJT2 group compared with control group, but the values were not significant. Conclusions: The present author thought that Yukmijihwang-Tang could he used for curing dementia induced by focal brain ischemic injury.