• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.50-61
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• 2002

Objectives:High nailfold plexus visibility can reflect central nervous system defects as an etiologic factor of schizophrenia indirectly. Previous studies suggest that this visibility is particularly related to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and frontal lobe deficiency. In this study, we examined the relationships between nailfold plexus visibility, and various clinical variables and neuropsychological functions in schizo-phrenic patients. Methods:Forty patients(21males, 19 females) satisfying the DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia and thirty eight normal controls(20 males, 18 females) were measured for Plexus Visualization Score(PVS) by using the capillary microscopic examination. For the assessment of psychopathology, process-reactivity, premorbid adjustment, and neuropsychological functions, we used Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS), Ullmann-Giovannoni Process-Reactive Questionnaire(PRQ), Phillips Premorbid Adjustment Scale(PAS), Korean Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale(KWIS), Continuous Performance Test(CPT), Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST), and Word Fluency Test. We also collected data about clinical variables. Results:PVS was correlated with PANSS positive symptom score and composite score negatively. There were no correlations between PVS and PRQ score, PAS score and neuropsychological variables respectively. Conclusions:This study showed that nailfold plexus visibility was a characteristic feature in some schizophrenic patients, and that higher plexus visibility was associated with the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. There was no association between plexus visibility and neuropsychological functions.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.107-117
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• 2021

Background and objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of a forest healing program in terms of depression, neuropsychological and physiological benefits for the elderly. Methods: For this purpose, we developed a forest therapy program for the elderly who are vulnerable to dementia and conducted a total of 11 sessions of forest therapy activities in a forest once a week. We measured the changes in depression, resting-state Electroencephalography(EEG) and heart rate variability (HRV) before and after the program. There were 60 subjects aged over 65 yesrs old. 30 subjects participated in the forest therapy program, and the other were in the control group. The Geriatric Depression Scale was used to measure the level of depression, neuroNicle FX2 (Laxtha, Korea) was used to measure the resting-state EEG, and photoplethymogram (ubpulse T1, Laxtha, Korea) was used to measure the HRV. Results: The results showed that the depression index of the experimental group improved with statistical significance after the program (experiment group = 3.267 decrease of the mean). In the EEG measurement, the alpha-peak frequency at rest (experimental group = 0.227 Hz increase of the mean) was improved (mean increase = 0.23 in the experimental group, p < .05). The high frequency of HRV, which represents the parasympathetic nerve activity of the body's autonomous response, was also significantly improved (mean increase = 0.396 in the experimental group, p < .05). Conclusion: The results suggest that the forest therapy program can reduce the cognitive, psychological and physical risk factors of dementia for the elderly at risk of cognitive decline. Therefore, forest therapy activities may be suitable for the prevention of dementia in the elderly.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.5-13
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• 2008

Objectives : It was the aim of the present paper to examine the impact of the apolipoprotein E(APOE) ${\varepsilon}4$ on cognitive performance in community-dwelling elderly samples with 'questionable dementia'. Methods : Total 295 samples who were diagnosed with 'questionable dementia' in the recent year and completed the Korean version of the Consortium Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease(CERAD-K) neuropsychological assessment protocol, were recruited. The CDR test established score of 0.5. Genomic DNA was extracted from the venous blood and APOE genotyping was done in this group. Their cognitive performance was compared by the occurrence of the APOE ${\varepsilon}4$ allele. Results : The impact of ${\varepsilon}4$ allele was significant in the Word List Recall Test(WLRT, F=4.511, df=1, p=0.035). The 'young-old' group aged 75 years and under had a significantly lower performance on the Word List Recall Test(WLRT, F=5.090, df=1, p=0.015), but the 'old-old' group over 75 years of age had not significantly different performance on the all the item of tests in ${\varepsilon}4$+ allele group. Conclusion : The conclusion to be drawn here is that community-dwelling elderly samples with ${\varepsilon}4$ allele in 'questionable dementia' had a significantly lower performance on the Word List Recall Test in the CERAD-K neuropsychological test batteries and the effect was prominent in the 'young-old' age group.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.226-235
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• 2015

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure of the Adolescent Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI-A) in a standardized adolescent sample using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Methods : For this purpose, three models about factor structure of the PAI-A were explored with EFA in 490 adolescents and then were evaluated with CFA in 268 young offenders. Results : The results showed that the five factor model was considered to be most appropriate for factor structures of the PAI-A in EFA. However, none of the factor models were appropriate for the factor structures of the PAI-A in CFA. Conclusion : These findings suggest that the "five factor model" is thought to explain the PAI-A the best, but further studies are needed.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.3-11
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• 1997

Disturbances in memory are the most common problem in patients with an organic mental syndrome. Other patients with significant psychiatric disorders also often have difficulty with memory. So it is very important in the clinical practice of psychiatry to understand the biological and neurocognitive mechanisms of memory proessing, and to develop the assessment tools with which memory function can be evaluated reliably and validly. Moreover, memory researches provide an important viewpoint from which we can understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of major neuropsychiatric illnesses. This article focuses on our understanding of memory functions in clinical and neurobiological aspects. The relevant material will be presented in four parts : 1) terminologies needed in defining major stages of various types of memory processing : 2) neurochemical and neuroanatomical basis of memory processing : 3) brief bed-side screening tests and more comprehensive neuropsychological tests for the evaluation of memory function : 4) the characteristics of memory dysfunction in several major psychiatric illnesses.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.28-41
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• 2007

Virtual reality technology is now being used in neuropsychological assessment and real-world applications of many psychiatric disorders, including anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, child psychiatric disorders, dementia, and substance related disorders. These applications are growing rapidly due to recent evolution in both hardware and software of virtual reality. In this paper, we review these current applications and discuss the future work of clinical, ethical, and technological aspects needed to refine and expand these applications to psychiatry.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2004

To examine the cognitive function of elderly, the study examined the performance of Korean normal elderly population whose age over 65 using neuropsychological instruments. It was predicted that the performance of the Korean population would be different from the U, S. mainly due to their difference in language, culture, and education. Korean elderly people from the Chungchung and Daejeon Metropolitan city(n=97) participated. Two age scores were developed: below 74 years and over 75 years. The effect of age, gender and education was examined, which yield significant age, gender and education effect. The score of DSF, DSB, TMTA, and TMTB are expected to be utilized for research purposes, such as basic, clinical, epidemiological studies, as well as practice purposes such as diagnosis and assessment of the progression of cognitive decline and dementia with MMSE-K.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.133-142
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• 1999

Recently, with increasing the number of patients with head injury and cerebrovascular accident, there has been an increasing need for the useful assessment tools of brain dysfunction and it's localization. With the advances in the neuroscience since the mid-1970s, particularly in the areas of neuroanatomical tracing, neuroimaging, and improved behavioraltest design, it has been possible to develop a more precise understanding and localization of brain dysfunction. However, these equipments are not readily available in the private clinics and too expensive to use as a screening tool to all suspected patients with brain dysfunction. Although several screening tests such as Mini-Mental States Examination(MMSE) or Brief Cognitive Rating Scale(BCRS) are simple in use and useful for the brief assessment of brain dysfunction, these are also limited in using for localization of brain dysfunction because of their simplicity. With increasing need of the assessment tool which is able to localize the dysfunction more precisely in the clinical practice, we planned to develop the new assessment tool, the Bedside Neurocognitive Function Localization Test(BNLT) which is suitable for this purpose. The BNLT was designed to be utilized for localizing brain dysfunction effectively and readily in the clinical practice. We introduced the whole process of designing the BNLT in this manuscript.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.631-642
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• 2015

The purpose of the study was to examine health status and mini nutritional assessment (MNA) according to self-esteem status of elderly in care hospital. The survey was carried out from $13^{th}$ to $31^{st}$ of September, 2014 in five care hospitals. Analysis was performed for 226 subjects. Evaluation criteria included demographics, clinical status, MNA, health-related quality of life (EQ-5D) and self-esteem. The SE I, SE II and SE III groups were divided by self-esteem scores. Data were analyzed one-way ANOVA, Duncan' multiple range test and Pearson's correlation using SPSS 15.0. Education level, religion, dental condition and medical endurance type were significantly different in all groups. Many elderly people were normal BMI ($20.94{\sim}21.67kg/m^2$). Self-esteem significantly increased in order of SE I, SE II and SE III. Mobility, usual activity and anxiety or depression were significantly different in all groups, and EQ-5D of SE II and SE III groups were significantly higher than that of SE I group. Comparison of MNA screening score in elderly patients was as follows : Score for food intake, psychological stress or acute disease, neuropsychological problems, pressure scores or skin ulcer, protein intake, mode of feeding, nutritional status and health status in SE I group were significantly lower than those of SE II and SE III groups. Mobility and drug intake of SE I group were significantly lower than those of SE III groups. Fruit and vegetable intake SE I group were significantly higher than those of SE II and SE III groups. MIS (Malnutrition Indicator Score) was significantly different among the SE I, SE II and SE III groups. We conclude that self-esteem score is positively correlated with protein intake, nutrition status, health status and MIS in elderly care hospital. To improve nutritional status of elderly in care hospitals, systematic nutrition management and self-esteem education program should be implemented.

• Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.136-145
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• 2024

Background and Purpose: We developed a new digital cognitive assessment called Seoul Cognitive Status Test (SCST), formerly called Inbrain Cognitive Screening Test. The purpose of this study was to validate the clinical utility of the SCST by comparing its scores of those with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and dementia diagnosed by the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Packet (CERAD-K). Methods: All participants (n=296) who completed the CERAD-K, SCST, and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living tests were included in this study. Total score, cognitive domain scores, and subtest scores of the SCST were compared among the 3 groups (SCD, aMCI, and dementia). Additionally, correlations between SCST and CERAD-K subtests were examined. Results: Cognitive domain scores and total score of the SCST showed significant differences among the three groups, with scores being the highest in the order of SCD, aMCI, and dementia (p<0.001). Most subtests of the SCST also showed higher scores in the order of SCD, aMCI, and dementia (p<0.001). However, SCD and aMCI groups showed no significant differences in scores of the Phonemic Word Fluency Test (p=0.083) or Korean Trail Making Test-Elderly version Part A (p=0.434). Additionally, there was no significant difference in the score of Place Recognition (p=0.274) of the Word-Place Association Test between aMCI and dementia groups. Conclusions: In conclusion, differences in total score, cognitive domain scores, and subtest scores of the SCST among the 3 groups of participants diagnosed using CERAD-K confirm the clinical utility of the SCST for cognitive assessment.