• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.279-286
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• 2016

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), derived from honeybee hives, is a bioactive compound with strong antioxidant activity. This study was designed to test the neuroprotective effect of CAPE in 3-nitropropionic acid (3NP)-induced striatal neurotoxicity, a chemical model of Huntington's disease (HD). Initially, to test CAPE's antioxidant activity, a 2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) antioxidant assay was employed, and CAPE showed a strong direct radical-scavenging effect. In addition, CAPE provided protection from 3NP-induced neuronal cell death in cultured striatal neurons. Based on these observations, the in vivo therapeutic potential of CAPE in 3NP-induced HD was tested. For this purpose, male C57BL/6 mice were repeatedly given 3NP to induce HD-like pathogenesis, and 30 mg/kg of CAPE or vehicle (5% dimethyl sulfoxide and 95% peanut oil) was administered daily. CAPE did not cause changes in body weight, but it reduced mortality by 29%. In addition, compared to the vehicle-treated group, robustly reduced striatal damage was observed in the CAPE-treated animals, and the 3NP-induced behavioral deficits on the rotarod test were significantly rescued after the CAPE treatment. Furthermore, immunohistochemical data showed that immunoreactivity to glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and CD45, markers for astrocyte and microglia activation, respectively, were strikingly reduced. Combined, these data unequivocally indicate that CAPE has a strong antioxidant effect and can be used as a potential therapeutic agent against HD.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.55-60
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• 2011

Although sound intensity is considered as one of important factors in auditory processing, its neural mechanism in auditory neurons with limited dynamic range of firing rates is still unclear. In this study, we examined the effect of sound intensity adaptation on the change of glucose metabolism in a rat brain using [F-18] micro positron emission tomography (PET) neuroimaging technique. In the experiment, broadband white noise sound was given for 30 minutes after the [F-18]FDG injection in order to explore the functional adaptation of rat brain into the sound intensity levels. Nine rats were scanned with four different sound intensity levels: 40 dB, 60 dB, 80 dB, 100 dB sound pressure level (SPL) for four weeks. When glucose uptake during the adaptation of a high intensity sound level (100 dB SPL) was compared with that during adaptation to a low intensity level (40 dB SPL) in the experiment, the former induced a greater uptake at bilateral cochlear nucleus, superior olivary complexes and inferior colliculi in the auditory pathway. Expectedly, the metabolic activity in those areas linearly increased as the sound intensity level increased. In contrast, significant decrease interestingly occurred in the bilateral auditory cortices: The activities of auditory cortex proportionally decreased with higher sound intensities. It may reflect that the auditory cortex actively down-regulates neural activities when the sound gets louder.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.166-175
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• 2017

This study examined children from two families exposed to domestic violence and had psychological counseling in July 2017 at KOVA, a support organization for crime victims. The subjects were exposed to family violence in excess of 10 years and was protected by the shelter with their mothers who had filed complaints with the local police. Victims of domestic violence often face difficulty in avoiding the source of aggression, and thus experience repetitive attacks. This research was conducted at the Buddhism Brain Research Facility, Seoul University, to identify and quantify the emotional characteristics of the affected children in which it is difficult to escape from their living conditions. Data was collected by BrainMaster, a 19-channel examination kit, and analyzed by NeuroGuide. As a result of analyzing the emotional characteristics of the affected children through Quantitative EEG and brain topographical map, we found an increase of slow wave and problems with abnormality of Alpha, High Beta in the left and right Frontal area asymmetry.

• 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.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.609-614
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• 2016

Background: Although breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, economic evaluation of breast cancer screening is not fully addressed in developing countries. The main objective of the present study was to analyze the cost-effectiveness of breast cancer screening using mammography in 35-69 year old women in an Iranian setting. Materials and Methods: This was an economic evaluation study assessing the cost-effectiveness of a population-based screening program in 35-69 year old women residing in rural areas of South east Iran. The study was conducted from the perspective of policy-makers of insurance. The study population consisted of 35- to 69-year old women in rural areas of Kerman with a population of about 19,651 in 2013. The decision tree modeling and economic evaluation software were used for cost-effectiveness and sensitivity analyses of the interventions. Results: The total cost of the screening program was 7,067.69 US$ and the total effectiveness for screening and no-screening interventions was 0.06171 and 0.00864 disability adjusted life years averted, respectively. The average cost-effectiveness ratio DALY averted US$ for screening intervention was 7,7082.5 US$ per DALY averted and 589,027 US $ for no-screening intervention. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio DALY averted was 6,264 US$ per DALY averted for screening intervention compared with no-screening intervention. Conclusions: Although the screening intervention is more cost-effective than the alternative (noscreening) strategy, it seems that including breast cancer screening program in health insurance package may not be recommended as long as the target group has a low participation rate.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7561-7568
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• 2013

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a carbohydrate-binding protein which is thought to be involved in cancer progression but its contribution to epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) remains unclear. The present study sought to determine the role of Gal-3 in chemoresistance of the human SKOV-3 ovarian cancer cell line to paclitaxel (PTX) using recombinant human Gal-3 (rhGal-3) and PectaSol-C modified citrus pectin (Pect-MCP) as a specific Gal-3 competitive inhibitor. Our results showed 41% increased cell proliferation, 36% decreased caspase-3 activity and 33.6% increased substrate-dependent adhesion in the presence of rhGal-3 compared to the control case (p<0.001). Treatment of cells with a non-effective dose of PTX (100nM) and 0.1% Pect-MCP in combination revealed synergistic cytotoxic effects with 75% reduced cell viability and subsequent 3.9-fold increase in caspase-3 activity. Moreover, there was 39% decrease in substrate-dependent adhesion compared to control (p<0.001). These results suggest that inhibition of Gal-3 could be a useful therapeutic tool for combination therapy of ovarian cancer.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.113-118
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• 2012

Ginsenosides are low molecular weight glycosides found in ginseng that exhibit neuroprotective effects through inhibition of $N$-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor channel activity. Ginsenosides, like other natural compounds, are metabolized by gastric juices and intestinal microorganisms to produce ginsenoside metabolites. However, little is known about how ginsenoside metabolites regulate NMDA receptor channel activity. In the present study, we investigated the effects of ginsenoside metabolites, such as compound K (CK), protopanaxadiol (PPD), and protopanaxatriol (PPT), on oocytes that heterologously express the rat NMDA receptor. NMDA receptor-mediated ion current ($I_{NMDA}$) was measured using the 2-electrode voltage clamp technique. In oocytes injected with cRNAs encoding NMDA receptor subunits, PPT, but not CK or PPD, reversibly inhibited $I_{NMDA}$ in a concentration-dependent manner. The $IC_{50}$ for PPT on $I_{NMDA}$ was $48.1{\pm}4.6\;{\mu}M$, was non-competitive with NMDA, and was independent of the membrane holding potential. These results demonstrate the possibility that PPT interacts with the NMDA receptor, although not at the NMDA binding site, and that the inhibitory effects of PPT on $I_{NMDA}$ could be related to ginseng-mediated neuroprotection.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.55-64
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• 2017

Progressive memory impairment such as that associated with depression, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) can interfere with daily life. In particular, AD, which is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, prominently features a memory and learning impairment that is related to changes in acetylcholine and abnormal ${\beta}$-amyloid ($A{\beta}$) deposition in the brain. In the present study, we investigated the effects of dehydroevodiamine HCl (DHED) on cognitive improvement and the related mechanism in memory-impaired rat models, namely, a scopolamine-induced amnesia model and a $A{\beta}_{1-42}$-infused model. The cognitive effects of DHED were measured using a water maze test and a passive avoidance test in the memory-impaired rat models. The results demonstrate that DHED (10 mg/kg, p.o.) and Donepezil (1 mg/kg, p.o.) ameliorated the spatial memory impairment in the scopolamine-induced amnestic rats. Moreover, DHED significantly improved learning and memory in the $A{\beta}_{1-42}$-infused rat model. Furthermore, the mechanism of these behavioral effects of DHED was investigated using a cell viability assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) measurement, and intracellular calcium measurement in primary cortical neurons. DHED reduced neurotoxicity and the production of $A{\beta}$-induced ROS in primary cortical neurons. In addition, similar to the effect of MK801, DHED decreased intracellular calcium levels in primary cortical neurons. Our results suggest that DHED has strong protective effects against cognitive impairments through its antioxidant activity and inhibition of neurotoxicity and intracellular calcium. Thus, DHED may be an important therapeutic agent for memory-impaired symptoms.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the KAIS Fall Conference
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• 2011.05b
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• pp.655-658
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• 2011

기초의학 강의 요원의 부족은 교육에 대한 부담과 연구활동 위축이라는 이중고를 초래하고 있다. 기초의학 강의의 효율성을 높이기 위하여 다양한 연구 및 해결책이 제시되어 왔으며, 통합강의 역시 그 대안의 하나로서 대두되고 있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 새롭게 부각되고 있는 기초의학 통합강의에 대한 가상강의(cyber lecture) 적용의 실효성과 타당성을 설문조사와 교과목 운영의 경험을 중심으로 분석하였다. 설문조사에 대해 학생들은 가상강의의 내용, 난이도, 진행 및 멀티미디어 컨텐츠 등에 대해 대체로 만족스러운 의견을 제시하였다. 또한 가상강의가 통합강의 운영을 보완해주는데 효율적일 것이라는 의견과 더불어, 향후 통합강의에서 가상강의의 비중을 학대할 필요성에 대해서도 찬성의견이 반대의견보다 지배적임을 알 수 있었다. 뿐만 아니라, 통합강의 실습의 일부분을 가상강의에서 운영하는 방안에 대해서도 대체로 긍정적이었다. 통계분석 결과, 가상강의에 대해 긍정적이거나 부정적인 의견들은 기초신경학 통합강의 성적이 우수한 학생과 보통이하인 학생들 사이에 유의한 차이를 보이지 않았으나 (${\chi}^2$ 검증 결과), 성적이 우수한 학생일수록 가상강의의 효율성에 대해 긍정적이라는 경향은 알 수 있었다(Spearman 등위상관계수를 산출한 결과). 본 연구결과를 통해 제시된 개선방안과 축적된 경험을 바탕으로 점차 가상강의의 비중을 높이고 강의교수들 간의 유기적 협조가 이루어진다면 가상강의는 향후 기초의학 통합강의 운영의 새로운 패러다임(paradigm)이 될 것으로 사료된다.