• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2024

When situated in green landscapes, water bodies play a crucial role in positively influencing mood and mental health, yet research on the cognitive mechanisms underlying these therapeutic effects is lacking. This study is intended to examine differences in brain function among adult males exposed to forest landscapes with or without water bodies. The wooded landscapes included views of a waterfall, a valley, and a forest without water. The control group was exposed to a local urban landscape. Twelve adult males participated in a field experiment in which prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). In the experiment, participants engaged in low-intensity walking in three forested areas with similar vegetation and climatic conditions. Participants showed significant differences in left PFC activity depending on whether they were in the three forested landscapes or in the control landscape (P < 0.01). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) confirmed that significantly lower left PFC activity was recorded in the wooded landscape containing a water view . Notably, the lowest PFC values recorded in the landscape with a waterfall view suggest that landscapes with dynamic water flow may be associated with greater therapeutic benefits in terms of PFC activity than static landscapes. Our results underscore that water is a critical aspect of a landscape due to its therapeutic benefits and should be incorporated in the planning and design of green spaces for health promotion.

• 한국HCI학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.02b
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• pp.501-506
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• 2008

본 연구에서는 가상현실을 이용한 단서노출치료가 흡연자의 니코틴 갈망수준을 감소시키는지를 알아보았다. 이를 위하여 8명의 흡연청소년을 대상으로 6회기의 가상환경 단서노출치료를 실시하였다. 또한 단서노출치료 실시전과 후에 흡연관련 사진과 중립사진을 제시하는 동안 참가자들의 뇌를 기능성 자기공명영상장치(fMRI)로 측정하였다. 그 결과 단서노출실시 전에는 prefrontal cortex(PFC), Anterior cingulate gyrus(ACC) 영역을 비롯한 7개의 영역이 활성화되었고, 단서노출치료 후에는 right middle frontal gyrus, right uncus, left medial frontal gyrus, right fusiform gyrus, 그리고 right superior frontal gyrus 영역이 활성화되었다. 단서노출치료 전과 후의 비교에 서는 PFC가 관찰되었다. 본 연구의 결과로 흡연자의 흡연 갈망은 감소되었으며, 가상현실단서노출치료는 흡연자들 뿐 아니라 여러 물질의존자들의 치료에 유용한 방법이 될 것이라는 것을 시사한다.

• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.324-329
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• 2014

Regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins regulate certain G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-mediated signaling pathways. The GABAB receptor ($GABA_BR$) is a GPCR that plays a role in the stress response. Previous studies indicate that acute immobilization stress (AIS) decreases RGS4 in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hypothalamus (HY) and suggest the possibility of a signal complex composed of RGS4 and $GABA_BR$. Therefore, in the present study, we tested whether RGS4 associates with $GABA_BR$ in these brain regions. We found the co-localization of RGS4 and $GABA_BR$ subtypes in the PFC and HY using double immunohistochemistry and confirmed a direct association between $GABA_{B2}R$ and RGS4 proteins using co-immunoprecipitation. Furthermore, we found that AIS decreased the amount of RGS4 bound to $GABA_{B2}R$ and the number of double-positive cells. These results indicate that $GABA_BR$ forms a signal complex with RGS4 and suggests that RGS4 is a regulator of $GABA_BR$.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.127-136
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• 2009

Purpose : Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess the temporal response of neural activation in healthy subjects while they performed the Iowa Gambling Test (IGT), which utilizes decisions involving ambiguity and risk. The IGT was divided into five blocks of 20 trials; analysis showed that activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) moves gradually from the dorsal to the ventral mPFC over the course of the IGT. These findings suggest that cognitive division of the mPFC, including the dorsal portion of the anterior cingulated cortex (ACC), plays a major role in ambiguous decision making and that the aspect of the IGT corresponding to risky decision making is associated with significant activity within the corticolimbic network strongly implicated in emotion and reinforcement. Our results also suggest that decisions made under ambiguity and decisions made under risk situations can be further divided into sub-phases based on the neural network involved.

• Journal of the Korea Computer Graphics Society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.101-111
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• 2022

Conditional autonomous vehicles should hand over control to the driver according on driving situations. However, if the driver is immersed in a non-driving task, the driver may not be able to make suitable decisions. Previous studies have confirmed that the cues enhance take-over performance with a directional information on driving. However, studies on the effect of take-over cues on the driver's brain activities are rigorously investigated yet. Therefore, this study we evaluates the driver's brain activity according to the take-over cue. A total of 25 participants evaluated the take-over performance using a driving simulator. Brain activity was evaluated by functional near-infrared spectroscopy, which measures brain activity through changes in oxidized hemoglobin concentration in the blood. It evaluates the activation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in the brain region. As a result, it was confirmed that the driver's PFC was activated in the presence of the cue so that the driver could stably control the vehicle. Since this study results confirmed that the effect of the cue on the driver's brain activity, and it is expected to contribute to the study of take-over performance on biomakers in conditional autonomous driving in future.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.603-610
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• 2020

Background: Depression is a common neuropsychiatric disease that shows astrocyte pathology. Ginsenoside Rf (G-Rf) is a saponin found in Panax ginseng which has been used to treat neuropsychiatric diseases. We aimed to investigate antidepressant properties of G-Rf when introduced into the L-alphaaminoadipic acid (L-AAA)-infused mice model which is representative of a major depressive disorder that features diminished astrocytes in the brain. Methods: L-AAA was infused into the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of mice to induce decrease of astrocytes. Mice were orally administered G-Rf (20 mg/kg) as well as vehicle only or imipramine (20 mg/kg) as controls. Depression-like behavior of mice was evaluated using forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). We observed recovery of astroglial impairment and increased proliferative cells in the PFC and its accompanied change in the hippocampus by Western blot and immunohistochemistry to assess the effect of G-Rf. Results: After injection of L-AAA into the PFC, mice showed increased immobility time in FST and TST and loss of astrocytes without significant neuronal change in the PFC. G-Rf-treated mice displayed significantly more decreased immobility time in FST and TST than did vehicle-treated mice, and their immobility time almost recovered to those of the sham mice and imipramine-treated mice. G-Rf upregulated glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression and Ki-67 expression in the PFC reduced by L-AAA and also alleviated astroglial change in the hippocampus. Conclusion: G-Rf markedly reversed depression-like behavioral changes and exhibited protective effect against the astrocyte ablation in the PFC induced by L-AAA. These protective properties suggest that G-Rf might be a therapeutic agent for major depressive disorders.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.219-224
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• 2001

본 연구에서는 개인의 성격이 소리자극에 의하여 유도되는 감성에 미치는 영향을 조사하기 위하여 대학생 450명(남자: 210명)을 대상으로 행동활성화체계(BAS)와 행동억제체계(BIS) 민감성의 고저에 따라 두 집단을 추출하여 안정상태에서 전전두엽(PFC)의 비대칭적 활성화를 측정한 뒤, 긍정감성과 부정감성을 각각 유발하는 소리들을 제시하여 느끼는 감성에 대한 심리반응 변화를 평가하고 이에 따른 전전두엽의 비대칭적 활성화의 변화를 관찰하였다. 긍정감성과 부정감성을 유도하는 소리는 명상음악과 소음을 각각 사용하였으며 안정상태와 음향청취상태에서의 전전두엽 영역 활성화를 관찰하기 위하여 F7와 F8 부위에서 EEG의 알파밴드(8-13 Hz) 활성도를 분석하였다.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2015

Excessive manganese (Mn) in the brain promotes a variety of abnormal behaviors, including memory deficits, decreased motor skills and psychotic behavior resembling Parkinson's disease. Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a prevalent genetic iron overload disorder worldwide. Dysfunction in HFE gene is the major cause of HH. Our previous study has demonstrated that olfactory Mn uptake is altered by HFE deficiency, suggesting that loss of HFE function could alter manganese-associated neurotoxicity. To test this hypothesis, Hfe-knockout ($Hfe^{-/-}$) and wild-type ($Hfe^{+/+}$) mice were intranasally-instilled with manganese chloride ($MnCl_2$ 5 mg/kg) or water daily for 3 weeks and examined for memory function. Olfactory Mn diminished both short-term recognition and spatial memory in $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice, as examined by novel object recognition task and Barnes maze test, respectively. Interestingly, $Hfe^{-/-}$ mice did not show impaired recognition memory caused by Mn exposure, suggesting a potential protective effect of Hfe deficiency against Mn-induced memory deficits. Since many of the neurotoxic effects of manganese are thought to result from increased oxidative stress, we quantified activities of anti-oxidant enzymes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Mn instillation decreased superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) activity in $Hfe^{+/+}$ mice, but not in $Hfe^{-/-}$ mice. In addition, Hfe deficiency up-regulated SOD1 and glutathione peroxidase activities. These results suggest a beneficial role of Hfe deficiency in attenuating Mn-induced oxidative stress in the PFC. Furthermore, Mn exposure reduced nicotinic acetylcholine receptor levels in the PFC, indicating that blunted acetylcholine signaling could contribute to impaired memory associated with intranasal manganese. Together, our model suggests that disrupted cholinergic system in the brain is involved in airborne Mn-induced memory deficits and loss of HFE function could in part prevent memory loss via a potential up-regulation of anti-oxidant enzymes in the PFC.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 2005

This study is aimed to inspect how the different sensitivities in Behavioral activation system(BAS) and behavioral inhibition system(BIS) modulate on the properties of physiological responses stimulated by positive or negative affective sound. We measured the electroencephalogram(EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) of 32 students, consisted of four groups depending on the BAS and BIS sensitivities, during listening to meditation music or noise. The EEG was recorded at Fpl and Fp2 sites and Power spectral density(PSD) of HRV was derived from the ECG, and the power of HRV was calculated for 3 major frequency ranges(low frequency[LF], medium frequency and high frequency[HF]). After listening to music or noise, subjects reported the affect induced by the sound. For EEG, the power in the alpha band at Fp2, especially in the alpha-2 band(9.0-11.0 Hz) increased during the subjects listening to music, while the power at Fpl increased during noise. During listening to meditation music, there is a tendency that the left-sided activation in prefrontal cortex(PFC) is positively correlated with the difference of BAS(Z)-BIS(Z). During listening to noise, there is a tendency that the right-sided activation in PFC is dominant in case any of the sensitivity of BAS or BIS is high. For HRV, we found that the index of MF/(LF+HF), during listening to music, was higher significantly in the individuals with a low BIS but high BAS than in the individuals with a low sensitivity both BIS and BAS individuals. With high BIS, regardless of the BAS sensitivity, the difference of this index values was not significant. From these results we suggest that the physiological responses of different individuals in BAS and BIS react differently under the same emotionally provocative challenge.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.838-842
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• 2007

A brain-computer interface(BCI) system is a communication channel which transforms a subject's thought process into command signals to control various devices. These systems use electroencephalographic signals or the neuronal activity of many single neurons. The presented study deals with an efficient analysis method of neuronal signals from a BCI System using an independent component analysis(ICA) algorithm. The BCI system was implemented to generate event signals coding movement information of the subject. To apply the ICA algorithm, we obtained the perievent histograms of neuronal signals recorded from prefrontal cortex(PFC) region during target-to-goal(TG) task trials in the BCI system. The neuronal signals were then smoothed over 5ms intervals by low-pass filtering. The matrix of smoothed signals was then rearranged such that each signal was represented as a column and each bin as a row. Each column was also normalized to have a unit variance. As a result, we verified that different patterns of the neuronal signals are dependent on the target position and predefined event signals.