• Mood & Emotion
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.57-63
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• 2011

Objectives : This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of depression within two weeks after stroke. Methods : A total of 362 stroke patients were recruited. Depression (major and minor depressive disorders) was diagnosed by applying DSM-IV criteria. Data on socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, education, marital state, living state, religion, occupation, income, life event, and social support), stroke severity (NIHSS), disability (BI), stroke hemisphere and location, vascular risk and disease, and previous history of stroke and depression were obtained. Results : Depression was present in 90 (24.9%) patients: major depression 29 (8%) and minor depression 61 (16.9%) patients. In the univariate analyses, depression was associated with older age, higher number of stressful life event, poorer social support, severe disability, anterior stroke location, previous history of stroke and depression. In the multivariate analyses, depression was independently associated with higher number of stressful life events and poorer social support. Conclusion : Depression was common and was determined by premorbid levels of stress and social support in stroke patients at acute stage. More intensive psychiatric care and intervention is needed for the high risk group.

• Mood & Emotion
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2011

Purpose : Anxiety disorder and depressive disorder are often comorbid with each other, and the comorbidity is associated with poorer psychiatric outcome, resistance to treatment, increased risk for suicide, greater chance for recurrence. We aimed to investigate the comorbidity of anxiety disorder in Korea. Method : Subjects were total of 867 depressed patients recruited CRESCEND-K multicenter trial. We used SCID (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM - IV) to find comorbidity of anxiety disorders in depressed patient. Results : Of 867 patients, total 8.2% had anxiety disorder. Proportion of anxiety disorder Not Otherwise Specified was 3.5%, panic disorder was 1.7%, generalized anxiety disorder was 1.1%, post traumatic stress disorder was 0.9%, obsessive compulsive disorder was 0.6%, social phobia was 0.4%. Conclusion : In this study, anxiety disorder in depression were measured at a low comorbidity rate in compare to previous studies. Selection bias, use of antidepressants at registration, severity of depression symptoms, and point of SICD administration seems to have affected these results. It is probable that comorbidity evaluation would be more precise if shorter, structured interviews such as M. I.N.I.-Plus were used during first clinical interview for depression diagnosis.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.394-401
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• 2023

Background: Pregnancy is associated with a number of physical, emotional, and biological changes that can exacerbate maternal psychological disturbances, such as body image concerns and depression. Sleep disturbances during pregnancy can also have adverse impacts. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression, sleep disturbances, and body image concerns among pregnant women. The study also examined the relationship between these factors and pregnancy-related variables, such as bad obstetric history and whether the pregnancies were unplanned. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 146 pregnant patients was conducted at a tertiary care center over 15 months. The patients were administered the Beck Depression Inventory, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Body Image Concern Inventory questionnaires. Contingency tables, Fisher exact test, and Spearman correlation were used to identify underlying relationships. Results: The prevalence of depression was 22.6%. Although body image disturbance was noted in only 2.7% of patients, 46.6% had poor sleep quality. Poor sleep was associated with primigravida status. Bad obstetric history and unplanned pregnancy were associated with depression. Depression was found to be significantly correlated with body image disturbances and poor sleep quality. Conclusion: Psychiatric disorders were prevalent during pregnancy. This study highlights the importance of screening for depression in pregnant patients. Counselling and caregiver education can be useful for mitigating psychological disturbances. Management of pregnancies by multidisciplinary teams that include psychiatrists could be immensely useful in improving the pregnancy experiences of patients.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.8-16
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• 2024

Objective : The purpose of this study is to compare the signal obtained from the frontal 2-electrodes EEG with that obtained from the temporal, central, and parietal 2 electrodes. Methods : EEGs were recorded in a total of 67 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), 104 patients with schizophrenia (SCZ), and 29 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). For each disease group, there were healthy controls (HC) that were paired accordingly (HC1=69, HC2=104, HC3=27). The following measurements were compared across electrodes: band power, alpha peak frequency (APF), APF power, alpha asymmetry (AA), and Kolmogorov complexity (KC). Results : Statistically significant differences were found in band power measured from frontal electrodes compared to electrodes placed in other locations. Specifically, the power of theta waves was measured higher in the temporal electorodes, alpha 1 and alpha 2 waves in the parietal, beta 1 and beta 2 in the central, and gamma waves in the temporal electrodes. Both SCZ and AD patients showed increased theta power in all electrodes. In SCZ patients, APF decreased in the central and temporal electrodes, but the APF power analysis showed no difference between the patients and controls. Additionally, AD patients exhibited increased AA in the central EEG, while SCZ patients showed decreased KC in the parietal and temporal electrodes. Conclusion : Depending on the electrode location, sensitive EEG frequencies differed. Compared with signals from other electrodes, frontal EEG in MDD patients revealed generally constant signal values, though the temporo-parieto-central electrodes appeared to be more reliable in SCZ and AD patients.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.26-36
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• 2024

Functional brain imaging techniques have been used to diagnose psychiatric disorders such as dementia, depression, and autism. Recently, these techniques have also been actively used to study hearing loss. The present study reviewed the application of the functional brain imaging techniques in auditory research, especially those focusing on hearing loss, over the past decade. EEG, fMRI, fNIRS, MEG, and PET have been utilized in auditory research, and the number of research studies using these techniques has been increasing. In particular, fMRI and EEG were the most frequently used technique in auditory research. EEG studies mostly used event-related designs to analyze the direct relationship between stimulus and the related response, and in fMRI studies, resting-state functional connectivity and block designs were utilized to analyze alterations in brain functionality in hearing-related areas. In terms of age, while studies involving children mainly focused on congenital and pre- and post-lingual hearing loss to analyze developmental characteristics with and without hearing loss, those involving adults focused on age-related hearing loss to investigate changes in the characteristics of the brain based on the presence of hearing loss and the use of a hearing device. Overall, ranging from EEG to PET, various functional brain imaging techniques have been used in auditory research, but it is difficult to perform a comprehensive analysis due to the lack of consistency in experimental designs, analysis methods, and participant characteristics. Thus, it is necessary to develop standardized research protocols to obtain high-quality clinical and research evidence.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.34-45
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• 1998

We provide the reader with a brief introduction to the neurobiology of neuropeptides. Several comprehensive reviews of the distribution and neurochemical, neurophysiological, neuropharmacological and behavioral effects of the major neuropeptides have recently appeared. In reviews of the large number of neuropeptides in brain and their occurance in brain regions thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of major psychiatric disorders, investigators have sought to determine whether alternations in neuropeptide systems are associated with schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, alcoholism and neurodegenerative disease. There is no longer any doubt that neuropeptide-containing neurons are altered in several neuropsychiatric disorders. One of the factors that has hindered neuropeptide research to a considerable extent is the lack of pharmacological agents that specifically alter the synaptic availability of neuropeptides. With the exception of naloxone and naltrexone, the opiate-receptor antagonists, there are few available neuropeptide- receptor antagonists. Two independent classes of neuropeptide-receptor antagonists has been expected to be clinically useful. Naltrexone, a potent ${\mu}$-receptor antagonist, has been used successfully to reduce the need for alcohol consumption. And cholecycstokinin antagonists are now in development as a new class of anxiolytics, which would be expected to be free from tolerance and physical dependence and lack of sedation. In this review, we deal with these two kinds of neuropeptide system, the opioid system and cholesystokinins in the brain. The role of opioid systems in the reinforcement after alcohol consumtion and that of cholesystokinins in the pathogenesis of anxiety will be discussed briefly. As we know, the future for neuropeptides in psychiatry remains bright indeed.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.77-84
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• 2019

Objectives : The Illness Intrusiveness Rating Scale (IIRS) is a well-validated self-report instrument for assessing negative impact of chronic illness and/or adverse effects of its treatment on everyday life domains. Although extensive literature probed its psychometric properties in medical illness, little attention was paid for its validity for psychiatric population. This study aimed to test factorial structure of the Korean Version of the IIRS (IIRS-K) in a consecutive sample of psychiatric outpatients. Methods : Data set of 307 first-visit patients of psychiatric clinic at Guri Hanyang univ. Hospital were used. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency were tested in IIRS-K. We also checked Spearman's correlation analysis between IIRS-K, Zung's self-report anxiety scale and Zung's self-report depression scale. Results : 76.9% of the patients were with anxiety disorder and depressive disorder. The principal component factor analysis of the IIRS-K extracted three-factor structure accounted for 63.2% of total variance that was contextually similar to the original English version. This three-factor solution showed the best fit when tested confirmatory factor analysis compared to the original IIRS, two-factor model of IIRS-K suggested from medical outpatients, and one-factor solution. The IIRS-K also showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.90) and good convergent validity with anxiety and depression scales. Conclusions : The IIRS-K showed the three-factor structure that was similar but not identical to original version. Overall, this study proved factorial validity of the IIRS-K and it can be used for Korean clinical population.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.128-133
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• 2016

Astrocytes play a critical role in normal brain functions and maintaining the brain microenvironment, and defects in astrocytogenesis during neurodevelopment could give rise to severe mental illness and psychiatric disorders. During neuro-embryogenesis, astrocytogenesis involves astrocytic differentiation of neural precursor cells (NPCs) induced by signals from ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) or pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP). However, in contrast to the CNTF signaling pathway, the exact mechanism underlying astrocytic differentiation induced by PACAP is unknown. In the present study, we aimed to verify a signaling pathway specific to PACAP-induced astrocytogenesis, using exchange protein directly activated by cAMP2 (Epac2)-knockout mice. We found that PACAP could trigger astrocytic differentiation of NPCs via Epac2 activation and an increase in the intracellular calcium concentration via a calcium ion influx. Taken together, we concluded that astrocytogenesis stimulated by PACAP occurs through a novel signaling pathway independent from CNTF-JAK/STAT signaling, that is the well-known pathway of astrocytogenesis.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.172-178
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• 2012

Data from clinical studies are needed for psychiatrists to make quick and scientific decisions based on the best available evidence in clinical settings. Various methods of clinical studies are useful for clinicians to have reliable answers to unmet clinical needs. Although randomized controlled trials may provide high-quality information about major issues, well-designed, naturalistic and observational studies often give us unbiased explanation for real-world phenomena. Adequate selection of clinical variables and appropriate number of participants are key factors of well-designed clinical studies. Statistical methods can add an extra dimension to initial design of clinical studies. Given ethical issues in clinical studies on psychiatric disorders, special regards should be paid to participants' ability to provide informed consents. New strategies of clinical studies need to be developed to meet clinical needs and protect the rights and welfare of study participants.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.156-161
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• 2011

Objectives: Externalized behavioral problems are prevalent in adolescents, due to the difficulties associated with this developmental stage. Conduct Disorder (CD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), as well as other psychiatric disorders, such as major depressive disorder, result in the manifestation of many behavioral problems during adolescence. Methods: For this report, we analyzed a sample of 31 adolescents, each of whom had presented with CD or ODD at Chosun University Hospital between 2002 and 2010. We separated subjects into depressed and non-depressed groups according to their Beck Depression Inventory scores (BDI<10, non-depressed ; BDI${\geq}$10, depressed). Then we analyzed for neuropsychological differences between the depressed and non-depressed groups. Results: In our sample, adolescents in the depressed group showed less of a stealing (deceitfulness and/or theft) behavioral pattern and presented with more anxiety symptoms, lower self-esteem, and greater sensitivity in interpersonal relationships, as compared to the non-depressed group. Conclusion: When adolescents exhibit disruptive behavior, clinicians should consider the underlying causes of the behavior.