• 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.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.97-103
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• 2013

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder and characterized by positive symptom (i.e., delusions, hallucinations), negative symptom (i.e., lack of emotion, social withdrawal), and cognitive impairment. Previously, we reported that the ethanolic extract of Prunella vulgaris var. lilacina attenuated the MK-801-induced schizophrenia-like behaviors such as prepulse inhibition (PPI) deficits and cognitive impairment in mice. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether danshensu isolated from P. vulgaris var. lilacina attenuates MK-801-induced sensorimotor gating dysfunction (PPI deficits), hyperlocomotion, and memory impairment in mice. Acute administration of danshensu (1, 3, or 10 mg/kg) significantly ameliorated the MK-801-induced PPI deficits in the acoustic startle response test. We also observed that the impaired recognition memory induced by MK-801 was attenuated by danshensu (1 mg/kg) in the novel object recognition test. However, danshensu failed to reverse the MK-801-induced hyperlocomotion in the open-field test. Collectively, the present results indicate danshensu would be an active agent for treating neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.149-155
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• 1996

Doctors who treat pregnant women ore usually cautious in writing their prescription for the drugs. The problem of which psychotropic medications ore sale during pregnancy seems to remain unsolved for many years. Although the rate of absorption is reduced due to a reduced rate of gastric emptying, the extent of absorption of drug is generally unchanged during pregnancy. Plasma volume and total body water increase during pregnancy. There is suggestion that drug metabolizing activity may be increased in pregnancy. Since the pregnancy increase the glomerular filtration rate significantly, drugs mainly eliminated by renal excretion will be cleared more quickly. Factors contributing to the potential teratogenecity of a drug include the type of compound, dose and duration of use, developmental stage of fetus at the time of exposure, and the effect of the drug on fetal pharmacokinetics. All major classes of psychotropic agents should be assumed to diffuse readily across the placenta to the fetus and to be present in some quantity in the breast milk. To decide when and how to start the drug treatment depends on an assessment of the risks related both with and without drug treatment of psychiatric disorders.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.3-12
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• 2005

Most suicides(about 90%) occur in the context of psychiatric disorders. Prediction of suicide risk in patients with mental illness is very important in preventing suicide attempts. However, current approaches to predict suicidality are based on clinical history and have low specificity and biological markers are not yet included. Many studies have explored the association between different biological parameters and suicidality. Studies of cerebro-spinal fluid(CSF) demonstrated that 5-HIAA and HVA levels were lower in patients with a history of suicide. Platelet serotonin transporter and the 5-HT2 serotonin receptor have also been studied in relation to violence and suicide. Depressive patients with greater suicidal tendency had significantly lower cholesterol concentrations but some researchers failed to find the correlation. DST non-supression is reported to predict suicidality in major depression. Several studies demonstrated a relationship between intron 7 polymorphism of tryptophan hydroxylase and suicidal behavior. Since suicide is not occurred in a single disease, the systematic and comprehensive study in large samples with various diagnoses is necessary to find the biological and genetic predictors of suicidal behavior.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.1-8
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• 2010

Objective: The study aimed to review all randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) performed in Korea with herbal medicine, to produce further useful information for herbal-drug development. Methods: All papers reporting RCT with herbal drugs were collected via public database of Korea Science and Technology Integration Services, and various Oriental medicine journals. Then, the clinical question, herbal medicine, result, RCT design, and its conductor were analyzed. Results: A total of 20 RCTs were finally selected, and most of them were performed after 2003. The main subjects of RCT were related to heart and blood circulation, dermatitis, respiration disorder, Sasang constitution, or psychiatric disorders. Eight RCTs were done with a single herb while 12 RCTs were with multiple herbal formulae. In particular, three RCTs for atopic dermatitis with three formulae showed positive results. The quality of RCT was considered as better than average. Conclusions: This study revealed the current status of RCT using herbal drugs. This result would provide helpful information for research and drug development using traditional herbal medicine.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.109-119
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• 1996

Hormone replacement therapy in menopausal women has recently been a hot issue in medical fields. The author reviewed the physiology of menopause and discussed the physiological mechanism and biological management of vascular flushing and menopausal depression. The above symptoms are hard to distinguish from those of psychiatric disorders.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.263-268
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• 2014

The etiology of most psychiatric disorders is still incompletely understood. However, growing evidence suggests that stress is a potent environmental risk factor for depression and anxiety. In rodents, various stress paradigms have been developed, but psychosocial stress paradigms have received more attention than non-social stress paradigms because psychosocial stress is more prevalent in humans. Interestingly, some recent studies suggest that chronic psychosocial stress and social isolation affects mainly anxiety-related behaviors in mice. However, it is unclear whether chronic non-social stress induces both depression- and anxiety-related phenotypes or induces one specific phenotype in mice. In the present study, we examined the behavioral consequences of three chronic non-social stress paradigms: chronic predictable (restraint) stress (CPS), chronic unpredictable stress (CUS), and repeated corticosterone-HBC complex injection (RCI). Each of the three paradigms induced mild to severe depression/despair-like behaviors in mice and resulted in increased immobility in a tail suspension test. However, anxiety-related phenotypes, thigmotaxis and explorative behaviors, were not changed by the three paradigms. These results suggest that depression- and anxiety-related phenotypes can be dissociated in mouse stress models and that social and non-social stressors might affect brain circuits and behaviors differently.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.300-308
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• 2010

Adrenoceptor has been considered to be an important target in psychiatric disorders. Based on x-ray structures of bovine rhodopsin, we established homology model of ${\alpha}_{2c}$-adrenoceptor (ADA2C_rat) and then analyzed docking from binding model of receptor-ligand complex with high-active compound No.29 in tricyclic isoxazole analogues (1-30). We observed that the N (1.907 $\AA$) and O (1.712 $\AA$) atoms of isoxazole ring on the docked ligand (No.29) formed H-bonding interaction with O-H of Ser5.32 and carmeron phenyl ring centroid of tricyclic isoxazole formed $\pi-\pi$ interaction at 3.342 $\AA$ distance with phenyl ring centroid of Phe6.52. According to predictions of blood-brain distribution (logBB) through penetration of blood-brain barrie (BBB) and polar surface area (PSA) of the ligands, the high-active compound No.29 has values of logBB=-0.203, PSA=67.50, respectively. These results suggest that the high-active compound No.29 is a novel anti-depressant with the characteristics such as dopamine and serotonin.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.28-37
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• 2008

Objectives : This study was conducted in order to examine the reliability and validity of the Children's Color Trails Test (CCTT). The objective of the study was also to provide the Korean normative data for the CCTT. Methods : Normative samples consisted of 766 children and adolescents living in Seoul and aged from 5 to 15 years. Eighty children who were diagnosed with ADHD, based on the DSM-IV criterion, were recruited from Seoul National University Children's Hospital. Among them, 46 ADHD children were receiving medication, while 34 children were drug-free. Results : The scores of the CCTT were significantly correlated with those of the Stroop test. Three factors were extracted through factor analysis-visual tracking and cognitive flexibility, distractibility and susceptibility to interference, and simple attention and impulsivity. The completion time of the CCTT for all children tended to decrease as age increased. There were significant differences in the CCTT scores between the ADHD group receiving medication, the ADHD-drug free group and the normal groups. The CCTT also showed sound test-retest reliability. These results confirmed the reliability and validity of the CCTT. Finally, we provided the Korean normative data for the CCTT. Conclusion : These results suggest that the CCTT is a reliable and valid test, which can be used to assess frontal function related to child psychiatric disorders in Korean children.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.36-46
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• 1994

The event-related potentials are difined as the changes in voltage that occur at paticular time before, during and after something that happens in the physical world or some psychological processes. The possibilities of clinical applications of ERP are considered because the endogenous potentials such as P3 and contingent negative variation(CNV) are determined by the psychological significance of the stimulus. The P3 is a positive wave that occurs when a subject detects an informative task-relevant stimulus. The P3 amplitude and latency are affected by the various factors as subjective probabilites, stimulus meaning and information transmission. It is suggested that P3 wave is associated with the decision making, cognitive or perceptual closure, memory updating and transfer of information to consciousness etc. Although the intracerebral origin of the P3 wave is not known, the P3 may have multiple intracerebral generators. The CNV is a slow potential shift occuring during the foreperiod, between warning and response signals, in a reaction time experiment. It is related to expectancy, preparation etc. The abnormal findings of P3 wave and CNV in various psychiatric disorders are also discussed.