• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.21-28
• /
• 2003

This study investigated the differences in processing type of working memory between experts and novices when they read music scores. Two experiments were conducted with the articulatory suppression condition. In Experiment 1, eight half notes were shown on the screen for a brief period of time, participants were then requested to write the notes on a music sheet. the stimuli were divided into two: melodious and unmelodious. In similar fashion, Experiment 2 consisted of four-chord sequences, which contained three notes each. The stimuli were also divided into two: harmonious and disharmonious. As an analysis of the results in Experiment 1 & 2, novices commonly showed better performances in the non-articulatory suppression condition than the articulatory suppression condition with both stimuli types. However, experts were relatively affected little by the articulatory suppression with harmonious stimuli. These findings support that while novices entirely depend on the articulatory loop, experts may encode the notes through the visuo-spatial sketchpad before they transfer the information to the phonological store when they are familiar with material.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.107-117
• /
• 2016

Objective: This study examined the construct validity of K-WPPSI-IV. Factor structures of the structures of the K-WPPSI-IV full scale as well as primary index scales for two age ranges (2 years, 6 months to 3 years, 11 months; 4 years to 7 years, 7 months) were examined. Methods: Data were collected from 1,700 children aged 2 years, 6 months to 7 years, 7 months during the K-WPPSI-IV standardization. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted using the K-WPPSI-IV subtest performances with maximum likelihood estimation using Amos 18. Results: First, the three-factor model (verbal comprehension, visual spatial, and working memory) fitted best for the younger age range. However, the five-factor model (verbal comprehension, visual spatial, fluid reasoning, working memory, and processing speed) fitted best for the older age range. Residuals suggest the presence of two nested subfactors within the verbal comprehension factor (broad/expressive and focused/simple). Second, the confirmatory factor analysis on primary index subtests identified factors that account for the intercorrelations among the reduced sets of primary index subtests. Conclusion: The findings showed that the theoretical structures of WPPSI-IV subtests were confirmed within K-WPPSI-IV.

• Educational Technology International
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.145-166
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study was to investigate why advance organizers (AO) are effective in promoting comprehension and mental model formation in terms of cognitive load. Two experimental groups: a concept-map AO group and a key-word AO group and one control group were used. This study considered cognitive load in view of Baddeley's working memory model: central executive (CE), phonological loop (PL), and visuo-spatial sketch pad (VSSP). The present experiment directly examined cognitive load using dual task methodology. The results were as follows: central executive (CE) suppression task achievement for the concept map AO group was higher than the key word AO group and control group. Comprehension and mental model construction for the concept map AO group were higher than the other groups. These results indicated that the superiority of concept map AO owing to CE load decrement occurred with comprehension and mental model construction in learning. Thus, the available resources produced by CE load reduction may have been invested for comprehension and mental model construction of learning contents.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.3-18
• /
• 2015

Numerosity perception is considered as an innate ability of human being where its sensivitiy may widely vary across each individual person. The present study explored the relationship between visual working memory (VWM), visual search efficiency, and numerosity sensitivity. To accomplish this, we calculated each participant's K-value from change detection performance representing one's storage capacity in VWM, slopes of search RTs representing the search efficiency, and discrimination sensitivity for a quantity difference across two sets of dot arrays representing the numerosity sensitivity. The correlational analysis across the measurements revealed that participants with a high VWM capacity better discriminated the numerosity difference in the arrays when the spatial information in the two dot arrays was preserved. In contrast, the participants with high search efficiency discriminated better the difference in the arrays when the spatial information in the arrays was not preserved. The results indicate high VWM-capacity individuals were presumably able to use a strategy of storing the dot arrays by grouping them into a smaller pattern of dot arrays while high search-efficiency individuals were able to use a strategy of rapidly switching their focused attention across the dots in the arrays to count each individual dot. These in sum suggest that individual differences in numerosity sensitivity rely on one's working memory capacity as well as their efficient use of switching focused attention.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.25 no.8
• /
• pp.450-461
• /
• 2022

A randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled clinical study was used to determine the cognitive functions related to working memory (WM) and antioxidant properties of fermented Laminaria japonica (FLJ) on healthy volunteers. Eighty participants were divided into a placebo group (n = 40) and FLJ group (n = 40) that received FLJ (1.5 g/day) for 6 weeks. Memory-related blood indices (brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF; angiotensin-converting enzyme; human growth hormone, HGH; insulin-like growth factor-1, IGF-1) and antioxidant function-related indices (catalase, CAT; malondialdehyde, MDA; 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine, 8-oxo-dG; thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, TBARS) were determined before and after the trial. In addition, standardized cognitive tests were conducted using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Batteries. Furthermore, the Korean Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (K-WAIS)-IV, and the Korean version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-K) were used to assess the pre and post intake changes on WM-related properties. According to the results, FLJ significantly increased the level of CAT, BDNF, HGH, and IGF-1. FLJ reduced the level of TBARS, MDA, and 8-oxo-dG in serum. Furthermore, FLJ improved physical activities related to cognitive functions such as K-WAIS-IV, MoCA-K, Paired Associates Learning, and Spatial Working Memory compared to the placebo group. Our results suggest that FLJ is a potential candidate to develop functional materials reflecting its capability to induce antioxidant mechanisms together with WM-related indices.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility Conference
• /
• 2009.05a
• /
• pp.101-104
• /
• 2009

This study investigated compensatory mechanisms in the brain during a verbal working memory task among people with Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD). A total of 21 college male students participated in the study: eleven AUD participants and 10 normal controls. Study participants were asked to complete the Korean version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (K-WAIS-III) prior to the fMRI experiment. Verbal 0-back and 2-back tasks were used to assess brain activities of the participants' verbal working memory. Brain scanning was performed on Siemens SONATA 1.5T Scanner while participants were performing the 0-back and 2-back tasks. Within the AUD group, participants with greater dependency to alcohol (based on DSM-IV criteria) in the past 1 year showed lower mean score on the 'Similarities' of the K-WAIS-III (r=-0.63, p<0.05, N=11). The more participants experienced alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the past 1 year, the lower the score they received on the K-WAIS-III 'Picture Arrangement' (r=-0.69, p<0.05, n=11). The fMRI regression results showed that individuals who present greater degree of alcohol dependency symptoms are likely to show greater brain activation in the bilateral middle frontal gyri (BA 9) during the verbal working memory task. The degree of alcohol withdrawal symptoms were associated with increased brain activation in the left superior and middle frontal gyri (BA8), left precentral gyrus (BA 6), and left inferior parietal lobule (BA 40). The study findings showed that the degree of alcohol abuse/dependence and withdrawal symptoms were associated with decreased cognitive function and increased activations in brain regions particularly important for abstract reasoning (BA 9), central executive (BA 9), or spatial storage (BA 40) during a working memory task. Therefore, these results could support previous studies suggesting that the neural system of people with ADD may adopt a brain compensatory mechanism to maintain normal level of cognitive functions.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.320-327
• /
• 2008

Several lines of evidence indicate that adenosine $A_{2A}$ agonist disrupts spatial working memory. However, it is unclear which stages of learning and memory are affected by the stimulation of adenosine $A_{2A}$ receptor. To clarify these points, we employed CV-1808 as adenosine $A_{2A}$ agonist and investigated its effects on acquisition, consolidation, and retrieval phases of learning and memory using passive avoidance and the Morris water maze tasks. During the acquisition phase, CV-1808 (2-phenylaminoadenosine, 1 and 2 mg/kg, i.p.) decreased the latency time in passive avoidance task and the mean savings in the Morris water maze task, respectively. During the consolidation and retrieval phase tests, CV-1808 did not exhibited any effects on latency time in passive avoidance task and the mean savings in the Morris water maze task. These results suggest that CV-1808 as an adenosine $A_{2A}$ agonist impairs memory acquisition but not consolidation or retrieval.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.251-260
• /
• 2015

Propofol is an anesthetic agent that gained wide use because of its fast induction of anesthesia and rapid recovery post-anesthesia. However, previous studies have reported immediate neurodegeneration and long-term impairment in spatial learning and memory from repeated neonatal propofol administration in animals. Yet, none of those studies has explored the sex-specific long-term physical changes and behavioral alterations such as social (sociability and social preference), emotional (anxiety), and other cognitive functions (spatial working, recognition, and avoidance memory) after neonatal propofol treatment. Seven-day-old Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats underwent repeated daily intraperitoneal injections of propofol or normal saline for 7 days. Starting fourth week of age and onwards, rats were subjected to behavior tests including open-field, elevated-plus-maze, Y-maze, 3-chamber social interaction, novel-object-recognition, passive-avoidance, and rotarod. Rats were sacrificed at 9 weeks and hippocampal protein expressions were analyzed by Western blot. Results revealed long-term body weight gain alterations in the growing rats and sex-specific impairments in spatial (female) and recognition (male) learning and memory paradigms. A markedly decreased expression of hippocampal NMDA receptor GluN1 subunit in female- and increased expression of AMPA GluR1 subunit protein expression in male rats were also found. Other aspects of behaviors such as locomotor activity and coordination, anxiety, sociability, social preference and avoidance learning and memory were not generally affected. These results suggest that neonatal repeated propofol administration disrupts normal growth and some aspects of neurodevelopment in rats in a sex-specific manner.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.64-70
• /
• 2023

Purpose: This study investigated the influence of attention-demanding tasks on gait and measured differences in the temporal, spatial and kinematic characteristics between young healthy adults and elderly healthy adults. Methods: We recruited 16 healthy young adults and 15 healthy elderly adults in this study. All participants performed two cognitive tasks: a subtraction dual-task (SDT) and working memory dual-task (WMDT) during gait plus one normal gait. Using the LEGSys+ system, knee and hip-joint kinematic data during stance and swing phase and spatiotemporal parameter data were assessed in this study. Results: In the elderly adult group, attention-demanding tasks with gait showed a significant decrease in hip-joint motion during the stance phase, compared to the normal gait. Step length, stride length and stride velocity of the elderly adult group were significantly decreased in WMDT gait compared to normal gait (p<0.05). In the young adult group, kinematic data did not show any significant difference. However, stride velocity and cadence during SDT and WMDT gaits were significantly decreased compared to those of normal gait (p<0.05). Conclusion: We determined that attention-demanding tasks during gait in elderly adults can induce decreased hip-joint motion during stance phase and decreased gait speed and stride length to maintain balance and prevent risk of falling. We believe that understanding the changes during gait in older ages, particularly during attention-demanding tasks, would be helpful for intervention strategies and improved risk assessment.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.571-581
• /
• 2015

${\beta}$-asarone (BAS) is an active component of Acori graminei rhizoma, a traditional medicine used clinically in treating dementia and chronic stress in Korea. However, the cognitive effects of BAS and its mechanism of action have remained elusive. The purpose of this study was to examine whether BAS improved spatial cognitive impairment induced in rats following chronic corticosterone (CORT) administration. CORT administration (40 mg/kg, i.p., 21 days) resulted in cognitive impairment in the avoidance conditioning test (AAT) and the Morris water maze (MWM) test that was reversed by BAS (200 mg/kg, i.p). Additionally, as assessed by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR analysis, the administration of BAS significantly alleviated memory-associated decreases in the expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) proteins and mRNAs in the hippocampus. Also, BAS administration significantly restored the expression of Bax and Bcl-2 mRNAs in the hippocampus. Thus, BAS may be an effective therapeutic for learning and memory disturbances, and its neuroprotective effect was mediated, in part, by normalizing the CORT response, resulting in regulation of BDNF and CREB functions and anti-apoptosis in rats.