• Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.95-108
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• 2015

Studies showed that elementary school students had difficulties in the idea generation for creative problem solving, and they were also not to go through with the verification process for selecting idea. Thus, it may be more effective to provide an actualized idea generation and verification methods. In this study, we developed the creativity problem solving program with the attribute listing and PMI skills in the idea generation and verification stages respectively and applied it to six groups consisting of 5th elementary school students. We analyzed the creativity and the verbal interactions among the students at the level of interaction units. The analyses of the results revealed that the problem solving program with the creative thinking skills had significant effects on the fluency and originality that were sub-elements consisting creativity. In the analyses of interaction unit, the frequencies of the 'making suggestion' at the idea generation stage were high. And at the idea verification stage, the frequencies of the 'making suggestion' and 'receiving opinion' were high. Educational implications of these findings were discussed.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.175-181
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• 2014

Objectives It was the aim to examine the association of the thyroid-related hormones with cognitive function, depression, and subjective memory impairment in community-dwelling elders with questionable dementia. Methods The sample consisted of 399 community residents with 'questionable dementia' aged 60 or over in whom serum thyroid-related hormones [thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroxine] had been assayed. Cognitive impairment was defined using the Korean version of the Consortium Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease. Depression was diagnosed using the Korean version of Geriatric Depression Scale and subjective memory complaint (SMC) was checked using the subjective memory complaints questionnaire (SMCQ). Age, gender, education, and the presence of apolipoprotein E {\varepsilon}4 were included as covariates. Results There was a significant positive association between verbal fluency test (VFT) score and serum TSH levels (p = 0.01). There was a significant negative association between SMCQ total score and word list memory test (WLMT)(p = 0.002) or word list recall test (WLRT) score (p = 0.013). Conclusions Lower serum TSH levels were associated with semantic memory (VFT), and we found that SMC was associated with episodic memory (WLMT and WLRT) in this sample.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.129-138
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• 2004

Objective : Treatments for patients with mental retardation and pervasive developmental disorders are not curative, and are designed to help those with disabilities adjust to their environments and daily demands. As clinicians, the present authors tried to find agents with potentially curative properties. Among the numerous herbal formulations available, we chose and assessed Gami-jiwhang-tang (GJT) in the hope that it would improve cognitive development of children. Methods : Subjects were typically-developing healthy, 7- to 8-year-old boys and girls living in Seoul, Korea. The experimental group took GJT for six weeks and was followed up six weeks after discontinuation of GJT. The control group was assessed at the same intervals but did not receive placebos. To measure the effects of GJT, neuropsychological tests and intelligence test were taken before commencing GJT and twelve weeks later. Resulets and Conclusion : For all of the ANOVAs, the treatment by time interaction terms was not significant. However, the experimental group showed the tendency to be progressed in most subscales compared with the control group, especially on performance intelligence, visual organization, and verbal fluency. Conclusion : Although GJT failed to reveal significant improvement in cognition, we remain hopeful about the compound and believe that it should be evaluated by a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in the future.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.129-140
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• 2010

Objective: The aim of this study was to prove adjacent effect of Oriental Medical Therapy on aphasia after stroke. Method: We studied patients who took K-WAB (AQ; aphasia quotient) twice during their language therapy at Kyunghee University Hospital & Oriental Medicine Hospital to retrospectively investigate the effect of Oriental medical therapy on aphasia. 18 patients with post-stroke aphasia were assigned to receive one of the following adjuncts: Group A that received language therapy with Oriental medical therapy (n=12) and Group B (n=6) that received language therapy only; AQ score of Group A was compared against Group B. Result: Total AQ score and most partial scores, except 'Contents delivery', were better in Group A. 'Total AQ score', 'Fluency', and 'Auditory verbal comprehension score' presented statistical significance. Conclusion: In this study, we demonstrated the effect of Oriental medical therapy on aphasia after stroke through AQ score improvement.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.11
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• pp.1-6
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• 2017

This paper focuses on the development of a system that improves the convenience of foreign language learning and enhaces the learning ability of the target language through the use of IT devices. In addition to the basic grammar, the importance of pronunciation and intonation have somewhat crucial effect in everyday communication. Pronunciation and intonation of English are different according to the basic characteristics of a native language and these differences often cause problems in communication. The proposed system distinguishes acceptability in English communication process and requests the correction in realtime. The proposed system minimizes system intervention by collecting various voice signals of foreign language learners and setting that can be considered as acceptable threshold points. As a result, the learner can increase the learning efficiency with minimal interruption of the utterance caused by unnecessary system intervention.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2007

Unlike other common forms of speech disorder, such as phonological disorder or dysphonia, stuttering has not been studied within the context of music therapy. Most cases of stuttering display no difficulty in singing, and fluency within the musical structure does not translate to fluency in speech. Hence, musical approach has been generally considered to be ineffective to the treatment of stuttering. However, the fundamentals of music therapy assume its extensive application in treating variety of speech disorders, including the case of stuttering. Presented in this paper are the case studies designed to validate the efficacy of music therapy as a remedy for stuttering. This study enrolled 6 children with stuttering and conducted 20 individual sessions over a period of 10 weeks. The sessions focused on the Melodic Intonation Therapy, Reinforcement of speech rhythm, song writing and singing. Musical elements were structured to enhance the verbal expression and rhythmic senses, as well as to facilitate the initiation of verbal communication. The result is as follows. First, it was noticed that the disfluency had been decreased in before and after of the music therapy in every child although the result was somewhat different depending the child. The overall result of the investigation shows the significant difference statistically. And categorically speaking, the significant difference was checked in the frequency of the stuttering. In the steps of the session, the increase and decrease was happened repeatedly, and then after it was decreased little by little. Secondly, the Communication Attitude was decreased in before and after of the music therapy, and also there was significant difference statistically. although the avoidance behavior was decreased in before and after of the music therapy, the increase and the decrease was repeated irregularly in the steps of session. All the results described above shows that music therapy gives positive effect to decrease in disfluency of stuttering child and also to develop the Communication Attitude. And new possibility and effectiveness can be proposed in the musical approach to the stuttering.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.184-193
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• 2007

Objectives:There is increasing evidence that the cerebellum plays an important role in cognition and psychiatric symptoms as well as motor coordination. The concept of cognitive dysmetria has been making cerebellar function in schizophrenia the focus of current studies. In other words, disruption in the corticocerebellum-thalamic -cortical circuit could lead to disordered cognition and clinical symptoms of schizophrenia. The purposes of this study were to determine cerebellar dysfunction in male schizophrenic patients semiquantitatively with ICARS and to investigate the clinical and cognitive correlates of ICARS in patients. Methods:We compared the scores of cerebellar neurologic sign using ICARS in 47 male patients with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of schizophrenia with 30 gender and age-matched healthy control subjects. The semiquantitative 100-point ICARS consists of 19 items divided into 4 unequally weighted subscores:posture and gait disturbances, kinetic functions, speech disorders and oculomotor disorders. All subjects were also assessed with cognitive function test. Cognitive functions were evaluated by Korean-Mini Mental Status Examination (K-MMSE), Verbal fluency test, and Clock drawing test. The patients were administered Korea version of Positive and Negative Symptom Scale(K-PANSS) to assess the symptom severity. Results:Schizophrenic patients had significantly higher scores on the ICARS than control subjects with posture and gait disturbances, kinetic functions, and oculomotor disorders. They also showed more significant impairments in cognitive function tests than control subjects. There was a significant correlation between ICARS and negative symptoms of patients. In cognitive function test, Clock drawing test was significantly associated with negative symptoms. In addition, Clock drawing test was negatively correlated with the total score of ICARS. Conclusion:In this study, we confirmed that schizophrenic patients have significant impairments in cognitive and cerebellar function, and that those were related with negative symptoms of schizophrenic patients. These results support a role of the cerebellum in schizophrenia. It is meaningful that we used a structured, and reliable procedure for rating neurological soft signs, ICARS. We hope that future prospective studies using a similar design help that rate of neurological sign should have been visible with the progression of illness.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.140-148
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• 2015

Objectives The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between degenerative changes in brain [i.e., global cortical atrophy (GCA), medial temporal atrophy (MTA), white matter hyperintensities (WMH)] and neurocognitive dysfunction in Korean patients with Alzheimer's disease. Methods A total of 62 elderly subjects diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease were included in this study. The degenerative changes in brain MRI were rated with standardized visual rating scales (GCA or global cortical atrophy, MTA or medial temporal atrophy, and Fazekas scales) and the subjects were divided into two groups according to the degree of degeneration for each scale. Cognitive function was evaluated with Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD-K) and several clinical features, including apolipoprotein E ${\varepsilon}4$ status, lipid profile and thyroid hormones, were also examined. Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were performed to analyze the relationship between the degree of cerebral degeneration and neurocognitive functions. Results Demographic and clinical features, except for the age, did not show any significant difference between the two groups divided according to the degree of cerebral degenerative changes. However, higher degree of GCA was shown to be associated with poorer performance in verbal fluency test, word list recall test, and word list recognition test. Higher degree of MTA was shown to be associated with poorer performance in Mini-Mental State Examination in the Korean Version of CERAD Assessment Packet (MMSE-KC), word list recognition test and construction praxis recall test. Higher degree of white matter hyperintensities was shown to be associated with poorer performance in MMSE-KC. Conclusions Our results suggest that severe brain degeneration shown in MRI is associated with significantly poorer performance in neurocognitive tests in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, the degree of GCA, MTA and white matter hyperintensities, represented by scores from different visual rating scales, seems to affect certain neurocognitive domains each, which would provide useful information in clinical settings.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.81 no.3
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• pp.676-687
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• 2020

Purpose To analyze the altered brain regions and intrinsic brain activity patterns in trauma-exposed firefighters without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Materials and Methods Resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) was performed for all subjects. Thirty-one firefighters over 40 years of age without PTSD (31 men; mean age, 49.8 ± 4.7 years) were included. Twenty-six non-traumatized healthy controls (HCs) (26 men; mean age, 65.3 ± 7.84 years) were also included. Voxel-based morphometry was performed to investigate focal differences in the brain anatomy. Seed-based functional connectivity analysis was performed to investigate differences in spontaneous brain characteristics. Results The mean z-scores of the Seoul Verbal Learning Test for immediate and delayed recall, Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT) score for animals, and COWAT phonemic fluency were significantly lower in the firefighter group than in the HCs, indicating decreased neurocognitive function. Compared to HCs, firefighters showed reduced gray matter volume in the left superior parietal gyrus and left inferior temporal gyrus. Further, in contrast to HCs, firefighters showed alterations in rsfMRI values in multiple regions, including the fusiform gyrus and cerebellum. Conclusion Structural and resting-state functional abnormalities in the brain may be useful imaging biomarkers for identifying alterations in trauma-exposed firefighters without PTSD.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2013

Objectives: Cognitive impairment in restless legs syndrome (RLS) patients can be affected by sleep deprivation, anxiety and depression, which are common in RLS. The objective of this study is to investigate relationship between cognitive impairment and RLS in the non-medicated Korean elderly with controlling for psychiatric conditions. Method: The study sample for this study comprised 25 non-medicated Korean elderly RLS patients and 50 age-, sex-, and education- matched controls. All subjects were evaluated with comprehensive cognitive function assessment tools- including the Korean version of Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Packet (CERAD-K), severe cognitive impairment rating scale (SCIRS), frontal assessment battery (FAB), and clock drawing test (CLOX). Sleep quality and depression were also assessed with Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and geriatric depression scale (GDS). Results: PSQI and GDS score showed no difference between RLS and control group. There was no significant difference between two groups in nearly all the cognitive function except in constructional recognition test, in which subjects with RLS showed lower performance than control group (t=-2.384, p=0.02). Subjects with depression ($GDS{\geq}10$) showed significant cognitive impairment compared to control in verbal fluency, Korean version of Mini Mental Status Examination in the CERAD-K (MMSE-KC), word list memory, trail making test, and frontal assessment battery (FAB). In contrast, no difference was observed between subjects who have low sleep quality (PSQI>5) and control group. Conclusions: At the exclusion of the impact of insomnia and depression, cognitive function was found to be relatively preserved in RLS patients compared to control. Impairment of visual recognition in RLS patients can be explained in terms of dopaminergic dysfunction in RLS.