• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.175-181
• /
• 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 the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.131-136
• /
• 2016

An appropriate evaluation on learner's pronunciation has been an important part of foreign language education. The learners should be evaluated and receive proper feedback for pronunciation improvement. Due to the cost and consistency problem of human evaluation, automatic pronunciation evaluation system has been studied. The most of the current automatic evaluation systems utilizes underlying Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology. We suggest in this work to evaluate learner's pronunciation accuracy and fluency in word-level using the ASR and non-native teacher's speech model. Through the performance evaluation on our system, we confirm the overall evaluation result of pronunciation accuracy and fluency actually represents the learner's English skill level quite accurately.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
• /
• v.11 no.5
• /
• pp.153-158
• /
• 2020

The present study identify the predictive power of confrontational naming and generative naming as screening tests for normal and early cognitive impairment. The subjects were analyzed for 203 healthy elderly, 106 mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 31 mild dementia. The confrontational naming was measured by the short-term Korean Boston Name Waiting Test, and the generative naming was measured by the Control Associative Word Test. As a result of polynomial logistic regression, both confrontational naming and generative naming had a significant effect on discriminating cognitive impairment (MCI, mild dementia) in general elderly (p<0.05). On the other hand, when distinguishing mild dementia from mild cognitive impairment, the generative naming-phonetic test had no significant odds ratio. The results of this study suggest that when discriminating mild dementia in mild cognitive impairment group, it is not meaningful to look only at the total score of generative naming test.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.149-154
• /
• 2017

Objectives This study investigated associations between symptom severity and neurocognitive functions in patients with major depressive disorder using comprehensive neuropsychological tests. Methods Ten patients with low depression (LD) and 22 patients with high depression (HD) participated. Symptom severity was determined by both the Beck Depression Inventory and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Additionally, anxiety was measured by the Korean version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-KYZ). Ten subtests of the Korean-Wechsler Adult Intelligence scale (K-WAIS), Stroop test, the word/design fluency tests were administered to assess cognition. Results The LD and HD groups did not differ in any of cognitive measures but anxiety level. Namely, the HD group obtained significantly higher scores on the state (U = 29.50, p < 0.01) and trait (U = 28.50, p < 0.001) anxiety scales than the LD group. A significant interaction effect between trait anxiety and depression severity was observed on the picture arrangement subtest of the K-WAIS [F (1, 27) = 5.09, p < 0.05]. Conclusions Cognitive deficits observed in patients with major depressive disorder may be related to other factors rather than current symptom severity. Trait anxiety possibly moderates the effect of current symptom severity on social judgment in these patients.

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

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.155-164
• /
• 2004

Objective:The present study examined the association between basic neurocognitive functions and emotional recognition in chronic schizophrenia. Furthermore, to Investigate cognitive variable related to emotion recognition in Schizophrenia. Methods:Forty eight patients from the Yongin Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center were evaluated for neurocognitive function, and Emotional Recognition Test which has four subscales finding emotional clue, discriminating emotions, understanding emotional context and emotional capacity. Measures of neurocognitive functioning were selected based on hypothesized relationships to perception of emotion. These measures included:1) Letter Number Sequencing Test, a measure of working memory;2) Word Fluency and Block Design, a measure of executive function;3) Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Korean version, a measure of verbal memory;4) Digit Span, a measure of immediate memory;5) Span of Apprehension Task, a measure of early visual processing, visual scanning;6) Continuous Performance Test, a measure of sustained attention functioning. Correlation analyses between specific neurocognitive measures and emotional recognition test were made. To examine the degree to which neurocognitive performance predicting emotional recognition, hierarchical regression analyses were also made. Results:Working memory, and verbal memory were closely related with emotional discrimination. Working memory, Span of Apprehension and Digit Span were closely related with contextual recognition. Among cognitive measures, Span of Apprehension, Working memory, Digit Span were most important variables in predicting emotional capacity. Conclusion:These results are relevant considering that emotional information processing depends, in part, on the abilities to scan the context and to use immediate working memory. These results indicated that mul- tifaceted cognitive training program added with Emotional Recognition Task(Cognitive Behavioral Rehabilitation Therapy added with Emotional Management Program) are promising.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.70-77
• /
• 2021

Objectives Our study aimed to present the distinctive correlates of formal thought disorder in patients with schizophrenia, using the Clinical Language Disorder Rating Scale (CLANG). Methods We compared clinical characteristics between schizophrenia patients with (n = 84) and without (n = 82) formal thought disorder. Psychometric scales including the CLANG, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), the Calgery Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) and the Word Fluency Test (WFT) were used. Results After adjusting the effects of age, sex and total scores on the BPRS, YMRS and WFT, the subjects with disorganized speech presented significantly higher score on the abnormal syntax (p = 0.009), lack of semantic association (p = 0.005), discourse failure (p < 0.0001), pragmatics disorder (p = 0.001), dysarthria (p < 0.0001), and paraphasic error (p = 0.005) items than those without formal thought disorder. With defining the mentioned item scores as covariates, binary logistic regression model predicted that discourse failure (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 5.88, p < 0.0001) and pragmatics disorder (aOR = 2.17, p = 0.04) were distinctive correlates of formal thought disorder in patients with schizophrenia. Conclusions This study conducted Clinician Rated Dimensions of Psychosis Symptom Severity (CRDPSS) and CLANG scales on 166 hospitalized schizophrenia patients to explore the sub-items of the CLANG scale independently related to formal thought disorders in schizophrenia patients. Discourse failure and pragmatics disorder might be used as the distinctive indexes for formal thought disorder in patients with schizophrenia.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
• /
• v.9 no.7
• /
• pp.145-152
• /
• 2019

The aim of this study was to evaluation the effect of Interactive Metronome(IM) training on executive function for stroke patients. Twenty patients with stroke were randomly assigned to experimental group(n=10) or control group(n=10). The patients in the experimental group received IM training with basic rehabilitation and those in the control group received traditional rehabilitation with basic rehabilitation. The patients were assessed before and after intervention using Kims frontal-executive function neuropsychology test II to evaluate executive function. The result of the present study was experimental group demonstrated more increased than control group in stroop interference, word fluency, delayed recall, executive function quotient(EFQ). Therefore, IM training was effective in improving the executive function. It is deemed that IM training can be usefully applied to improve executive function.

• Journal of Creative Information Culture
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.255-264
• /
• 2019

In the previous study on the effectiveness of SW education, the educational goals were mainly focused on developing computational thinking ability and researching changes in computational thinking ability. But the word "computational thinking" is difficult to the public. Also the definition of computational thinking is varies from scholar to scholar. Therefore, this study aims to inform the public of the excellence and effectiveness of SW education through the change of "writing ability" which is more familiar to us. To achieve this goal, 10 lectures of SW training materials were produced and conducted in elementary science gifted class. As a result, significant changes have been made in the fluency and quality of writing skills, proving that SW training improves students' writing skills. Through this, we confirmed the visible results through SW education, which can be called justification of SW education. Furthermore, it is expected that various educational attempts will be developed using SW in other subjects.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.63-68
• /
• 2016

Objectives Haenyeo are Korean professional women breath-hold divers in Jeju island. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of depressed Haenyeo group, compared to non-Haenyeo depressed group. Methods This study included 75 Haenyeo and 340 non-Haenyeo with depressive disorders recruited from the Dementia Early Detection Program in Jeju island. Structural diagnostic interviews were performed using the Korean version of Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. All patients completed the questionnaires, including the Subjective Memory Complaints Questionnaire (SMCQ), the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15), and the Blessed dementia scale. Depression was evaluated by the Korean version of short form the Geriatric Depression Scale (K-SGDS) and cognition was assessed by the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) assessment packet. Results Although the mean scores of the K-SGDS were similar between Haenyeo and non-Haenyeo depressed groups, the Haenyeo group showed a higher mean score on the PSQ-15 (p < 0.001, ANCOVA adjusting for age, the K-SGDS and education). The Haenyeo group showed poorer performance on the Korean Version of Frontal Assessment Batter (p < 0.001), the Mini-Mental State Examination in the Korean version of the CERAD Assessment Packet (p < 0.018), the word fluency test (p < 0.001), and the word list memory test (p = 0.012) in ANCOVA adjusting for age and education. The mean SMCQ score was higher in the Haenyeo depressed group than in the non-Haenyeo depressed group. Conclusions The Haenyeo depressed group shows cognitive dysfunction, especially frontal lobe dysfunction, compared to the non-Haenyeo depressed group, indicating the Haenyeo depressed group may have more severe frontolimbic dysfunction due to chronic exposure to hypoxia. The Haenyeo depressed group suffers more somatic symptoms than the non-Haenyeo depressed group.