• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.2-5
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• 2021

Hyperarousal or increased brain excitability is thought to play a key role in the pathophysiology of insomnia. Neuromodulation techniques are emergent complementary therapies for insomnia and can improve sleep by modulating cortical excitability. A growing body of literature support the idea that neuromodulation can be effective in improving sleep or treating insomnia. Recent evidence has revealed that neuromodulation methods can improve objective and subjective sleep measures in individuals with insomnia, although effects vary according to protocol. Different mechanisms of action might explain the relative efficacy of neuromodulation techniques on sleep outcomes. Further research testing different stimulation parameters, replicating existing protocols, and adding standardized sleep-related outcomes could provide further evidence on the clinical utility of neuromodulation techniques.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.187-202
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• 2018

Objectives : Non-invasive transcranial electrical stimulation is one of therapeutic interventions to change in neural excitability of the cortex. Transcranial electro-acupuncture (TEA) can modulate brain functions through changes in cortical excitability as a model of non-invasive transcranial electrical stimulation. Some composites of fermented Scutellaria baicalenis (FSB) can activate intercellular signaling pathways for activation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor that is critical for formation of neural plasticity in stroke patients. This study was aimed at evaluation of combinatory treatment of TEA and FSB on behavior recovery and cortical neural excitability in rodent focal stroke model. Methods : Focal ischemic stroke was induced by photothrombotic injury to the motor cortex of adult rats. Application of TEA with 20 Hz and $200{\mu}A$ in combination with daily oral treatment of FBS was given to stroke animals for 3 weeks. Motor recovery was evaluated by rotating bean test and ladder working test. Electrical activity of cortical pyramidal neurons of stroke model was evaluated by using multi-channel extracellular recording technique and thallium autometallography. Results : Compared with control stroke group who did not receive any treatment, Combination of TEA and FSB treatment resulted in more rapid recovery of forelimb movement following focal stroke. This combination treatment also elicited increase in spontaneous firing rate of putative pyramidal neurons. Furthermore expression of metabolic marker for neural excitability was upregulated in peri-infract area under thallium autometallography. Conclusions : These results suggest that combination treatment of TEA and FSB can be a possible remedy for motor recovery in focal stroke.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.69-81
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• 2021

Cortico-cortical evoked potential (CCEP) mapping is a rapidly developing method for visualizing the brain network and estimating cortical excitability. The CCEP comprises the early N1 component the occurs at 10-30 ms poststimulation, indicating anatomic connectivity, and the late N2 component that appears at < 200 ms poststimulation, suggesting long-lasting effective connectivity. A later component at 200-1,000 ms poststimulation can also appear as a delayed response in some studied areas. Such delayed responses occur in areas with changed excitability, such as an epileptogenic zone. CCEP mapping has been used to examine the brain connections causally in functional systems such as the language, auditory, and visual systems as well as in anatomic regions including the frontoparietal neocortices and hippocampal limbic areas. Task-based CCEPs can be used to measure behavior. In addition to evaluations of the brain connectome, single-pulse electrical stimulation (SPES) can reflect cortical excitability, and so it could be used to predict a seizure onset zone. CCEP brain mapping and SPES investigations could be applied both extraoperatively and intraoperatively. These underused electrophysiologic tools in basic and clinical neuroscience might be powerful methods for providing insight into measures of brain connectivity and dynamics. Analyses of CCEPs might enable us to identify causal relationships between brain areas during cortical processing, and to develop a new paradigm of effective therapeutic neuromodulation in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.89-93
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• 2002

We report a preliminary fMRI evidence of modulation of somatomotor areas by acupuncture in GB34 acupoint. GB34, located in the back of the knee, is known to be effective in recovering motor function after stroke. Using 3T MR scanner, functional MR imaging was performed in five normal volunteers in two stimulation paradigms; acupuncture manipulation on GB34 and sham points. Group analysis form five individuals showed that bilateral sensorimotor areas (BA 3,4,6 and 7) showed stimulation related BOLD signal contrast of approximately 6% whereas very few areas were activated when sham stimulation is given. Our results suggest that acupuncture fMRI study can be safely conducted in 3T environment and stimulation in GB34 modulate the cortical activities of the somatomotor area in human.

• Proceedings of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society Conference
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.21-25
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• 2002

We report a preliminary fMRI evidence of modulation of somatomotor areas by acupuncture in GB34 acupoint. GB34, located in the back of the knee, is known to be effective in recovering motor function after stroke. Using 3T MR scanner, functional MR imaging was performed in five normal volunteers in two stimulation paradigms; acupuncture manipulation on GB34 and sham points. Group analysis from five individuals showed that bilateral sensorimotor areas (BA 3,4,6 and 7) showed stimulation related BOLD signal contrast of approximately 6％ whereas very few areas were activated when sham stimulation is given. Our results suggest that acupuncture fMRI study can be safely conducted in 3T environment, and stimulation in GB34 modulate the cortical activities of the somatomotor area in human.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility Conference
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• 1998.04a
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• pp.44-56
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• 1998

Effects of the music and white noise on recovery of the autonomic and cortical responses evoked by aversive visual stimulation were analyzed in 20 subjects. It was suggested that the music is able to exert modulatory influence on the physiological activity resulted from exposure to unpleasant IAPS based stimuli. Spectral power of DDG, heart rate(HR)respiration rate (RSR) and electrodermal activity(EDA)were recorded and analyzed for each experimental condition. It was observed HR and RSR deceleration, increased EDA and electrocortical activation expressed in decreased alpha power and increase of delta activity ao occipital and frontal areas. Obtained results suggest that audutory stimulation both with pleasant and sad music lead to restoration of pre-stimulation activation levels of most physiological parameters during listenning to music and in post-stimulation period. White noise evoked short-term physiological responses typical for orienting reaction and quite distinct from changes produced by music. Available data to differentiate effeces among pleasant and sad music, due toqualitative similarities of physilolgical patterns, but suppert an assumption that music is capable to facilitate the process of recovery of physilolgical responses elicited by visual stimulation of negative valence, thus positively modulate post-stress state.

• Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.119-132
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• 2018

Despite the fact that pharmacotherapy depressive disorders have proven efficacy, a substantial number of patients are resistant to conventional management. As neuroscientific research about pathophysiology of depression have accumulated, repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have emerged as an important mechanism-based treatment modality. This overview provides a review of therapeutic application of rTMS and tDCS in patients with depression. The clinical and basic studies of rTMS and tDCS in depression were reviewed and integrated using a literature review and interview with experts. rTMS is a noninvasive procedure of a localized pulsed magnetic field to the surface of the head to cause a depolarization of neurons in the brain cortex. tDCS has a mechanism of modulating cortical excitability in a polarity-specific manner without eliciting action potentials. rTMS and tDCS seem promising for treating depression. Although therapeutic parameters and further technical improvement remain to be systematically investigated, rTMS and tDCS would be a safe and effective intervention to treat depression.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.11-22
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• 2016

Objective: This study is executed systematic review targeted at international journals intended to investigate on effect of peripheral sensory nerve stimulation on upper extremity function for stroke patients. Method: After literature search, researchers selected for 10 studies registered up to October 2015 based on PubMed database, using the following search terms: peripheral nerve stimulation, electrical stimulation, sensory stimulation, somatosensory stimulation, stroke, hemiplegia, hemiparesis and hand, arm, upper limb. Result: There were significant improves of upper extremity function and positive effect on the cortical activation in the use of peripheral sensory nerve stimulation. Conclusion: domestic studies in future requires a study of the method for measuring more accurately the effect of peripheral sensory nerve stimulation in RCT studies applying various intervention.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 1980

This study was under taken to investigate the influences of predictable or unpredictable stress upon gastric ulceration, and the hippocampectomy upon the ulceration order the stressful conditions. Sixty male albino rats(Sprague-Dawley strain) were divided equally into 3 groups: One was the hippocampal group(N=20) which received hippocampal ablation by suction, another was the cortical control group(N =20) which received partial cortical ablation over the hippocampus, and a third was the normal control group(N=20). Each group was further divided into two subgroups: One was the predicted subgroup(N=10) in which animals could predict the imminent stressful stimuli by hearing a sound(1,000 Hz, 2 sec in duration) 3 sec before the onset of the stress, and the other was the unpredicted subgroup(N=10). After starvation for 24 hours, but water ad libitum, each rat received the electric stimulation(3 mA, 60 Hz, 2 sec in duration, and once per minute in average) for 6 hours via a pair of electrodes attached on the tale. The electric stimulation served as the stress causing the gastric ulcer. Five hours after completion of stimulation, the stomach filled with the physiological saline was removed under deep anesthesia and spread out on a small glass plate. The numbers of the ulcer in each stomach were counted and the shape was examined under the dissecting microscope. Results obtained were as follows: 1. The mean numbers of the ulcer of the predicted subgroups were significantly larger than those of the unpredicted subgroups in the normal control and the cortical control groups, but there was no difference between the values of the two subgroups in the hippocampal group. 2. The mean numbers of the ulcer of the predicted subgroups in the normal control and the cortical control groups were larger(but not significant) than that in the hippocampal group. It is inferred from the above results that the prediction of the stress strengthens the effect of the stress on the gastric ulceration, and the hippocampus facilitates the effect of the prediction of the stress.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2012

Oroxylin A is a flavone isolated from a medicinal herb reported to be effective in reducing the inflammatory and oxidative stresses. It also modulates the production of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in cortical neurons by the transactivation of cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB). As a neurotrophin, BDNF plays roles in neuronal development, differentiation, synaptogenesis, and neural protection from the harmful stimuli. Adenosine $A2_A$ receptor colocalized with BDNF in brain and the functional interaction between $A2_A$ receptor stimulation and BDNF action has been suggested. In this study, we investigated the possibility that oroxylin A modulates BDNF production in cortical neuron through the regulation of $A2_A$ receptor system. As expected, CGS21680 ($A2_A$ receptor agonist) induced BDNF expression and release, however, an antagonist, ZM241385, prevented oroxylin A-induced increase in BDNF production. Oroxylin A activated the PI3K-Akt-GSK-$3{\beta}$ signaling pathway, which is inhibited by ZM241385 and the blockade of the signaling pathway abolished the increase in BDNF production. The physiological roles of oroxylin A-induced BDNF production were demonstrated by the increased neurite extension as well as synapse formation from neurons. Overall, oroxylin A might regulate BDNF production in cortical neuron through $A2_A$ receptor stimulation, which promotes cellular survival, synapse formation and neurite extension.