• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.1-7
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• 2003

The common features of the behavioral inhibition and the action monitoring that are considered as one of the executive functions were investigated using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and source localization analysis. The electrophysiological correlates of behavioral inhibition and action monitoring ate analyzed when the subjects performed the Go/NoGo task. Two ERP components of behavioral inhibition termed as N200 and P300 in NoGo condition were differ from those of Go condition, that is the amplitudes of NoGo N200 and P300 are largest on the fronto-central region, which may reflect the inhibitory control of frontal lobe required in NoGo condition. The error-related negativity (ERN) observed on the fronto-central region when the subjects committed error was much larger in amplitude and faster in latency than those of the correct-related negativity (CRN), which may indicate that the signal of action monitoring is much more required for the error response. The correlation analysis for the ERP components of behavioral inhibition and action monitoring revealed the significant negative correlation among the latencies of NoGo N200 and P300 and the amplitude of ERN, which may reflects that the faster subjects inhibit response, the more monitor their own action. The close relationship between behavioral inhibition and action monitoring was also supported by the results of source localization analysis, which showed the common neural sources of NoGo N200 and ERN was anterior cingulate cortex.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.77-89
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• 2020

Objective : The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of audiovisual biofeedback training using RAPAEL Smart Pegboard on the cognitive function of stroke patients. Methods : A total of 20 participants were divided into an intervention group and a control group, with 10 patients per group K-MoCA and NCSE were used for pre and post intervention evaluation. The intervention method of the intervention group provided traditional occupational therapy and audiovisual biofeedback training, and the control group provided traditional occupational therapy and participated in self-activity programs. Results : K-MoCA revealed a significant difference in visuo-spatial and executive functions, attention, memory, and overall score in the internvention group compared to the control group (p<.05). In addition, the results of NCSE showed that there was a significant difference in attention, memory, and overall score in the intervention group compared to the control group (p<.05). Conclusion : We confirmed that the audiovisual biofeedback training had a positive effect on the cognitive function of stroke patients. Therefore, it could be useful tool for the rehabilitation of stroke patients in future occupational therapy clinical environments.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.469-491
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• 2015

The present study investigated the inhibition mechanisms of gifted children, which is one of the main executive functions in human cognitive system. The inhibition process was subdivided into cognitive and emotion aspects in order to examine the interplay between these two aspects with respect to inhibition processing. In Experiment 1, word-color Stroop task was used to study the cognitive inhibition process of 100 gifted children(Gender: 62 males, 38 females; Academic grade: 46 Elementary school students, 54 Secondary school students). In addition, emotional Stroop task was utilized in Experiment 2 to examine the effect of emotional component during cognitive inhibition process. Results revealed a significant cognitive cost (i.e., word-color Stroop effect) when participants had to withhold automatic response during cognitive inhibition task in Experiment 1. Such cognitive cost was reduced as the chronological age of the participants increased, with no difference in gender. The results in Experiment 2 showed no significant emotional inhibition cost (i.e., emotional Stroop effect) during cognitive inhibition task, and there was no effect of gender nor age. This suggests that the emotional component conveyed in words did not lead to cognitive bias effects. This study proposes that the cognitive and emotional inhibition processes are seemingly independent mechanisms that engage in complex interactions during inhibition processing of behavioral response.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.60
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• pp.52-74
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• 2012

Legislation needs to be understood within a political, societal relationship among lawmaking bodies rather than by legal provision itself. In order to examine features and functions of communication in the process of legislation, this study conducted focus group interviews with experts as well as in-depth individual interviews. The result of this research as follows: First, the study found that although the domestic legislative process has been made by active interactions among lawmaking subjects, it was hard to conclude that this procedure is providing effective and productive legislative agenda because of chaotic communications made along the process. Second, the study found that national legislative process has been gradually moving, although restricted, to an open political space, the National Assembly, from a closed space, the executive branch. Third, the study found a remarkable feature including growing influence of experts groups and civic organizations in the legislative process. It is a significant change that legislative staff such as National Assembly aides, investigators, expert committeemen and deputy director generals played a role of "insiders," unnoticeably influencing the legislative process, and that civic organizations and NGOs, which have been excluded in the previous legislative processes, emerged as a new influencing circle in the process. Lastly, the study found that media organizations, in the process of developing agenda, had a strong impact on the National Assembly as a subject forming public issues and as a messenger of the legislative agenda while they played a limited role in affecting the government. This study discusses why communication in the domestic legislative process is important and what are some hindering and facilitating factors in the process.

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

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.44-49
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• 2004

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether longitudinal changes in positive and negative symptoms affect cognitive functioning in chronic schizophrenia. Methods: Sixty-eight patients diagnosed with DSM-IV schizophrenia were examined on two occasions over 6 months for symptoms and cognitive changes. Symptoms were measured by PANSS. Cognitive functions were examined for sustained attention, executive function, concentration and attention, and verbal memory and learning using Degraded Stimulus Continuous Performance Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Digit Span, and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, respectively. Twenty control subjects were assessed to compare the cognitive scores of remitted schizophrenic patients. Results: Patients showed significant improvement in symptoms and all cognitive tests after 6 months treatments. Significant improvements in positive and negative symptoms did not predict improvements in any aspect of cognitive functioning measured. Normal controls performed significantly better than remitted schizophrenic patients on all cognitive tests. The results show no relationship between change in symptoms and change in cognition in chronic schizophrenia. Conclusion: We suggest that symptomatic and cognitive impairment may be a distinct construct. These findings highlight the importance of treating cognitive impairment in addition to the clinical symptoms of schizophrenia.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.253-266
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• 2001

Background: The causes of ADHD(attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) are various, so it is impossible to understand the whole characteristics of ADHD, only with simple intelligence testing scales. We compared cognitive characteristics of ADHD group with normal controls with Korean Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children(K-ABC). It is well known to evaluate neuropsychological and cognitive aspects of the children. Materials and Methods: Age and sex matched 40 ADHD patients and 40 normal controls tested with the K-ABC. Each subscales compared between pre-treatment patients and controls, pre-treatment and post-treatment in patient group, post-treatment patients and controls. Results: Significant differences are observed in sequential processing, simultaneous processing, cognitive processing and achievement between pre-treatment patients and controls, and in gestalt closure between pre-treatment and post-treatment patients group. But there are no significant differences between pre-treatment patients and controls in gestalt closure and reading/decoding. Conclusions: Methylphenidate improved the scores of simultaneous scale, which means improvement of executive functions such as divided attention, analysis and organization. Methylphenidate also reduced distractibility.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.119-126
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• 2018

Objectives : The aim of this study is to investigate correlation between degree of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and neurocognitive function along with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in Korean patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods : Participants were 115 elderly subjects diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment in this retrospective study. WMH in brain MRI were rated with standardized visual rating scales (Fazekas scales) and the subjects were divided into two groups according to Fazekas scale. Cognitive function was evaluated with Korean version of the consortium to establish a registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD-K), and BPSD was evaluated with Korean neuropsychiatric inventory (K-NPI). Independent t-test was performed to analyze the relationship between the degree of WMH and neurocognitive functions & BPSD. Results : Especially, the group with high severity of WMH showed significantly lower language fluency (p<0.05). In addition, the group with high severity of WMH showed significantly higher score in K-NPI. Conclusions : There was a significant association between WMH and neurocognitive test related with executive function. Moreover, WMH seems to affect BPSD severity. Evaluation of WMH would provide useful information in clinical settings.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.7-22
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• 2021

Objective : The purpose of this study was to verify the effect of virtual reality interventions (VRIs) on cognitive function in individuals with stroke through a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Methods : We reviewed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) the last 10 years using academic databases. PubMed, MEDLINE, and CINAHL were used for international studies, and DBpia, KISS, Kyoboscholar, and e-article were used for Korean studies. For the quantitative meta-analysis, subgroups of outcomes were classified into general cognitive function (G-CF), attention and memory (A&M), and executive function (EF). Results : Nine RCTs were analyzed. The total number of participants was 271 (140 in the experimental group). The effect size (Cohen's d) was estimated using a random effects model. The effect sizes of the outcome subgroups of were as follows: small to medium for G-CF (d=0.422; 95% CI: 0.101~0.742; p=0.010), small for A&M (d=0.249; 95% CI: -0.107~0.605; p=0.170), and medium for EF (d=0.666; 95% CI: 0.136~1.195; p=0.014). Conclusion : Considering the various stimuli provided by the virtual environment and the results from available research, virtual reality should be applied to interventions for integrated cognitive functions. In addition, it would be appropriate to be used as an additional intervention to traditional cognitive rehabilitation for stroke.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.59-67
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• 2018

Objectives : The aims of this study were to know the frequency and the nature of cognitive dysfunction in type 2 diabetics, and to reveal influencing variables on it. Methods : From eighty type 2 diabetics (42 males and 38 females), demographic and clinical data were obtained by structured interviews. Cognitive functions were measured using the MMSE-K (Korean Version of the Mini-Mental State Examination) and the Korean Version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-K) tests. Severity of depression was evaluated by the Korean Version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (K-HDRS). Results : 1) Among eighty type 2 diabetics, 13.75% were below 24 on the MMSE-K, while 38.8% were below 22 on the MoCA-K. 2) The total scores and subtest scores of the MoCA-K including visuospatial/ executive, attention, language, delayed recall and orientation were significantly lower in type 2 diabetics with cognitive dysfunction (N=31) than those without cognitive dysfunction (N=49) (p<0.001, respectively). 3) There were significant difference between type 2 diabetics with and those without cognitive dysfunction in age, education, economic status, body mass index, duration of diabetes, total scores of the K-HDRS, the MMSE-K and the MoCA-K (p<0.05, respectively). 4) The total scores of the MoCA-K had significant correlation with age, education, body mass index, family history of diabetes, duration of diabetes, total scores of the K-HDRS (p<0.05, respectively). 5) The risks of cognitive dysfunction in type 2 diabetics were significantly influenced by sex, education, fasting plasma glucose and depression. Conclusions : The cognitive dysfunction in type 2 diabetics seemed to be related to multiple factors. Therefore, more comprehensive biopsychosocial approaches needed for diagnosis and management of type 2 diabetes.