• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.119-127
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• 2016

Dihydropyridine (DHP) calcium channel blockers (CCBs) have been widely used to treat of several cardiovascular diseases. An excessive shortening of action potential duration (APD) due to the reduction of $Ca^{2+}$ channel current ($I_{Ca}$) might increase the risk of arrhythmia. In this study we investigated the electrophysiological effects of nicardipine (NIC), isradipine (ISR), and amlodipine (AML) on the cardiac APD in rabbit Purkinje fibers, voltage-gated $K^+$ channel currents ($I_{Kr}$, $I_{Ks}$) and voltage-gated $Na^+$ channel current ($I_{Na}$). The concentration-dependent inhibition of $Ca^{2+}$ channel currents ($I_{Ca}$) was examined in rat cardiomyocytes; these CCBs have similar potency on $I_{Ca}$ channel blocking with $IC_{50}$ (the half-maximum inhibiting concentration) values of 0.142, 0.229, and 0.227 nM on NIC, ISR, and AML, respectively. However, ISR shortened both $APD_{50}$ and $APD_{90}$ already at $1{\mu}M$ whereas NIC and AML shortened $APD_{50}$ but not $APD_{90}$ up to $30{\mu}M$. According to ion channel studies, NIC and AML concentration-dependently inhibited $I_{Kr}$ and $I_{Ks}$ while ISR had only partial inhibitory effects (<50% at $30{\mu}M$). Inhibition of $I_{Na}$ was similarly observed in the three CCBs. Since the $I_{Kr}$ and $I_{Ks}$ mainly contribute to cardiac repolarization, their inhibition by NIC and AML could compensate for the AP shortening effects due to the block of $I_{Ca}$.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.483-491
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• 2019

Cordycepin exerts neuroprotective effects against excitotoxic neuronal death. However, its direct electrophysiological evidence in Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the electrophysiological mechanisms underlying the protective effect of cordycepin against the excitotoxic neuronal insult in AD using whole-cell patch clamp techniques. ${\beta}$-Amyloid ($A{\beta}$) and ibotenic acid (IBO)-induced injury model in cultured hippocampal neurons was used for the purpose. The results revealed that cordycepin significantly delayed $A{\beta}$ + IBO-induced excessive neuronal membrane depolarization. It increased the onset time/latency, extended the duration, and reduced the slope in both slow and rapid depolarization. Additionally, cordycepin reversed the neuronal hyperactivity in $A{\beta}$ + IBO-induced evoked action potential (AP) firing, including increase in repetitive firing frequency, shortening of evoked AP latency, decrease in the amplitude of fast afterhyperpolarization, and increase in membrane depolarization. Further, the suppressive effect of cordycepin against $A{\beta}$ + IBO-induced excessive neuronal membrane depolarization and neuronal hyperactivity was blocked by DPCPX (8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine, an adenosine $A_1$ receptor-specific blocker). Collectively, these results revealed the suppressive effect of cordycepin against the $A{\beta}$ + IBO-induced excitotoxic neuronal insult by attenuating excessive neuronal activity and membrane depolarization, and the mechanism through the activation of $A_1R$ is strongly recommended, thus highlighting the therapeutic potential of cordycepin in AD.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.71-79
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• 2019

Body surface potential map, an electric potential distribution on the body torso surface, enables us to infer the electrical activities of the heart. Therefore, observing electric potential projected to the torso surface can be highly useful for diagnosing heart diseases such as coronary occlusion. The BSPM for the heart of a patient show a higher level of sensitivity than 12-lead ECG. Relevant research has been mostly based on clinical statistics obtained from patients, and, therefore, a simulation for a variety of pathological phenomena of the heart is required. In this study, by using computer simulation, a body surface potential map was implemented according to various occlusion locations (distal, mid, proximal occlusion) in the left anterior descending coronary artery. Electrophysiological characteristics of the body surface during the ST segment period were observed and analyzed based on an ST isointegral map. We developed an integrated system that takes into account the cellular to organ levels, and performed simulation regarding the electrophysiological phenomena of the heart that occur during the first 5 minutes (stage 1) and 10 minutes (stage 2) after commencement of coronary occlusion. Subsequently, we calculated the bipolar angle and amplitude of the ST isointegral map, and observed the correlation between the relevant characteristics and the location of coronary occlusion. In the result, in the ventricle model during the stage 1, a wider area of ischemia led to counterclockwise rotation of the bipolar angle; and, during the stage 2, the amplitude increased when the ischemia area exceeded a certain size.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.329-339
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• 2021

Ion channels are important targets of anthelmintic agents. In this study, we identified 3 types of ion channels in Ascaris suum tissue incorporated into planar lipid bilayers using an electrophysiological technique. The most frequent channel was a large-conductance cation channel (209 pS), which accounted for 64.5% of channels incorporated (n=60). Its open-state probability (P_o) was ~0.3 in the voltage range of -60~+60 mV. A substate was observed at 55% of the main-state. The permeability ratio of Cl^- to K⁺ (P_Cl/P_K) was ~0.5 and P_Na/P_K was 0.81 in both states. Another type of cation channel was recorded in 7.5% of channels incorporated (n=7) and discriminated from the large-conductance cation channel by its smaller conductance (55.3 pS). Its Po was low at all voltages tested (~0.1). The third type was an anion channel recorded in 27.9% of channels incorporated (n=26). Its conductance was 39.0 pS and P_Cl/P_K was 8.6±0.8. P_o was ~1.0 at all tested potentials. In summary, we identified 2 types of cation and 1 type of anion channels in Ascaris suum. Gating of these channels did not much vary with voltage and their ionic selectivity is rather low. Their molecular nature, functions, and potentials as anthelmintic drug targets remain to be studied further.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.57-60
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• 2004

The sixty two-year-old woman was admitted with facial diplegia and ataxic gait. Neurological examination revealed areflexia and sensory ataxia with decreased sensation of position and vibration in both lower extremities. Electrophysiologic study suggest motor dominant demyelinating polyneuropathy and bilateral facial neuropathy. CSF study revealed no cells and increased proteins. After intravenous immunoglobulin therapy, sensory ataxia and electrophysiological study had markedly improved for 3 months.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.5-10
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• 2005

Study in the field of sleep and memory has greatly expanded recently and the number of publications supporting the association between sleep and memory consolidation is rapidly growing. This study presents evidence related to sleep-dependent memory consolidation, ranging from behavioral task-performing studies to molecular studies, and several arguments against the association. Basic researches show that many genes are upwardly regulated during sleep and patterns of brain activation seen during daytime task training are repeated during subsequent REM sleep. Several electrophysiological studies demonstrate the correlation between spindle density increase following training and subsequent improvement in performing the training task. Overnight improvement or deterioration in task performance correlates with REM or SWS sleep. In the end, a lot of issues remain to be studied and discussed further in the future in spite of supporting evidence now available.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.76-83
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• 2022

Neurons-on-a-Chip technology has been developed to provide diverse in vitro neuro-tools to study neuritogenesis, synaptogensis, axon guidance, and network dynamics. The two core enabling technologies are soft-lithography and microelectrode array technology. Soft lithography technology made it possible to fabricate microstamps and microfluidic channel devices with a simple replica molding method in a biological laboratory and innovatively reduced the turn-around time from assay design to chip fabrication, facilitating various experimental designs. To control nerve cell behaviors at the single cell level via chemical cues, surface biofunctionalization methods and micropatterning techniques were developed. Microelectrode chip technology, which provides a functional readout by measuring the electrophysiological signals from individual neurons, has become a popular platform to investigate neural information processing in networks. Due to these key advances, it is possible to study the relationship between the network structure and functions, and they have opened a new era of neurobiology and will become standard tools in the near future.

• Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
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• v.61 no.11
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• pp.573-579
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• 2018

Background and Objectives Cochlear dead region (CDR) is a region in the cochlear where hearing loss has occurred due to damage to the inner hair cells and/or neurons. Recently, a subjective test involving a pure-tone test in the presence of threshold-equalizing noise (TEN) was introduced to identify CDR. However, for uncooperative patients, such a subjective method would be unsuitable and objective methods would be needed instead to detect CDR. The acoustic change complex (ACC) is an evoked potential elicited by changes in the ongoing sound. In this study, we developed an objective method of identifying CDR by combining ACC response with a TEN test, namely the TEN-ACC test, and investigated its feasibility in normal-hearing listeners. Subjects and Method Ten normal-hearing subjects participated in this study. All subjects underwent both behavioral TEN test and electrophysiological TEN-ACC test. The stimuli for the TEN-ACC test consisted of TEN and embedded pure tones with different frequencies/signals to noise ratios (SNRs). To identify the thresholds, the range SNR of stimulation was varied from 0 to 20 dB, in stages of 4 dB. Results The ACC responses of all subjects who participated in this study were well elicited by stimuli developed for the TEN-ACC test. We confirm that the pure-tones embedded in TEN elicited the objective ACC response. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that the novel TEN-ACC test can be applied to evoke ACC in normal-hearing listeners. Future research should incorporate hearing-impaired listeners to determine the feasibility of the TEN-ACC test as an objective method to identify CDR.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.52-60
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• 2022

Purpose: For now, cognitive load is assessed based on survey-based methods, which can be difficult to track the amount of cognitive load in real-time. In this study, we investigated the difference in electrophysiological activation due to different levels of cognitive load not only at sensor-level but also at source-level using electroencephalogram that might be potentially used for quantitative cognitive load evaluation. Materials and Methods: In this study, ten healthy subjects (mean age 24.3 ± 2.1, three female) participated the experiment. All participants performed 4 sessions of n-back task in different difficulties: 0-, 1-, 2-, and 3-back during electroencephalogram recording. For sensor-level analysis, we calculated the event-related potential and event-related spectral perturbation while low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) to estimate the source activation. Each result was compared between different workload conditions using statistical analysis. Results: Statistical results revealed that the accuracy of the task performance was significantly different between different cognitive loads (p = 0.018). The post-hoc analysis confirmed that the accuracy of the 3-back task was significantly decreased compared to 1-back condition (p = 0.018), but not with 2-back condition (p = 0.180). ERP results showed that P300 target amplitude between 1-back and 3-back had a marginal difference in Cz (p = 0.059) and Pz(p = 0.093). A significant inhibition in Cz high-beta activation (p = 0.017) and decrease in source activation of right parahippocampal gyrus was found in 3-back condition compared to 1-back condition (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, we compared the sensor- and source-level differences in electroencephalogram between different levels of cognitive load, that were found to be in line with the previous reports related to cognitive load evaluation. We expect that the outcome of the current study can be used as a feature to establish a quantitative cognitive load assessment system.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.113-123
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• 2014

Electrophysiological recordings are considered a reliable method of assessing a person's alertness. Sleep medicine is asked to offer objective methods to measure daytime alertness, tiredness and sleepiness. As EEG signals are non-stationary, the conventional method of frequency analysis is not highly successful in recognition of alertness level. In this paper, EEG signals have been analyzed using wavelet transform as well as discrete wavelet transform and classification using statistical classifiers such as euclidean and mahalanobis distance classifiers and a promising method SVM (Support Vector Machine). As a result of simulation, the average values of accuracies for the Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA)-Quadratic, k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN)-Euclidean, and Linear SVM were 48%, 34.2%, and 86%, respectively. The experimental results show that SVM classification method offer the better performance for reliable classification of the EEG signal in comparison with the other classification methods.