The Functional Interactions between Cortical Regions through Theta-Gamma Coupling during Resting-State and a Visual Working Memory Task.

Theta phase-gamma amplitude coupling (TGC) plays an important role in several different cognitive processes. Although spontaneous brain activity at the resting state is crucial in preparing for cognitive performance, the functional role of resting-state TGC remains unclear. To investigate the role of resting-state TGC, electroencephalogram recordings were obtained for 56 healthy volunteers while they were in the resting state, with their eyes closed, and then when they were engaged in a retention interval period in the visual memory task.

Deactivation of anterior cingulate cortex during virtual social interaction in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Studies about social functioning in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are lacking, even though neuroimaging studies and metacognition evaluation results suggest abnormal neural responses during social interactions. This study examined neural responses of OCD patients during handshakes with a virtual avatar. Because of the nature of the handshaking task, we expected that OCD patients with predominantly contamination/washing symptoms (CON) would show different neural responses compared to healthy controls (HCs) and to disease-controlled (NCON) patients.

Defining Subtypes in Children with Nail Biting: A Latent Profile Analysis of Personality.

Objective: This study aimed to examine personality profiles and behavioral problems of children with nail biting (NB) to gain insight into the developmental trajectory of pathological NB.

Methods: 681 elementary school students were divided into non NB (n=436), occasional NB (n=173) and frequent NB group (n=72) depending on the frequency of NB reported in Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL). Children's personality was assessed using the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI), and behavioral problems were assessed using the CBCL.

Medical Help-Seeking Strategies for Perinatal Women With Obstetric and Mental Health Problems and Changes in Medical Decision Making Based on Online Health Information: Path Analysis.

Background: Previous studies have revealed that most pregnant women rarely discuss informal information found on the internet with health professionals and have frequently expressed concerns for medical experts' reactions to the online information they shared, as well as the lack of time to consult the medical experts in general. To date, little information is available on the effect of individual differences in utilizing medical help-seeking strategies on their medical decisions during the perinatal period.

Objective: The objectives of this study were (1) to determine associations among perinatal women's medical help-seeking strategies, changes in medical decision making, and online health information utilization with a focus on the mediating effect of self-efficacy in perinatal health literacy on the intent to consult health professionals, and (2) to clarify these associations in perinatal women with two different medical problems: obstetric and mental health.

Response Time as an Implicit Self-Schema Indicator for Depression Among Undergraduate Students: Preliminary Findings From a Mobile App-Based Depression Assessment.

Background: Response times to depressive symptom items in a mobile-based depression screening instrument has potential as an implicit self-schema indicator for depression but has yet to be determined; the instrument was designed to readily record depressive symptoms experienced on a daily basis. In this study, the well-validated Korean version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (K-CESD-R) was adopted.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between depression severity (ie, explicit measure: total K-CESD-R Mobile scores) and the latent trait of interest in schematic self-referent processing of depressive symptom items (ie, implicit measure: response times to items in the K-CESD-R Mobile scale).

Discrepancies of Implicit and Explicit Self-Esteem as Predictors of Attributional Bias and Paranoia.

Objective: The current study aimed to examine the association of implicit self-esteem, explicit self-esteem and their interaction with paranoia and attributional bias. The relationship of the size and the direction of the discrepancy between implicit and explicit self-esteem with paranoia and attributional bias was examined.

Methods: A total of 128 female college students participated.

Predicting Working Memory Capacity in Older Subjects Using Quantitative Electroencephalography.

Objective: We utilized a spectral and network analysis technique with an integrated support vector classification algorithm for the automated detection of cognitive capacity using resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) signals.

Methods: An eyes-closed resting EEG was recorded in 158 older subjects, and spectral EEG parameters in seven frequency bands, as well as functional brain network parameters were, calculated. In the feature extraction stage, the statistical power of the spectral and network parameters was calculated for the low-, moderate-, and high-performance groups.

Relationship between chronotype and temperament/character among university students.

Chronotype is largely classified as being morning or evening types according to preference for daily activity and the preferred bedtime. This study examined the relationship between chronotype and temperament/character dimensions among university students. A total of 2857 participants completed the 140-item Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised Short version (TCI-RS) from a 5-score scale as well as the 13-item composite scale for morningness-eveningness (CSM).

Frontostriatal Connectivity Changes in Major Depressive Disorder After Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: A Randomized Sham-Controlled Study.

Objective: The aim of this randomized, sham-controlled study was to investigate the therapeutic effects of underlying neurobiological changes after 2-week repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment using functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging in patients with major depression.

Methods: Twenty-four patients with major depressive disorder diagnosed with DSM-IV-TR criteria were randomly assigned to the active rTMS (n = 13) or sham (n = 11) groups from January 2009 to June 2011. rTMS was given for 2 weeks at 110% of the motor threshold for 10 minutes at 10 Hz over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC).

The Relationship between Personality, Sense of Efficacy, and Stress in Korean Teachers.

Several studies have linked teachers' personality characteristics and sense of efficacy to stress. However, investigating the relationship between these three constructs in this context was limited. This study aims to investigate the relationship between personality, sense of efficacy and perceived stress among Korean teachers.

Experiential pleasure deficits in the prodrome: A study of emotional experiences in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis and recent-onset schizophrenia.

Background: Previous studies report deficits in noncurrent but not current pleasure experience in schizophrenia, but little is known about pleasure experiences of the prodrome. This study investigated noncurrent and current pleasure experiences and its relationship with neurocognitive function and self-esteem in ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis and recent-onset schizophrenia (ROSPR).

Methods: Twenty-four UHR, 25 ROSPR and 42 normal controls completed the physical and social anhedonia scales for noncurrent emotional experience and the laboratory-based assessment of valence and arousal evoked by positive, neutral and negative emotional stimuli for current emotional experience.

Abnormal brain activity in social reward learning in children with autism spectrum disorder: an fMRI study.

Purpose: We aimed to determine whether Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) would show neural abnormality of the social reward system using functional MRI (fMRI).

Materials And Methods: 27 ASDs and 12 typically developing controls (TDCs) participated in this study. The social reward task was developed, and all participants performed the task during fMRI scanning.

Further evidence of a dissociation between decision-making under ambiguity and decision-making under risk in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Deficits in decision-making have been suggested as a key concept in understanding the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, evidence in the extant literature remains inconclusive on whether patients with OCD show inferior performance on laboratory decision-making tasks. The aims of the present study were therefore to (1) assess decision-making under ambiguity and under risk in patients with OCD and (2) study the influence of neuropsychological and clinical variables on decision-making in OCD.

Distinct functional connectivity of limbic network in the washing type obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Neurobiological models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) emphasize disturbances of the corticostriatal circuit, but it remains unclear as to how these complex network dysfunctions correspond to heterogeneous OCD phenotypes. We aimed to investigate corticostriatal functional connectivity alterations distinct to OCD characterized predominantly by contamination/washing symptoms. Functional connectivity strengths of the striatal seed regions with remaining brain regions during the resting condition and the contamination symptom provocation condition were compared among 13 OCD patients with predominant contamination/washing symptoms (CON), 13 OCD patients without these symptoms (NCON), and 18 healthy controls.

Small-world networks in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis and first-episode schizophrenia during a working memory task.

Disturbances of functional interaction between different brain regions have been hypothesized to be the major pathophysiological mechanism underlying the cognitive deficits of schizophrenia. We investigated the small-world functional networks in individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis, first-episode schizophrenia (FESPR) patients, and healthy controls. All participants underwent the electroencephalogram during a control task and a working memory (WM) task.

Theta-gamma coupling during a working memory task as compared to a simple vigilance task.

Theta-gamma coupling (TGC) is known to reflect working memory processes, but it is unclear whether TGC as measured by scalp electroencephalography (EEG) reflects working memory processes or nonspecific attentional processes. In this study, we examined the degree of TGC during a visuo-spatial working memory task (2-back task) vs. a simple vigilance task in 13 young participants.

Abnormalities of emotional awareness and perception in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Emotional awareness deficit may play a critical role in the production and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and social dysfunction in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The aim of this study was to investigate characteristics of emotional awareness such as empathy and alexithymia in OCD patients. In addition, we examined whether impaired emotional awareness measured by self-assessment questionnaires was associated with emotional facial recognition ability in OCD patients.

Psychometric analysis of the Korean version of the Disgust Scale-Revised.

Objective: Disgust is a basic emotion associated with feelings of revulsion and withdrawal behaviors from dangerous situations. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Disgust Scale--Revised (DS-R), a tool designed to measure individuals' responses to various disgust-provoking situations, among Korean populations.

Methods: A sample of 1117 healthy volunteers completed self-report questionnaires containing the 27-item DS-R.

The 1287 G/A polymorphism of the norepinephrine transporter gene (NET) is involved in commission errors in Korean children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Background: Previous evidence supports the role of noradrenergic systems in ADHD, and norepinephrine transporter (NET) is critical in regulating the noradrenergic system. The present study aimed to investigate the association between NET gene polymorphism and the performance measures of the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) in Korean ADHD children.

Methods: Eighty-seven children (mean age = 9.

Norepinephrine transporter gene (SLC6A2) is involved with methylphenidate response in Korean children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between the methylphenidate (MPH) response and the norepinephrine transporter (NET) gene polymorphisms in Korean children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). One hundred and fourteen children with ADHD (mean age 9.08 ± 1.

Perception bias of disgust in ambiguous facial expressions in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Impaired recognition of facial expressions of disgust has been suggested for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This study aimed to compare the perception of negative emotions by OCD patients and controls using both non-ambiguous and ambiguous facial expressions. Forty-one OCD patients and thirty-seven controls performed the computerised emotion perception task.

Influence of BDNF and COMT polymorphisms on emotional decision making.

Decision making is an important brain function. Although little is known about the genetic basis of decision making, it has been suggested that it is mediated by the modulation of neurotransmitter systems. We investigated how the BDNF Val66Met and COMT Val158Met polymorphisms affect emotional decision making using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT).