Factors Affecting the Happiness of Korean University Students

As of 2020, in Korea, as 72.5% of high-school graduates go on to college and college period has an impact on the social development of Korean youth, it is very important to increase the sense of happiness of college students. However, there are new terminologies to express the situation in which how young people in Korea feel the difficulties in their lives, such as “Hell Chosun, 88-Dollar-Generation, N-Give-up-Generation, and Spoon-Social-Rank.” This chapter summarizes the factors related to the happiness of college students in South Korea, such as depression, interpersonal relationships, and self-efficacy, to suggest educational programs to promote the happiness of young people in Korea

A comparative study of two non-credit educational organisations for older people: the University of the Third Age (U3A) in the UK and the Senior University (SU) in South Korea

This empirical inquiry was designed as a comparative study to facilitate in the development of theoretical models that can promote a better understanding of the forces that shape the teaching and learning of older people in different cultural settings. For an examination of cultural similarities and differences, this thesis adopted a cross-national comparative method to study two institutions of third age learning, that is the University of the Third Age (U3A) in the UK and the Senior University (SU) in South Korea.\ud \ud In order to achieve a more active comparison, this research followed the systematic approach of comparative study advocated by Bereday (1964), and employing multi-faceted analysis according to the cube method of Bray and Thomas (1995) for a full and balanced understanding of the research subject. Quantitative and qualitative methods have been used in combination to capture the differences across the two institutions in terms of participants’ educational needs and their experiences, and the historical development of each institution, in order to analyse the different cultural meanings attached to learning and ageing in the two countries (Evans, 2001). This thesis also draws on national statistics and research reports in order to understand the broad trends. Policy thinking about the learning society and the ageing society are usually based on the same economic point of view, and governments tend to focus on the instrumental aspects of education. Therefore, in many countries older people have created learning opportunities for themselves, specifically U3A in the UK and SU in South Korea.\ud \ud In this study, U3A and SU’s cultures of learning are compared: the mutual aid or self-help model and organisation-led welfare model; the informal learning orientation and formal learning orientation; the andragogical and pedagogical models; the buffet or cafeteria style and set-menu style; horizontal and vertical teacher-student relationships; bottom-up and top-down management styles. Analysis of all these differences supports the conclusion that U3A is based on the tradition of liberalism and self-help tradition in the UK and SU is based on the tradition of collectivism and Confucianism in South Korea. The members of the U3A have a middle-class background and culture, and so dominantly feel more comfortable with an academic, discourse-based form of learning, while the SU members had a 'Botongsaram (ordinary person) culture' in which they preferred practical activities and pastimes (such as music and dancing) to academic subjects. This research will be of help to academics and policy makers to understand cultures of learning from the perspective of the third age group, so as to develop different learning models to satisfy the diverse interests of older adults in third age learning

Emotional Intelligence of Korean Students and its Recent Research Trends

In Korea, emotional intelligence is based on the concept and components proposed by John Mayer and Peter Salovey, and the model proposed by Professor Moon Yong-Rin is the most widely used. Moon Young-Rin defined the concept of emotional intelligence as the ability of mental process to evaluate and express one’s own emotions of others, to regulate emotions, and to use emotions in a socially adaptive way. 4 domain 16 factor model is the most widely used in Korea: Recognition and expression of emotions; Emotional thinking promotion; Use of emotional knowledge; and Reflective regulation of emotions. Emotional intelligence is reported to be deeply related to creative disposition and positively correlated with academic achievement. For healthy student education, the measurement, education, and training of emotional intelligence should be studied and improved continually in Korean society. Future researches to find out Koreans’ unique emotions and structure are hoped to continued

Association of carotid and intracranial stenosis with Alzheimers disease biomarkers

Background To clarify whether atherosclerosis of the carotid and intracranial arteries is related to Alzheimers disease (AD) pathology in vivo, we investigated the associations of carotid and intracranial artery stenosis with cerebral beta-amyloid (Aβ) deposition and neurodegeneration in middle- and old-aged individuals. Given different variations of the pathologies between cognitive groups, we focused separately on cognitively normal (CN) and cognitively impaired (CI) groups. Methods A total of 281 CN and 199 CI (mild cognitive impairment and AD dementia) subjects underwent comprehensive clinical assessment, [11C] Pittsburgh compound B-positron emission tomography, and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging including MR angiography. We evaluated extracranial carotid and intracranial arteries for the overall presence, severity (i.e., number and degree of narrowing), and location of stenosis. Results We found no associations between carotid and intracranial artery stenosis and cerebral Aβ burden in either the CN or the CI group. In terms of neurodegeneration, exploratory univariable analyses showed associations between the presence and severity of stenosis and regional neurodegeneration biomarkers (i.e., reduced hippocampal volume [HV] and cortical thickness in the AD-signature regions) in both the CN and CI groups. In confirmatory multivariable analyses controlling for demographic covariates and diagnosis, the association between number of stenotic intracranial arteries ≥ 2 and reduced HV in the CI group remained significant. Conclusions Neither carotid nor intracranial artery stenosis appears to be associated with brain Aβ burden, while intracranial artery stenosis is related to amyloid-independent neurodegeneration, particularly hippocampal atrophy.This study was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea (grant nos. NRF-2014M3C7A1046042, 2017R1A2B2008412, and 2018M3C7A1056888); by a grant of the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant nos. HI18C0630 and HI19C0149); by a grant no. 04-20190500 from the SNUH Research Fund; and by a grant no. 06-20191860 from the Scientific Research Fund of the Korean Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (2019). The funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication

Serum zinc levels and in vivo beta-amyloid deposition in the human brain

Despite the known associations between zinc levels and Alzheimers disease (AD) dementia and related cognitive impairment, the underlying neuropathological links remain poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that serum zinc level is associated with cerebral beta-amyloid protein (Aβ) deposition. Additionally, we explored associations between serum zinc levels and other AD pathologies [i.e., tau deposition and AD-signature cerebral glucose metabolism (AD-CM)] and white matter hyperintensities (WMHs), which are measures of cerebrovascular injury. A total of 241 cognitively normal older adults between 55 and 90 years of age were enrolled. All the participants underwent comprehensive clinical assessments, serum zinc level measurement, and multimodal brain imaging, including Pittsburgh compound B-positron emission tomography (PET), AV-1451 PET, fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET, and magnetic resonance imaging. Zinc levels were stratified into three categories:  90 μg/dL (high). A low serum zinc level was significantly associated with increased Aβ retention. In addition, apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE4) status moderated the association: the relationship between low zinc level and Aβ retention was significant only in APOE4 carriers. Although a low zinc level appeared to reduce AD-CM, the relationship became insignificant on sensitivity analysis including only individuals with no nutritional deficiency. The serum zinc level was associated with neither tau deposition nor the WMH volume. Our findings suggest that decreased serum zinc levels are associated with elevation of brain amyloid deposition. In terms of AD prevention, more attention needs to be paid to the role of zinc.Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea Seoul National University Hospital, Republic of Korea The National Institute of Aging, United States of Americ

Body mass index and two-year change of in vivo Alzheimers disease pathologies in cognitively normal older adults

Background Low body mass index (BMI) or underweight status in late life is associated with an increased risk of dementia or Alzheimers disease (AD). However, the relationship between late-life BMI and prospective longitudinal changes of in-vivo AD pathology has not been investigated. Methods This prospective longitudinal study was conducted as part of the Korean Brain Aging Study for Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimers Disease (KBASE). A total of 194 cognitive normal older adults were included in the analysis. BMI at baseline was measured, and two-year changes in brain Aβ and tau deposition on PET imaging were used as the main outcomes. Linear mixed-effects (LME) models were used to examine the relationships between late-life BMI and longitudinal change in AD neuropathological biomarkers. Results A lower BMI at baseline was significantly associated with a greater increase in tau deposition in AD-signature region over 2 years (β, -0.018; 95% CI, -0.028 to -0.004; p = .008), In contrast, BMI was not related to two-year changes in global Aβ deposition (β, 0.0002; 95% CI, -0.003 to 0.002, p = .671). An additional exploratory analysis for each sex showed lower baseline BMI was associated with greater increases in tau deposition in males (β, -0.027; 95% CI, -0.046 to -0.009; p = 0.007), but not in females. Discussion The findings suggest that lower BMI in late-life may predict or contribute to the progression of tau pathology over the subsequent years in cognitively unimpaired older adults

Genetic associations of in vivo pathology influence Alzheimers disease susceptibility

Introduction Although the heritability of sporadic Alzheimers disease (AD) is estimated to be 60–80%, addressing the genetic contribution to AD risk still remains elusive. More specifically, it remains unclear whether genetic variants are able to affect neurodegenerative brain features that can be addressed by in vivo imaging techniques. Methods Targeted sequencing analysis of the coding and UTR regions of 132 AD susceptibility genes was performed. Neuroimaging data using 11C-Pittsburgh Compound B positron emission tomography (PET), 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET, and MRI that are available from the KBASE (Korean Brain Aging Study for Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimers disease) cohort were acquired. A total of 557 participants consisted of 336 cognitively normal (CN) adults, 137 mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 84 AD dementia (ADD) groups. Results We called 5391 high-quality single nucleotide variants (SNVs) on AD susceptibility genes and selected significant associations between variants and five in vivo AD pathologies: (1) amyloid β (Aβ) deposition, (2) AD-signature region cerebral glucose metabolism (AD-Cm), (3) posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) cerebral glucose metabolism (PCC-Cm), (4) AD-signature region cortical thickness (AD-Ct), and (5) hippocampal volume (Hv). The association analysis for common variants (allele frequency (AF) > 0.05) yielded several novel loci associated with Aβ deposition (PIWIL1-rs10848087), AD-Cm (NME8-rs2722372 and PSEN2-rs75733498), AD-Ct (PSEN1-rs7523) and, Hv (CASS4-rs3746625). Meanwhile, in a gene-based analysis for rare variants (AF < 0.05), cases carrying rare variants in LPL, FERMT2, NFAT5, DSG2, and ITPR1 displayed associations with the neuroimaging features. Exploratory voxel-based brain morphometry between the variant carriers and non-carriers was performed subsequently. Finally, we document a strong association of previously reported APOE variants with the in vivo AD pathologies and demonstrate that the variants exert a causal effect on AD susceptibility via neuroimaging features. Conclusions This study provides novel associations of genetic factors to Aβ accumulation and AD-related neurodegeneration to influence AD susceptibility.The study was supported by grants from the National Research Foundation of Korea (2014M3C7A1046049 and 2018M3C9A5064708 for Choi M and 2014M3C7A1046042 for Lee DY) and grants from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea (HI18C0630 for Mook-Jung IH and Lee DY, and HI19C0149 for Lee DY)

White matter integrity is associated with cognition and amyloid burden in older adult Koreans along the Alzheimers disease continuum

Background White matter (WM) microstructural changes in the hippocampal cingulum bundle (CBH) in Alzheimers disease (AD) have been described in cohorts of largely European ancestry but are lacking in other populations. Methods We assessed the relationship between CBH WM integrity and cognition or amyloid burden in 505 Korean older adults aged ≥ 55 years, including 276 cognitively normal older adults (CN), 142 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 87 AD patients, recruited as part of the Korean Brain Aging Study for the Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimers disease (KBASE) at Seoul National University. Results Compared to CN, AD and MCI subjects showed significantly higher RD, MD, and AxD values (all p-values < 0.001) and significantly lower FA values (left p ≤ 0.002, right p ≤ 0.015) after Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons. Most tests of cognition and mood (p < 0.001) as well as higher medial temporal amyloid burden (p < 0.001) were associated with poorer WM integrity in the CBH after Bonferroni adjustment. Conclusion These findings are consistent with patterns of WM microstructural damage previously reported in non-Hispanic White (NHW) MCI/AD cohorts, reinforcing existing evidence from predominantly NHW cohort studies.This publication receives support from multiple NIH grants (P30 AG010133, P30 AG072976, R01 AG019771, R01 AG061788, R01 AG057739, U19 AG024904, R01 LM013463, R01 LM012535, U01AG61356, R01 AG068193, U01 AG068057, U01 AG072177, U19 AG074879, T32 AG071444, and F31 AG074700), a grant from the Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea (NRF-2014M3C7A1046042), a grant from the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (HI18C0630 and HI19C0149), a grant from the Seoul National University Hospital, Republic of Korea (No. 3020200030

Learning Organisations for Older People: comparing models of learning in the University of Third Age (U3A) in the UK and the Senior University (SU) in Korea

Despite the low priority given to the general education of older people in public policy, various learning programs for older people have been developed in many countries in the non-statutory sector, focusing on non-credit learning and the academic development of older people. One of the largest non-credit learning institutions for older people in the UK is the University of the Third Age (U3A), which was established in 1981 to provide general education services for older people. Its counterpart in South Korea is the Senior University (SU), which was created by the Korean Older People’s Association (KOPA) in 1981. U3A and SU’s cultures of learning are compared: the mutual aid or self-help model and organization-led welfare model; the informal learning orientation and formal learning orientation; the andragogical and pedagogical models; the buffet or cafeteria style and set-menu style; horizontal and vertical teacher-student relationships and bottom-up and top-down management styles. Contextualised analysis of all these differences shows how U3A has grown from the tradition of liberalism and self-help in the UK whereas In South Korea SU is based on the tradition of collectivism and Confucianism. The members of the U3A have a middle-class background and culture, and so dominantly feel more comfortable with an academic, discourse-based form of learning, while the SU members had a 'Botongsaram (ordinary man) culture' in which they prefer practical activities and pastimes (such as music and dancing) to academic subjects. The paper discusses ways in which cultures of learning can be understood from the perspective of the third age group, so as to develop different learning models to satisfy the diverse interests of older adults in third age learning