Effect of Birth Experience on Cognitive Function

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate whether birth experience affects short-term memory (1,2-back task) by examining parturient and non-parturient women. METHODS: A total of 31 women were enrolled in this study, of which 16 were parturient women who had given birth within the past 2 years (mean age: 33.9±2.2 years) and 15 were non-parturient (mean age: 31.4±2.1 years). The mean age did not significantly differ between the two groups, so the effects of age were eliminated. To match the level of education between the two groups, college graduation was an inclusion criterion. A 1,2-back task consisting of six alphabets from A–F was created using the SuperLab software. For each task, there were 100 stimuli (alphabets) and 30 answers. The participants practiced the task prior to the main experiment to ensure that they adequately understood the procedure. RESULTS: The correct answer rates in the 1-back and 2-back tasks were 93.56±22.23% and 76.89±21.98%, respectively, in the non-parturient group and 95±10.04% and 80.83±13.67%, respectively, in the parturient group. The reaction time in the 1-back and 2-back tasks were 650.57±173.77 ms and 736.77±138.35 ms, respectively, in the non-parturient group and 621.91±81.90 ms and 737.5±195.99 ms, respectively, in the parturient group. There were no significant differences in the answer rates between the two groups, suggesting that parturition did not have a significant impact on the 1,2-back task performance. CONCLUSION: Birth experience does not significantly impair cognitive function. However, the findings of this pilot study are not highly reliable because of the limitations of the small sample size, degree of load, various types of working memory, and impact of hormones.

Quality Characteristics of Mungbeanmook Added with Gugija (Lycii fructus) Infusion

The principal objective of this study was to evaluate the quality characteristics of mungbeanmook prepared with five different levels (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20%) of Gugija (Lycii fructus) infusion. We analyzed Hunter's color values, pH, texture characteristics, and perfomed sensory evaluation of mungbeanmook prepared with Gugija infusion. The pH levels of mungbeanmook ranged between 5.45 and 6.12 and did not show significant differences. As Gugija infusion concentration increased, the color lightness "L" value decreased, whereas redness color "a" value and yellowness color "b" values increased (P<0.05). With regard to mechanical texture properties of the mungbeanmook samples, as the Gugija infusion concentration increased, the scores of hardness, chewiness, and gumminess all significantly decreased (P<0.05) whereas there were no significant differences in springiness or cohesiveness. The results of the sensory evaluation showed that the score of the LFLT10 sample (10% Gugija infusion) was significantly higher than those of others in terms of taste, color, flavor, texture, and overall quality (P<0.05). Taken together, the recommended optimum level of Gugija infusion in mungbeanmook is 10% for sensory evaluation. Gugija infusion can be a useful approach to improving quality of mungbeenmook as a functional food.