Recently, doubts were raised about the existence of the bilingual advantage in cognitive control. The aim of the present review was to investigate the bilingual advantage and its modulating factors. We searched the Medline, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and ERIC databases for all original data and reviewed studies on bilingualism and cognitive control, with a cut-off date of 31 October 2018, thereby following the guidelines of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) protocol. The results of the 46 original studies show that indeed, the majority, 54.3%, reported beneficial effects of bilingualism on cognitive control tasks; however, 28.3% found mixed results and 17.4% found evidence against its existence. Methodological differences seem to explain these mixed results: Particularly, the varying selection of the bilingual participants, the use of nonstandardized tests, and the fact that individual differences were often neglected and that longitudinal designs were rare. Therefore, a serious risk for bias exists in both directions (i.e., in favor of and against the bilingual advantage). To conclude, we found some evidence for a bilingual advantage in cognitive control; however, if significant progress is to be made, better study designs, bigger data, and more longitudinal studies are needed.

Acupuncture is increasingly used as an additional treatment for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, brain activation in response to acupuncture in a group of 12 patients with PD was compared with a group of 12 healthy participants. Acupuncture was conducted on a specific acupoint, the right GB 34 (Yanglingquan), which is a frequently used acupoint for motor function treatment in the oriental medical field. Acupuncture stimulation on this acupoint activates the prefrontal cortex, precentral gyrus, and putamen in patients with PD; areas that are known to be impaired in patients with PD. Compared with healthy participants, patients with PD showed significantly higher brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and precentral gyrus, especially visible in the left hemisphere. The neuroimaging results of our study suggest that in future acupuncture research; the prefrontal cortex as well as the precentral gyrus should be treated for symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and that GB 34 seems to be a suitable acupoint. Moreover, acupuncture evoked different brain activations in patients with Parkinson’s disease than in healthy participants in our study, stressing the importance of conducting acupuncture studies on both healthy participants as well as patients within the same study, in order to detect acupuncture efficacy. KCT0001122 at (registration date: 20140530)

Background: An increasing amount of evidence supports an association between sedentary behaviors and chronic knee pain. However, the association between the total daily duration of sedentary behavior and chronic knee pain in the general population remains unclear. We aimed to analyze the association between sedentary behavior and chronic knee pain in a study population representative of the general Korean population aged > 50 years while also considering the physical activity or body mass index (BMI). Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from the 6th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VI) of 2013–2015, which was completed by 22,948 Korean adult participants aged > 50 years. The participants were divided into two groups based on the status of the chronic knee pain. Data were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression after adjustment for age, sex, and individual factors. Results: Longer sedentary behavior was correlated with chronic knee pain (p for trend = 0.02). Sedentary behavior exceeding 10 h/day was significantly associated with chronic knee pain (adjusted odds ratio, 1.28; p = 0.03). Participants with high levels of physical activity were less likely to suffer from chronic knee pain (adjusted odds ratio, 0.78; p = 0.00), and women with over 10 daily hours of sedentary behavior with high levels of physical activity were more likely to have chronic knee pain. A significant association was noted between chronic knee pain and obesity (≥30.0 kg/m²) individuals (adjusted odds ratio, 3.48; p = 0.04). Conclusions: Longer duration of sedentary behaviors was correlated with chronic knee pain. Our study suggests the need to encourage reductions in overall sedentary behavior to < 10 h daily. A high physical activity level is recommended, particularly for women > 50 years and those with obesity.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative brain disorder, resulting in decreased neural responses in the supplementary motor area, putamen, and thalamus. Previous research showed that acupuncture was able to improve the motor dysfunction. The primary aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of longer acupuncture treatment for preventing brain degeneration in patients with PD. Methods: Ten outpatients with PD were recruited from Kyung Hee Medical Hospital. Behavioral and neural responses were examined before and after 8 weeks of acupuncture treatment. A semi-individualized treatment approach was used; patients were treated for 15 minutes with 120-Hz electro-acupuncture at the right GB34 and Taechung (LR3), followed by manual acupuncture based on the individual symptoms of the patient. Results: Immediately after 8 weeks of acupuncture treatment, the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) sub-scores and the depression scores for the patients had statistically decreased compared to the scores before acupuncture treatment; moreover, 8 weeks later, these scores remained stable. Compared to the neural responses before the acupuncture stimulation, those after the acupuncture treatment were significantly higher in the thalamus, cingulate gyrus, anterior cingulate, lingual gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, lateral globus pallidus, mammillary body, middle temporal gyrus, cuneus, and fusiform gyrus. Finally, a positive correlation was found between the UPDRS and the mean magnetic resonance signal change for the thalamus. Conclusion: This study found beneficial clinical effects of 8-week acupuncture treatment in the brains of patients with PD.

The modulatory effects on the brain during right versus left side acupuncture stimulation of the same acupuncture point have been a subject of controversy. For clarification of this important methodological issue, the present study was designed to compare the blood oxygen level‐dependent responses of acupuncture stimulation on the right versus left Yanglingquan (GB34). Twenty‐two healthy subjects received right or left GB34 acupuncture. Our results show that acupuncture on the left GB34 induced neural responses in the left putamen, caudate body, insula, postcentral gyrus, claustrum, right and left thalamus, right middle frontal gyrus, hypothalamus, and subthalamic nucleus. Acupuncture on the right GB34 induced neural responses in the right middle frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, thalamus, putamen, lateral globus pallidus, medial globus pallidus, and insula. Interestingly, the putamen and insula were ipsilaterally activated by acupuncture on either the left or right GB34; therefore, they seem to be the main target areas affected by GB34 acupuncture. This is the first reported functional magnetic resonance imaging study directly comparing needling on the right and left GB34. Although more replication studies are needed, our preliminary results prove that acupuncture has different modulatory effects on the brain when performed on the right versus left side.