Bispectral Index Evaluation of the Sedative Effect of Acupuncture in Healthy Volunteers

Abstract

The sedative effect of true acupuncture was not different from that of sham acupuncture in healthy volunteers. We suggest that acupuncture could have a mild sedative action that can be demonstrated only treating anxious patients and not calm volunteers. In our opinion, the low potency of this technique can be an advantage allowing acupuncture safe application in a wide range of settings.

Acupuncture for the Treatment of Insomnia

“…Other acupoints that have been suggested to have similar activities are Sishencong (EX-HN1) (Wang, Kuo, & Yang, 2002) and Xinshu (BL-15) (Hsu, Weng, Liu, Tsai, & Chang, 2006). Cabrini, Gioia, Gemma, Cedrati, and Crivellari (2006) investigated the sedative effect of acupuncture in healthy volunteers by monitoring the bispectral index and heart rate. However, no differences were observed between the true acupuncture and the sham control.…”

Neuroimaging and Neuromonitoring Effects of Electro and Manual Acupuncture on the Central Nervous System: A Literature Review and Analysis

“…All 5 PET studies applied MA versus sham acupuncture [ 17 , 24 , 35 – 37 ]. Five out of 6 EEG studies applied MA versus sham acupuncture [ 38 – 42 ]; one EEG study used EA versus sham acupuncture [ 43 ]. Fifteen out of 17 fMRI trials applied MA versus sham acupuncture [ 44 – 58 ]; one fMRI study used EA versus sham acupuncture [ 59 ], and one fMRI trial compared EA versus MA [ 60 ].…”

“…Mean needling depth of the available 25 studies was 14.03 mm. Eight studies did not report details about needling depth (fMRI, [ 45 , 47 – 49 ]; EP, [ 30 , 32 , 33 , 38 ]).…”

“…Non-acupuncture-points (NAP) were used 20 times: fMRI: 11 studies with MA versus NAP [ 44 , 45 , 47 – 53 , 57 , 58 ]; PET: 3 studies with MA versus NAP [ 17 , 24 , 37 ]; EEG: 1 study with EA versus NAP [ 43 ]; EEG: 3 studies with MA versus NAP [ 38 – 40 ]; and EP: 2 studies with EA versus NAP [ 33 , 34 ].…”

“…(e) MA versus NAP A total of 17 trials studied the differences of verum MA versus MA at a nearby NAP. Three studies investigated changes with PET (Biella et al, 2001 [ 23 ]; Hsieh et al, 2001 [ 17 ]; Schlünzen et al, 2007 [ 37 ]), and another three studies applied EEG (Cabrini et al, 2006 [ 38 ]; Hsu et al, 2011 [ 39 ]; and Kim et al, 2008 [ 40 ]) and the majority of eleven studies compared the fMRI effects of manual acupuncture versus acupuncture at NAP (Bai et al, 2010 [ 44 ]; Cheng et al, 2013 [ 45 ]; Dong et al, 2012 [ 47 ]; Feng et al, 2011 [ 48 ]; Li et al, 2010 [ 49 ]; Liu et al, 2010 [ 50 ]; Jiang et al 2013 [ 58 ]; Liu et al, 2012 [ 51 ]; Liu et al 2012 [ 52 ]; Liu et al, 2013 [ 53 ]; and You et al, 2013 [ 57 ]). As studies comparing acupuncture at a certain acupuncture point versus NAP mostly aim at neuroimaging point specific effects on the CNS, this subgroup analysis will only be discussed below, where trials using one single acupuncture point will be grouped according to the point they investigated.…”