Brain activation and inhibition after acupuncture at Taichong and Taixi: resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Acupuncture can induce changes in the brain. However, the majority of studies to date have focused on a single acupoint at a time. In the present study, we observed activity changes in the brains of healthy volunteers before and after acupuncture at Taichong (LR3) and Taixi (KI3) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Fifteen healthy volunteers underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain 15 minutes before acupuncture, then received acupuncture at Taichong and Taixi using the nail-pressing needle insertion method, after which the needle was retained in place for 30 minutes. Fifteen minutes after withdrawal of the needle, the volunteers underwent a further session of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, which revealed that the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, a measure of spontaneous neuronal activity, increased mainly in the cerebral occipital lobe and middle occipital gyrus (Brodmann area 18/19), inferior occipital gyrus (Brodmann area 18) and cuneus (Brodmann area 18), but decreased mainly in the gyrus rectus of the frontal lobe (Brodmann area 11), inferior frontal gyrus (Brodmann area 44) and the center of the posterior lobe of the cerebellum. The present findings indicate that acupuncture at Taichong and Taixi specifically promote blood flow and activation in the brain areas related to vision, emotion and cognition, and inhibit brain areas related to emotion, attention, phonological and semantic processing, and memory.

Acupuncture treatment modulates the corticostriatal reward circuitry in major depressive disorder

“…Many previous studies have demonstrated the abnormal activity of the cerebellum and occipital areas (Guo et al, 2011; Liu, Wang, Liu, Liu, & Zhou, 2010; Peng et al, 2011; Wang, Hermens, Hickie, & Lagopoulos, 2012) in MDD. Thus, it is important to consider whether the posterior brain is home to the longer-term consolidated effects of acupuncture (Huang et al, 2012; Hui et al, 2005; Li et al, 2008; Yoo, Teh, Blinder, & Jolesz, 2004; Zhang et al, 2015). In this case, acupuncture treatment could benefit the depressed patient by increasing his or her resilience to a recurrent depressive episode.…”

Cerebral Targeting of Acupuncture at Combined Acupoints in Treating Essential Hypertension: An Rs-fMRI Study and Curative Effect Evidence

“…In another study on acupuncture at LR3+KI3 of healthy people after withdrawing needles, cerebral blood flow changed in the brain areas relating to vision, emotion and mood, cognition, attention, phonological and semantic processing, memory, and so on [28]; some results of acupuncture at LR3+KI3 after treatment in this study were similar to the abovementioned study; it is suggested that the above brain areas relating to vision, emotion and mood, and language and memory may be somehow stimulated by LR3+KI3.…”

“…KI3 was also used for treating hypertension [23]; besides, combination of LR3 and KI3 was often used to treat hypertension clinically [25, 26]. In recent years, research of LR3 and KI3 acupuncture by fMRI is constantly ongoing [9, 27]; our team also carried out Rs-fMRI research of acupuncture combination of LR3 and KI3 [28, 29], single LR3 [30], and single KI3 [31], but all subjects were healthy humans. Therefore, this study carried Rs-fMRI research of acupuncture combination of LR3 and KI3, single LR3, and single KI3, with EH patients.…”

Electroacupuncture improves cognitive ability following cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury via CaM-CaMKIV-CREB signaling in the rat hippocampus

“…Previous clinical studies and meta-analyses have demonstrated that EA exerts a positive effect on cognitive function when compared with no acupuncture, medicine or rehabilitation (11,12,33). Furthermore, a series of clinical trials have shown that acupuncture regulates the release of neurochemicals, hemorheology, cerebral microcirculation, metabolism, neuronal activity, and the function of specific brain regions (10,34,35). Animal studies have revealed that the effects of acupuncture therapy on stroke may possibly be mediated through the inhibition of post-ischemic inflammatory reactions, the stimulation of neurogenesis and angiogenesis, and the influence on neural plasticity (36,37).…”