Brain plasticity after peripheral nerve injury treatment with massage therapy based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging

Xing, Xiang‐Xin; Zheng, Mou‐Xiong; Hua, Xu‐Yun; Ma, Shu‐Jie; Ma, Zhenzhen; Xu, Jian‐Guang

doi:10.4103/1673-5374.290912

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…For example, existing studies on the mechanism of tuina promoting PNI recovery are mostly limited to peripheral mechanisms, and there are few studies on central mechanisms. Xing et al [ 72 ] used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the brain mechanism of tuina on the repair of PNI. Based on the sciatic nerve transection model, resting-state fMRI showed that the ALFF values in the left somatosensory cortex in the tuina group were higher than the model or sham-tuina group, suggesting that tuina can promote the adaptive changes in the somatosensory cortex and improve the recovery of local brain activity after peripheral nerve injury.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on the Mechanism of Tuina Promoting the Recovery of Peripheral Nerve Injury

Liu

Wang

et al. 2021

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Tuina, as one of the characteristic external therapies of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), has been used to treat the disease caused by peripheral nerve injury (PNI) for thousands of years. An increasing number of clinical trials and animal experiments have demonstrated that tuina can improve the symptoms and promote the recovery of damaged nerves. This review focuses on the mechanistic studies of tuina in promoting the recovery of PNI, which might provide a neurobiological foundation for the effects of tuina. Although many mechanisms underlying the effects of tuina on nerve repair have been identified, there are still many unknown problems, such as the key substance or way for tuina to work, so further investigation is warranted.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on the Mechanism of Tuina Promoting the Recovery of Peripheral Nerve Injury

Liu

Wang

et al. 2021

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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“…Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a safe and noninvasive method widely used in neuroscience research (Fox, 2018 ; Rocca & Filippi, 2006 ). It is often used to explore the central nervous system mechanisms of both central nervous system diseases (Shan et al., 2023 ) and other peripheral diseases (Bhat et al., 2017 ; Xing et al., 2020 , 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tuina therapy promotes behavioral improvement and brain plasticity in rats with peripheral nerve injury and repair

Zhang

Hua

et al. 2023

Brain and Behavior

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IntroductionTuina is currently one of the popular complementary and alternative methods of rehabilitation therapy. Tuina can improve patients' pain and mobility function. However, the underlying physiological mechanism remains largely unknown, which might limit its further popularization in clinical practice. The aim of this study is to explore the short‐term and long‐term changes in brain functional activity following Tuina intervention for peripheral nerve injury repair.MethodsA total of 16 rats were equally divided into the intervention group and the control group. Rats in the intervention group received Tuina therapy applying on the gastrocnemius muscle of the right side for 4 months following sciatic nerve transection and immediate repair, while the control group received nerve transection and repair only. The block‐design functional magnetic resonance imaging scan was applied in both groups at 1 and 4 months after the surgery. During the scan, both the injured and intact hindpaw was electrically stimulated according to a “boxcar” paradigm.ResultsWhen stimulating the intact hindpaw, the intervention group exhibited significantly lower activation in the somatosensory area, limbic/paralimbic areas, pain‐regulation areas, and basal ganglia compared to the control group, with only the prefrontal area showing higher activation. After 4 months of sciatic nerve injury, the control group exhibited decreased motor cortex activity compared to the activity observed at 1 month, and the intervention group demonstrated stronger bilateral motor cortex activity compared to the control group.ConclusionTuina therapy on the gastrocnemius muscle of rats with sciatic nerve injury can effectively alleviate pain and maintain the motor function of the affected limb. In addition, Tuina therapy reduced the activation level of pain‐related brain regions and inhibited the decreased activity of the motor cortex caused by nerve injury, reflecting the impact of peripheral stimulation on brain plasticity.

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“…In the present study, we evaluated intrinsic neuronal activity level upon Tuina manipulation via R-fMRI as measured by amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF), which is correlated to basal brain metabolism and neuromodulation ( Zuo et al, 2010b ). ALFF has been extensively used in pain research to investigate the effects of pain on neuronal activity and functional states in different brain regions, and to evaluate the regulatory effects of different therapies ( Wu et al, 2018 ; Xing et al, 2021 ). In particular, it has been shown that acute pain result in ALFF elevation throughout the brain regions associated with pain, including the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus, the lower hippocampus, and the dorsal thalamus ( Huang et al, 2012 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, it has been shown that acute pain result in ALFF elevation throughout the brain regions associated with pain, including the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus, the lower hippocampus, and the dorsal thalamus ( Huang et al, 2012 ). Meanwhile, long-term pain leads to an ALFF reduction and affects the activity of brain regions ( Wu et al, 2018 ; Xing et al, 2021 ). In addition, recent studies have used fMRI to decipher the effects of non-pharmacological therapies and have observed changes in ALFF in multiple regions of the brain, representing reduced pain perception ( Jiang et al, 2015 ; Wu et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, recent studies have used fMRI to decipher the effects of non-pharmacological therapies and have observed changes in ALFF in multiple regions of the brain, representing reduced pain perception ( Jiang et al, 2015 ; Wu et al, 2019 ). One study demonstrated higher ALFF within the sensorimotor cortex opposite to the impaired limb after Tuina therapy in a sciatic nerve transection model, suggesting that Tuina therapy contributes to the promotion of adaptive neuroplasticity within the somatosensory cortex and ultimately results in peripheral nerve function restoration following injury and subsequent repair ( Xing et al, 2021 ). In the current investigation, we established a rat model of NP that was subjected to 25 days of Tuina intervention and conducted R-fMRI to explore the changes in cortical plasticity resulting from the prolonged impact of Tuina therapy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging reveals brain remodeling after Tuina therapy in neuropathic pain model

Guo

Zhang

et al. 2023

Front. Mol. Neurosci.

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Tuina, a method of traditional Chinese manual manipulation, is an effective alternative therapy for neuropathic pain (NP), but its analgesic mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (R-fMRI) to explore the analgesic mechanism of Tuina in an NP rat model. After undergoing surgery to induce chronic compression of the dorsal root ganglion (CCD), one group of rats underwent Tuina at the ipsilateral BL40 acupoint once a day for 10 min during the 25 days following surgery while another group did not. Behavioral tests were performed at baseline, on the third day following surgery, and once a week for the next 4 weeks. R-fMRI was performed at baseline and 7 days and 28 days following surgery. Behavioral testing revealed that the Tuina group presented a significant response improvement to mechanical and thermal nociception stimuli compared to the untreated group 2 weeks following CCD surgery. Interestingly, rats submitted to Tuina presented higher measures of spontaneous neuronal activity in basal forebrain region, primary somatosensory cortex barrel field, dentate gyrus, secondary somatosensory cortex, striatum, descending corticofugal pathways, and globus pallidum of the left hemisphere 4 weeks after the CCD surgery compared to rats having undergone CCD only. In addition, on the 28th day, the ALFF signals of the left dentate gyrus, left secondary somatosensory cortex, left striatum, and bilateral primary cingulate cortex were significantly increased while those in the right dentate gyrus and bilateral periaqueductal gray were significantly decreased compared to those on the 7th day. Correlation analysis showed that the ALFF values of the left descending corticofugal pathways and globus pallidum had a positive correlation with mechanical withdrawal threshold and paw withdrawal thermal latency tests. Altogether, these results indicate that NPP induced by CCD surgery affects the plasticity of the cerebral cortex, and that Tuina alleviate pain behavior by promoting cortical remodeling.

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Brain plasticity after peripheral nerve injury treatment with massage therapy based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging

Cited by 17 publications

References 45 publications

A Review on the Mechanism of Tuina Promoting the Recovery of Peripheral Nerve Injury

A Review on the Mechanism of Tuina Promoting the Recovery of Peripheral Nerve Injury

Tuina therapy promotes behavioral improvement and brain plasticity in rats with peripheral nerve injury and repair

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging reveals brain remodeling after Tuina therapy in neuropathic pain model

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