Deng Demao, Duan Gaoxiong, Liao Hai, Liu Yanfei, Wang Geliang, Liu Huimei, Tang Lijun, Pang Yong, Tao Jien, He Xin, Yuan Wenzhao, Liu Peng
1 Department of Radiology, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine , Nanning, China .
2 Life Science Research Center, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University , Xi'an, China .
J Altern Complement Med. 2016 Oct;22(10):794-799. doi: 10.1089/acm.2015.0286. Epub 2016 Jul 20.
According to the Traditional Chinese Medicine theory of acupuncture, Baihui (GV20) is applied to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. However, the relationships between neural responses and GV20 remain unknown. Thus, the main aim of this study was to examine the brain responses induced by electro-acupuncture stimulation (EAS) at GV20.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed in 33 healthy subjects. Based on the non-repeated event-related (NRER) paradigm, group differences were examined between GV20 and a sham acupoint using the regional homogeneity (ReHo) method.
Compared with the sham acupoint, EAS at GV20 induced increased ReHo in regions including the orbital frontal cortex (OFC), middle cingulate cortex (MCC), precentral cortex, and precuneus (preCUN). Decreased ReHo was found in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), supplementary motor area (SMA), thalamus, putamen, and cerebellum.
The current findings provide preliminary neuroimaging evidence to indicate that EAS at GV20 could induce a specific pattern of neural responses by analysis of ReHo of brain activity. These findings might improve the understanding of mechanisms of acupuncture stimulation at GV20.
根据中医针灸理论，百会穴（GV20）可用于治疗神经和精神疾病。然而，神经反应与百会穴之间的关系尚不清楚。因此，本研究的主要目的是研究电针刺激（EAS）百会穴所诱发的脑反应。
对33名健康受试者进行功能磁共振成像（fMRI）。基于非重复事件相关（NRER）范式，使用局部一致性（ReHo）方法检查百会穴与假穴之间的组间差异。
与假穴相比，电针刺激百会穴可使眶额皮质（OFC）、扣带中央回（MCC）、中央前回和楔前叶（preCUN）等区域的ReHo增加。前扣带皮质（ACC）、辅助运动区（SMA）、丘脑、壳核和小脑的ReHo降低。
目前的研究结果提供了初步的神经影像学证据，表明通过分析脑活动的ReHo，电针刺激百会穴可诱发特定的神经反应模式。这些发现可能有助于增进对百会穴针刺刺激机制的理解。
