Si Xiaopeng, Xiang Shaoxin, Zhang Ludan, Li Sicheng, Zhang Kuo, Ming Dong
Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Brain Science and Neural Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
Front Neurosci. 2021 Aug 16;15:693623. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.693623. eCollection 2021.
As a world intangible cultural heritage, acupuncture is considered an essential modality of complementary and alternative therapy to Western medicine. Despite acupuncture's long history and public acceptance, how the cortical network is modulated by acupuncture remains largely unclear. Moreover, as the basic acupuncture unit for regulating the central nervous system, how the cortical network is modulated during acupuncture at the Hegu acupoint is mostly unclear. Here, multi-channel functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data were recorded from twenty healthy subjects for acupuncture manipulation, pre- and post-manipulation tactile controls, and pre- and post-acupuncture rest controls. Results showed that: (1) acupuncture manipulation caused significantly increased acupuncture behavioral performance compared with tactile controls. (2) The bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and motor cortex were significantly inhibited during acupuncture manipulation than controls, which was evidenced by the decreased power of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) concentration. (3) The bilateral PFC's hemodynamic responses showed a positive correlation trend with acupuncture behavioral performance. (4) The network connections with bilateral PFC as nodes showed significantly increased functional connectivity during acupuncture manipulation compared with controls. (5) Meanwhile, the network's efficiency was improved by acupuncture manipulation, evidenced by the increased global efficiency and decreased shortest path length. Taken together, these results reveal that a cooperative PFC-Motor functional network could be modulated by acupuncture manipulation at the Hegu acupoint. This study provides neuroimaging evidence that explains acupuncture's neuromodulation effects on the cortical network.
作为一项世界非物质文化遗产，针灸被认为是西医补充和替代疗法的一种重要方式。尽管针灸历史悠久且被公众所接受，但针灸如何调节皮层网络仍不清楚。此外，作为调节中枢神经系统的基本针灸穴位，合谷穴针刺过程中皮层网络是如何被调节的大多也不清楚。在此，从20名健康受试者身上记录了多通道功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）数据，用于针刺操作、操作前后的触觉对照以及针刺前后的静息对照。结果显示：（1）与触觉对照相比，针刺操作导致针刺行为表现显著提高。（2）与对照相比，针刺操作过程中双侧前额叶皮质（PFC）和运动皮质受到显著抑制，这通过氧化血红蛋白（HbO）浓度的降低得到证明。（3）双侧PFC的血流动力学反应与针刺行为表现呈正相关趋势。（4）与对照相比，以双侧PFC为节点的网络连接在针刺操作过程中显示出功能连接性显著增加。（5）同时，针刺操作提高了网络效率，表现为全局效率增加和最短路径长度缩短。综上所述，这些结果表明合谷穴针刺操作可调节PFC - 运动功能合作网络。本研究提供了神经影像学证据，解释了针灸对皮层网络的神经调节作用。
