Magnetic stimulation at Neiguan (PC6) acupoint increases connections between cerebral cortex regions

• Published in: Neural regeneration research Vol. 11; no. 7; pp. 1141 - 1146
• Main Authors: Yu, Hong-li, Xu, Gui-zhi, Guo, Lei, Fu, Ling-di, Yang, Shuo, Shi, Shuo, Lv, Hua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Publications 01.07.2016; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Province-Ministry Joint Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Field and Electrical Apparatus Reliability, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, China; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Acupuncture; Analysis; Brain; Cerebral cortex; Electroencephalography; Experiments; Magnetic resonance imaging; Medical research; nerve regeneration; electroencephalography; Neiguan (PC6); magnetic stimulation; Pearson′s correlation coefficient; complex network; acupuncture effect; brain functional network; neural regeneration; Traditional Chinese medicine; United States > US; China; electroencephalography; brain functional network; magnetic stimulation; neural regeneration; complex network; nerve regeneration; Neiguan (PC6); Pearson's correlation coefficient; acupuncture effect; Pearson’s correlation coefficient
• ISSN: 1673-5374; 1876-7958
• DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.187053

Stimulation at specific acupoints can activate cortical regions in human subjects. Previous studies have mainly focused on a single brain region. However, the brain is a network and many brain regions participate in the same task. The study of a single brain region alone cannot clearly explain any brain-related issues. Therefore, for the present study, magnetic stimulation was used to stimulate the Neiguan (PC6) acupoint, and 32-channel electroencephalography data were recorded before and after stimulation. Brain functional networks were constructed based on electroencephalography data to determine the relationship between magnetic stimulation at the PC6 acupoint and cortical excitability. Results indicated that magnetic stimulation at the PC6 acupoint increased connections between cerebral cortex regions.