Modulatory effect of International Standard Scalp Acupuncture on brain activation in the elderly as revealed by resting-state fMRI

• Published in: Neural regeneration research Vol. 14; no. 12; pp. 2126 - 2131
• Main Authors: Chung, Wai-Yeung, Liu, Song-Yan, Gao, Jing-Chun, Jiang, Yi-Jing, Zhang, Jing, Qu, Shan-Shan, Zhang, Ji-Ping, Tan, Xiao-Long, Chen, Jun-Qi, Wang, Sheng-Xu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Chinese
• Published: India Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01.12.2019; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China; School of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China%Department of Neurology, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China%Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Third Afliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China%Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Rehabilitation Hospital, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China%School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China%Department of Medical Image, Third Afliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China; Wolters Kluwer - Medknow; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Acupuncture; Brain; Brain stimulation; Central nervous system; Clinical trials; Data analysis; Elderly; Geriatric research; Magnetic resonance imaging; Natural language processing; nerve regeneration; resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging; International Standard Scalp Acupuncture; acupoint specificity; brain functional connectivity; healthy elderly volunteers; low frequency fluctuation; regional homogeneity; functional connectivity; neural regeneration; Nervous system; Older people; Patient outcomes; Software; Stroke; China; resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging; neural regeneration; functional connectivity; healthy elderly volunteers; brain functional connectivity; nerve regeneration; International Standard Scalp Acupuncture; regional homogeneity; acupoint specificity; low frequency fluctuation; functional connecti; low frequency fuctuation
• ISSN: 1673-5374; 1876-7958
• DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.262590

The specific mechanisms by which acupuncture affects the central nervous system are unclear. In the International Standard Scalp Acupuncture system, acupuncture needles are applied at the middle line of the vertex, anterior parietal-temporal oblique line, and the posterior parietal-temporal oblique line. We conducted a single-arm prospective clinical trial in which seven healthy elderly volunteers (three men and four women; 50-70 years old) received International Standard Scalp Acupuncture at MS5 (the mid-sagittal line between Baihui (DU20) and Qianding (DU21)), the left MS6 (line joining Sishencong (EX-HN1) and Xuanli (GB6)), and the left MS7 (line joining DU20 and Qubin (GB7)). After acupuncture, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated changes in the fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations and regional homogeneity in various areas, showing remarkable enhancement of regional homogeneity in the bilateral anterior cingulate, left medial frontal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, and inferior frontal gyrus. Functional connectivity based on a seed region at the right middle frontal gyrus (42, 51, 9) decreased at the bilateral medial superior frontal gyrus. Our data preliminarily indicates that the international standard scalp acupuncture in healthy elderly participants specifcally enhances the correlation between the brain regions involved in cognition and implementation of the brain network regulation system and the surrounding adjacent brain regions. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the China-Japan Union Hospital at Jilin University, China, on July 18, 2016 (approval No. 2016ks043).