Neuroimaging studies of acupuncture on Alzheimer’s disease: a systematic review

Yin, Zihan; Wang, Ziqi; Li, Yaqin; Zhou, Jun; Chen, Zhenghong; Xia, Manze; Zhang, Xinyue; Wu, Jiajing; Zhao, Ling; Liang, Fanrong

doi:10.1186/s12906-023-03888-y

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 117 publications

(112 reference statements)

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“…In recent decades, acupuncture has been increasingly embraced in Western alternative and complementary medicine ( Cai et al, 2018 ). While acupuncture therapy has been employed to alleviate pain ( He et al, 2020 ; Sun et al, 2021 ) and manage a range of conditions, including Parkinson’s Disease ( Chae et al, 2009 ; Jang et al, 2020 ), cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders ( Yang et al, 2018 , 2021 ; Zhang et al, 2021 ), depression ( Yang et al, 2022 ; Yin et al, 2022 ), addiction ( Krause et al, 2020 ; Lee et al, 2021 ), and more ( Tu et al, 2021 ; Yin et al, 2023 ), its efficacy and specificity of acupoint remain debated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review and coordinate-based meta-analysis of fMRI studies on acupuncture at LR 3

Rao,

Ge,

2024

Front. Neurosci.

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ObjectivesThe acupoint LR3 (Taichong) is frequently utilized in clinical acupuncture. However, its underlying neural mechanisms remain not fully elucidated, with speculations suggesting its close association with specific brain activity patterns.MethodsA comprehensive literature search was undertaken across several online databases, such as PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), Wanfang Database, VIP Database, and the Chinese Biomedical Database. Two independent researchers handled the study selection, quality assessment, and data extraction processes. Using the seed-based d-mapping meta-analysis approach, we evaluated the brain regions activated by LR3 acupuncture in healthy subjects. Subsequent subgroup analysis was stratified by fMRI types, and regression analyses were performed considering the duration of acupuncture, depth of needle insertion, and needle diameter. The identified active brain regions were then intricately projected onto large-scale functional networks.ResultsA total of 10 studies met the criteria for inclusion, encompassing 319 healthy right-handed participants. The meta-analysis indicates that acupuncture at the LR3 activates regions such as the right postcentral gyrus, left thalamus, left middle frontal gyrus, and right superior frontal gyrus. Additionally, meta-regression analysis highlights that increased acupuncture duration correlates with progressively intensified activation of the right superior frontal gyrus. Subgroup analysis posits that variations in the type of fMRI employed might account for heterogeneity in the pooled results. Concurrently, functional network analysis identifies the primary activated regions as aligning with the Basal ganglia network, Auditory network, Left executive control network, Posterior salience network, Right executive control network, and Sensorimotor networks.ConclusionAcupuncture at the LR3 in healthy subjects selectively activates brain regions linked to pain perception, emotional processing, and linguistic functions. Extending the needle retention duration intensifies the activation of the right superior frontal gyrus. These findings enrich our comprehension of the neurobiological underpinnings of acupuncture’s role in pain mitigation and emotional regulation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review and coordinate-based meta-analysis of fMRI studies on acupuncture at LR 3

Rao,

Ge,

2024

Front. Neurosci.

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Treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease with traditional Chinese medicine: An integrative medicine case report

Hahn

2024

Advances in Integrative Medicine

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Neural mechanism of cognitive reserve in acupuncture stimulation: A protocol for a randomized, placebo-controlled functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) trial (Preprint)

Shin,

Seong,

Woo

et al. 2024

Preprint

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BACKGROUND Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for 60–70% of all cases. Since there is still no treatment for dementia, early diagnosis and prevention are the best approaches. In this context, the cognitive reserve (CR) concept has received considerable attention in dementia researches with regard to prognosis. It originates from discrepancies between the degree of brain pathology and the clinical manifestations. Acupuncture, as a complementary intervention, has long been widely applied in neurological diseases in East Asia. At the macroscale level, how acupuncture stimulation affects neural activity concerning CR in normal aging and dementia is largely unknown. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to investigate the acute neural mechanisms of acupuncture stimulation concerning CR in normal aging and cognitively impaired group using neuroimaging method. METHODS This study is a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Cognitively unimpaired (n=30) and cognitively impaired participants (n=30) will be randomly assigned to the verum or sham acupuncture groups. The verum acupuncture group will receive acupuncture stimulation at acupoints related to cognitive function and gain deqi sensation. The sham acupuncture group will receive superficial needling at non-acupoints not related to cognitive function. Each group will undergo cognitive function tests, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) imaging before and after acupuncture stimulation, and an assessment of CR. The primary outcomes would be differences in resting brain activities according to disease status, differences in resting brain connectivity before and after acupuncture stimulation between two groups, and changes in brain activity in relation with CR index. The secondary outcomes would be brain connectivity or network metrics associated with CR and differences in neural activity between the cognitive task and resting states. RESULTS The recruitment began in August 2023 and, to date, there have been the 50 participants, divided into 20 in the cognitively impaired group and 30 in the unimpaired group. The recruitment process will continue until February 2025. CONCLUSIONS CR refers to the individual susceptibility to age-related brain changes and pathologies in cognitive impairment, thus a factor affecting the trajectories of the disease. Although acupuncture is a widely used intervention for various neurological diseases, including dementia, its mechanism associated with CR at the macroscale has not been clearly identified. This study could contribute to identify the neural mechanisms of acupuncture stimulation associated with CR using neuroimaging method and provide a basis for future longitudinal researches. CLINICALTRIAL Clinical Research Information Service of the Republic of Korea (CRIS), one of the WHO ICTRP Primary Registries; KCT0008719 (https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/search/detailSearch.do/25391)

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Neuroimaging studies of acupuncture on Alzheimer’s disease: a systematic review

Cited by 5 publications

References 117 publications

A systematic review and coordinate-based meta-analysis of fMRI studies on acupuncture at LR 3

A systematic review and coordinate-based meta-analysis of fMRI studies on acupuncture at LR 3

Treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease with traditional Chinese medicine: An integrative medicine case report

Neural mechanism of cognitive reserve in acupuncture stimulation: A protocol for a randomized, placebo-controlled functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) trial (Preprint)

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