A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study On The Brain Effect Mechanism Of Acupuncture At Hegu Point In Healthy People

Objective:BOLD-fMRI was used to explore the distribution of brain activation areas under acupuncture at Hegu(LI4)and its corresponding non-acupoints,and the differences in brain activation between the two groups were compared.The activated brain areas at Hegu were related to clinical indications.To compare the changes of resting-state amplitude of low frequency fluctuation(ALFF)before and after acupuncture at Hegu,and to analyze the central mechanism of the effect of acupuncture at Hegu.Method:According to the inclusion criteria,17 healthy people were selected as subjects,including 6 males and 11 females,all right-handed.Achieva 3.0T TX dual-gradient multi-source emission magnetic resonance scanner produced by Philips was used to collect the data of resting state and acupuncture state before and after acupuncture at the right Hegu point and its corresponding non-acupoints,respectively.DPARSFA and xj View programs in MATLAB2017 a software were used to process the resting state and acupuncture state data,and statistical methods were used to test the parameters of the processed data based on SPM12 software.Finally,the resting-state ALFF values before and after acupuncture at Hegu and its corresponding non-acupoints and the activation intensity,voxel value,and location of the brain response area in the acupuncture state were obtained.Results:1.Brain activation areas of acupuncture at Hegu: positive activation brain areas included left postcentral gyrus,left lateral cingulate gyrus,right fusiform gyrus,right hippocampus,left paracentral lobule and left supplementary motor area.The negative activation regions included left middle temporal gyrus,left middle frontal gyrus and right angular gyrus.2.Non-acupoint brain activation areas of acupuncture at Hegu: negative activation brain areas included left cerebellum,right amygdala,right lingual gyrus,left anterior cingulate gyrus,left medial superior frontal gyrus and right dorsal-lateral superior frontal gyrus.No positive activated brain regions were observed.3.The positive activation areas of acupuncture at Hegu included left inferior temporal gyrus,bilateral fusiform gyrus,left middle temporal gyrus,left rectus gyrus,left hippocampus,left supplementary motor area and right precentral gyrus.The negative activation area was the right superior frontal gyrus.4.Compared with the resting-state ALFF value before acupuncture,the ALFF value after acupuncture at Hegu point was increased in the left inferior frontal gyrus,right anterior cingulate gyrus,right caudate nucleus,left middle frontal gyrus,right supramarginal gyrus,left angular gyrus of inferior parietal margin,left middle occipital gyrus,left angular gyrus and right precuneus.The decreased brain area was the left hippocampus.Conclusion:1.In healthy people,acupuncture at Hegu(LI4)on the right side can induce the activation of multiple brain regions such as hippocampus,cingulate gyrus and postcentral gyrus,which are related to higher central functions such as emotion,memory and language,which may be the central mechanism of Hegu(LI4)in the treatment of mental disorders and headache.2.Acupuncture at Hegu on the right side shows specific activation in bilateral fusiform gyrus,hippocampus and other brain areas compared with the corresponding non-acupoints,and also causes activation in the hand and face and mouth representative areas of the precentral gyrus,which is more related to the characteristics of acupoints and the indications of diseases recorded in ancient books,providing a theoretical basis for "Hegu retraction of face and mouth".The mechanism of brain effect caused by acupuncture at Hegu may be specific.3.The comparison of ALFF values between the resting state and the resting state after acupuncture at Hegu showed that the ALFF values in the caudate nucleus,cingulate gyrus and other brain areas changed significantly,indicating that acupuncture can regulate the brain-gut axis to improve the gastrointestinal tract and cognitive function.It is also proved that there is a hangover effect of acupuncture at Hegu.