An FMRI Study On The Neuro-effeccts Of Zulinqi (GB41) Needling On The Default Mode Network (DMN) In Migraine Patients Without Aura

Background:A large quality of randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews have demonstrated that acupuncture is effective in treating migraine. However, the underlying mechanisms of acupuncture is still not well understood. The appearance of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has led a new method to study the mechanisms of acupuncture. Based on previous review paper, Zulinqi (GB41), Taichong (LR3), Neiguan (PC6) are the most frequently used acu-points in treating migraine. Serving as the "shu" point of liver meridian and one of the eight confluence points, GB41is an important acu-point in treating migraine. In the current study, using resting state fMRI, we tried to explore the immediate effect of GB41needling on the default mode network (DMN) in migraine patients without aura (MWoA).1. The study of the effects of GB41needling on the DMN in healthy subjects.Objective:To study the effects of Gb41needling on the DMN in healthy subjects. Methods:A total of ten healthy subjects were involved in the resting state fMRI scanning. All functional images were pretreated with SPM8software before further statistical analysis. The differences of the functional connectivity (FC) of brain regions before and after GB41needling were detected. Results:Compared with that before GB41needling, the healthy subjects showed increased FC to the seed regions of PCC in the bilateral cingulate cortex, precuneus, right medial frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus and some orther brain regions as well as decreased FC in the bilateral PCC, precuneus, medial frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus and some orther brain regions. The common characteristic of the aforementioned brain regions was that the voxel sizes were generally small.2. The study of the effects of GB41needling on the DMN in MWoA.Objective:To study the effects of Gb41needling on the DMN in MWoA. Methods:A total of ten MWoA were involved in the resting state fMRI scanning. All functional images were pretreated with SPM8software before further statistical analysis. The differences of the functional connectivity (FC) of brain regions before and after GB41needling were explored. Results:Compared with that before GB41needling, the MWoA showed increased FC to the seed regions of PCC in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), cingulate cortex, precuneus (PC), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), superior frontal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus and some other brain regions. There were not any brains regions that showed decreased FC to the seed regions od the PCC. What’s more, the voxel sizes of the brain regions aforementioned were generally larger than that in the healthy subjects.3. ConclusionsThe results of the present study could be concluded into the following continuously parts: The specified abnormality of the DMN of MWoA could be interpreted as decreased FC in some certain brain regions; The effects of GB41needling on healthy subjects were somewhat generalized but turned to be more specific in MWoA; The effects of GB41needling on the DMN of MWoA could be expressed as the positive enhancement of the decreased FC between certain brain regions among the DMN; Further studies with higher quality are still in need to confirm these findings.