针刺正常老年人"四关穴"的脑功能MRI研究

目的采用脑功能磁共振成像(fMRI)探讨针刺正常老年人“四关穴”(双侧太冲穴和合谷穴)的中枢神经机制。方法针刺13例正常老年人“四关穴”,同时进行全脑fMRI扫描。为避免针刺后效应的影响,实验采用单组块设计。数据采用SPM99进行分析。图像中每个体素的t值形成统计参数图,以P<0.05(经比较修正后)的体素作为激活体素。结果针刺正常老年人“四关穴”激活双侧小脑半球、小脑蚓部、左侧额中回、双侧额下回、双侧中央旁小叶、双侧丘脑、后扣带回和前扣带回。针刺“四关穴”所激活的脑区,并非是单独针刺太冲穴和合谷穴所激活脑区的简单叠加。结论针刺正常老年人“四关穴”激活后扣带回和额叶,这可能是该组合穴治疗精神类疾病的中枢神经机制。fMRI是一种客观显示针刺治疗脑改变的方法。

fMRI study of acupuncture at "four gate points" on normal aging people

Objective To probe the central nervous mechanism of acupuncture at "four gate points" (bilateral Liv3 and LI4) on normal aging people by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Methods Thirteen normal aging people were imaged by fMRI experiment during manual acupuncture at "four gate points". In order to avoid post effects of acupuncture after pulling out needles, the paradigm used a single block design. The functional data were analyzed using SPM99. The t-ratios were estimated for each voxel in the image and formed the statistical parametric maps which showed activation above the corrected height threshold P<0.05. Results Acupuncture at "four gate points" on normal elderly people elicited signal increases in bilateral cerebella, vermis, left middle frontal gyrus, bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral lobulus paracentralis, bilateral thalamus, posterior cingulate gyrus and anterior cingulate gyrus. These activation during the acupuncture at such multi-points was not simple overlap of activation at single points (Liv3 or LI4). Conclusion The frontal lobe and posterior cingulate gyrus are activated during acupuncture at "four gate points" on normal aging, probably is the central nervous mechanism for treatment of intellectual impairment, and fMRI is a depicting method to objectively show the cerebral changes of acupuncture.