Different modes of manual acupuncture stimulation differentially modulate cerebral blood flow velocity, arterial blood pressure and heart rate in human subjects

The psychophysiological effect of different modes of manual acupuncture stimulation was investigated in 12 healthy, right handed, male subjects (mean age 29). The cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) in both middle cerebral arteries, arterial blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and the perceived intensity of the stimulation were monitored while an acupuncture needle in the right dorsal thenar muscle (point Hegu, Li 4) was repetitively rotated with either high frequency (4-8 Hz) and low amplitude (hf-la) or low frequency (1-2 Hz) and high amplitude (lf-ha). Response patterns induced by hf-la and 1f-ha [corrected] stimulation differed significantly (P < 0.05) as tested by Student's t-test: (1), 1f-ha [corrected] stimulation was perceived as more intense and induced a more marked right hemispheric CBFV increase; (2), while hf-la stimulation lead to a slight decrease of BP and HR, lf-ha stimulation induced an initial pressor response (increase of BP, decrease of HR) and a more marked long term decrease of BP. Data indicate that the mode of manual acupuncture stimulation has a differential effect on the perceived stimulation intensity, the cerebral activation and the cardiovascular reflex response.

[1]  J. Peňáz,et al.  [Contribution to the continuous indirect blood pressure measurement]. , 1976, Zeitschrift fur die gesamte innere Medizin und ihre Grenzgebiete.

[2]  M Deppe,et al.  AVERAGE: a Windows® program for automated analysis of event related cerebral blood flow , 1997, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[3]  A. Ward.  The Seirin Pictorial Atlas of Acupuncture An Illustrated Manual of Acupuncture Points , 2002 .

[4]  Cortical tuning: a function of anticipated stimulus intensity. , 1999, Neuroreport.

[5]  G. Litscher,et al.  Effects of acupuncture on the oxygenation of cerebral tissue. , 1998, Neurological research.

[6]  Eraldo Paulesu,et al.  Acupuncture Produces Central Activations in Pain Regions , 2001, NeuroImage.

[7]  R. Schmidt,et al.  Somatosympathetic reflexes: afferent fibers, central pathways, discharge characteristics. , 1973, Physiological reviews.

[8]  W. Jänig,et al.  The sympathetic nervous system in pain. , 1995, European journal of anaesthesiology. Supplement.

[9]  C. Brunia,et al.  Changes in heart rate and slow brain potentials related to motor preparation and stimulus anticipation in a time estimation task. , 1987, Psychophysiology.

[10]  G. Litscher.  Computer-based quantification of traditional Chinese-, ear- and Korean hand acupuncture: Needle-induced changes of regional cerebral blood flow velocity , 2002, Neurological research.

[11]  R. Yeo,et al.  Right hemisphere involvement in depression: Toward a neuropsychological theory of negative affective experiences , 1987, Biological Psychiatry.

[12]  B. Rosen,et al.  Acupuncture modulates the limbic system and subcortical gray structures of the human brain: Evidence from fMRI studies in normal subjects , 2000, Human brain mapping.

[13]  T. Fu,et al.  Low and high frequency electroacupuncture at Hoku elicits a distinct mechanism to activate sympathetic nervous system in anesthetized rats , 1998, Neuroscience Letters.

[14]  T. Fu,et al.  Effect of electroacupuncture on blood pressure and adrenal nerve activity in anesthetized rats , 2000, Neuroscience Letters.

[15]  E. Haker,et al.  Effect of sensory stimulation (acupuncture) on sympathetic and parasympathetic activities in healthy subjects. , 2000, Journal of the autonomic nervous system.

[16]  Jisheng Han,et al.  Electroacupuncture: mechanisms and clinical application , 1998, Biological Psychiatry.

[17]  Ralph D. Sawyer,et al.  Acupuncture : a comprehensive text , 1983, The Journal of Asian Studies.

[18]  M Deppe,et al.  Assessment of Hemispheric Language Lateralization: A Comparison between fMRI and fTCD , 2000, Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.