Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Previous studies indicated the sedative effect of acupoint stimulation. However, its mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the sedative effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) and to explore the brain regions involved in this effect in healthy volunteers using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques.Methods
In this randomized trial, 26 healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to the TEAS group (receiving 30 min of acupoint stimulation at HT7/PC4) and the control group. fMRI was conducted before and after the intervention. The primary outcome was the BIS value during the intervention. Secondary outcomes included the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and region of interest (ROI)-based functional connectivity (FC) showed by fMRI.Results
In healthy volunteers, compared with the control group, ALFF values in the TEAS-treated volunteers decreased in the left thalamus, right putamen, and midbrain, while they increased in the left orbitofrontal cortex. More FC existed between the thalamus and the insula, middle cingulate cortex, somatosensory cortex, amygdala, and putamen in subjects after TEAS treatment compared with subjects that received non-stimulation. In addition, ALFF values of the thalamus positively correlated with BIS in both groups.Conclusion
Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation could induce a sedative effect in healthy volunteers, and inhibition of the thalamus was among its possible mechanisms.Clinical trial registration
www.ClinicalTrials.gov; identifier: NCT01896063.
SUBMITTER: Lu Z
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9893780 | biostudies-literature | 2022
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Lu Zhihong Z Huo Tingting T Deng Jiao J Guo Fan F Liu Kang K Liu Peng P Wang Qiang Q Xiong Lize L
Frontiers in human neuroscience 20230119
<h4>Background</h4>Previous studies indicated the sedative effect of acupoint stimulation. However, its mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the sedative effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) and to explore the brain regions involved in this effect in healthy volunteers using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques.<h4>Methods</h4>In this randomized trial, 26 healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to the TEAS group (receiving 30 ...[more]