The Study Of Acupuncture Effects Networks Based On ICA Method

Acupuncture, as a valuable aspect of the cultural heritage of the Chinese nation, and the essence of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), has a history of several thousand years in clinical practice. It can be used to treat a variety of diseases such as arthritis, obesity, stroke, asthma, drug addiction, and it can also mitigate chronic pain with very few side effects. Due to these advantages, acupuncture has been popularized and promoted, and also has been gradually recognized by the international community. There are currently over 140 countries and regions using acupuncture. However, along with the popularization and promotion of acupuncture, its scienctific validity has been questioned. Setting forth a clear mechanism of how acupuncture works has become a primary constraint in its development. Hence, it is a way for China to be the proponent of acupuncture and aid in the necessary research in revealing its mechanism. Modern medical imaging technology enables a more mechanistic approach to acupuncture: the emergence of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology has provided new ways and effective means for deeper exploration in the field of acupuncture. Due to its non-invasiveness and real-time capability to map the activity of specific brain regions induced by external stimulation, this technology has been widely used in vision, hearing, as well as other high-level cognitive research. In this paper, we used fMRI technology to study and analyze the brain response to acupuncture and combined the theory of TCM and modern medical means to explore neural regulating mechanisms. Specific aims included the following:Studied the acupuncture mechanism based on a multiple-block experimental design via analyzing the different effects included in the distinct experimental stage of the process (stimulation and restingstates). We found there existed discrepancies in different stages of acupuncture. The data-driven approach of independent component analysis was innovatively introduced into the fMRI study of acupuncture at ST 36 (Zusanli), and we compared the stimulation states with different resting states in the brain functional networks. Therefore, we concluded that there existed time variability during the course of acupuncture.Based on the research above, we introduced a novel experimental paradigm using a non-repeated event-related (NRER) design, combined the methods of seed correlated functional connectivity and ICA to study the brain functional network during resting state after acupuncture at vision-related acupoint GB 37 (Guangming) and nonvision-related acupoint KI 8 (Jiaoxin). We discovered that stimulation at these two acupoints induced the same activations in the occipital cortical areas (BA 17/18/19) in spatial distribution, but their temporal characteristics were negative. Our results support the proposition that acupuncture at vision and nonvision-related acupoints can induce similar activations in the visual cortex of the spatial domain, but have different modulation patterns in the temporal domain.This article also focused on the study of the brain functional network during the resting state under the regulation of acupuncture. Results showed that acupuncture at ST 36 mainly regulated the spatial attention and vision-related networks of the resting state networks (RSNs); meanwhile, stimulation at GB 37 activated the post cingulate cortex (PCC) and precuneus of the'default-mode'network. The study also found that acupuncture at the two acupoints activated both the PCC and precuneus; these two nuclei are the core regions that reflect the neural regulation of acupuncture.