针刺心包经穴位对健康人脑静息态扣带后回功能连接的影响

Influence of acupuncture in acupoints of the Pericardium Meridian on functional connectivity of resting-state posterior cingulate cortex in health people

目的运用静息态功能性磁共振成像(fMRI)技术探讨针刺心包经(经穴)调控情绪、记忆认知网络的中枢机制。方法对14名健康人进行fMRI扫描。包括:第1次纯静息态扫描(Rest1,R1)、针刺该经脉全经腧穴后扫描(Acupuncture,AP)和第2次静息态扫描(Rest2,R2),应用REST软件取扣带后回(PCC)为种子点进行功能连接分析。结果 R1、R2状态下未出现,仅AP状态下出现的与PCC功能连接显著增强的脑区为双侧颞中回、颞下回,显著减弱的脑区为左侧额中回、额下回,右侧小脑后叶;R1、AP状态下未出现,仅R2状态下出现的与PCC功能连接显著减弱的脑区为右侧小脑后叶、小脑坡部、小脑蚓垂部、额下回。结论针刺心包经经穴后前额叶皮层、小脑与PCC的功能连接活动被抑制,PCC与颞叶皮层的功能连接活动同步增强,通过上述高级认知功能的脑区内部调节,记忆和情绪调控得以实现,该变化可能是心包经经穴治疗具有记忆和情绪认知功能障碍可能的效应机制。

Objective To study the central mechanism of acupuncture in the Pericardium Meridian （meridian acupoints） in regulating the network of emotion, memory and cognition by applying resting- state functional magnetic image （fMRI）. Methods Healthy participants （n = 14 ） were given fMRI, including the first time resting-state scanning （ R1 ）, scanning after acupuncture in all acupoints of the Pericardium Meridian （AP） and the second time resting-state scanning （R2）. The posterior cingulate cortex （PCC） was chosen as seed point for studying functional connectivity by using REST software. Results The functional connectivity of PCC was enhanced in bilateral middle temporal gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus, and was significantly weakened in left middle frontal gyrus, left inferior gyrus and right cerebellum posterior lobe only under AP state but not under R1 and R2 states. The functional connectivity of PCC was significantly weakened in right cerebellum posterior lobe, right declive, right uvula and right inferior frontal gyrus only under R2 state but not under R1 and AP states. Conclusion After acupuncture in the acupoints of the Pericardium Meridian, the functional connectivity between PCC and prefrontal cortex and cerebellum was inhibited, and that between PCC and temporal cortex was enhanced synchronously.Through the inter regulation of above-mentioned cerebral zones with higher cognitive function, acupuncture can control memory and emotion, which may be the effective mechanism of acupuncture in the acupoints of the Pericardium Meridian in treating the disorders of memory, emotion and cognition.