The effect of moxibustion on cognitive attention network function of patients with mild cognitive impairment

Objective:To explore the effect differences between moxibustion and donepezil hydrochloride on the attention network function of patients with mild cognitive impairment(MCI).Methods:A total of 64 patients of MCI were randomly divided into the moxibustion group and donepezil hydrochloride group,32 cases in each one.On the basis of conventional treatment,the patients in the moxibustion group were given moxibustion,6 times a week,and the patients in the donepezil hydrochloride group were given donepezil hydrochloride orally,5 mg/day.The course of treatment was 60 days for both of the groups.Cognitive attention network function and activities of daily living(ADL)score were examined before and after treatment.Results:The differences of alerting reaction time(RT),executive control RT,overall mean RT and accuracy of the moxibustion group after treatment were significantly higher than those of the donepezil hydrochloride group[alert:(60.3±3.3)ms vs(48.3±3.7)ms,P<0.05;executive control:(81.2±3.2)ms vs(91.7±4.2)ms,P<0.05;total reaction time:(500.4±17.2)ms vs(536.2±20.1)ms.P<0.05;accuracy:(83.7±4.6)%vs(77.4±4.3)%,P<0.05].After treatment,the ADL scores of the both groups were significantly higher than those before treatment[the moxibustion group:(56.47±4.02)points vs(41.53±4.06)points,P<0.05;the donepezil hydrochloride group:(50.75±4.05)points vs(40.84±3.67)points,P<0.05],and the ADL score of the moxibustion group was significantly higher than that of the donepezil hydrochloride group[(56.47±4.02)points vs(50.75±4.05)points,P<0.05].Conclusion:Compared with donepezil hydrochloride,moxibustion has a better effect on the cognitive function of MCI patients.

Examining brain structures associated with attention networks in a large sample of young adults: a voxel-based morphometry study

Attention networks have three principal com- ponents supported by separate subprocesses, which include alerting, orienting, and executive control （EC） networks. Efficiently and accurately extracting useful information from the environment as the function of attention is pivotal to our survival. Previous brain imaging studies have examined activation patterns underlying the different attention networks in different cortical regions, yet focal differences in brain structures related to attention network components were not well understood. Therefore, in this study, voxel-based morphometry was used to investigate the relationship between gray matter volume （GMV） and different attention networks in a large young adult sample （n = 156）. As a result, multiple regression analysis revealed that higher alerting scores （stronger alerting ability） were negatively significantly correlated with region gray matter volume （rGMV） cingulate cortex/precuneus）, in the PCC/PreCu （posterior which might be associated with continuous maintenance of a vigilant state. Then, lower EC scores （stronger conflict resolution ability） were associated with larger rGMV in the dorsal anterior cingu- late cortex, which might be related to high-efficiency executive control processing. Together, findings of the present study provided a unique structural basis of GMV for individual differences in alerting and EC networks.