Acupuncture modulates resting state hippocampal functional connectivity in Alzheimer disease

Zhiqun Wang; Peipeng Liang; Zhilian Zhao; Ying Han; Haiqing Song; Jianyang Xu; Jie Lu; Kuncheng Li

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091160

Acupuncture modulates resting state hippocampal functional connectivity in Alzheimer disease

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 6;9(3):e91160. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091160. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Zhiqun Wang¹, Peipeng Liang², Zhilian Zhao¹, Ying Han³, Haiqing Song³, Jianyang Xu⁴, Jie Lu¹, Kuncheng Li⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
² Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Brain Informatics, Beijing, China.
³ Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
⁴ General Hospital of Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Beijing, China.
⁵ Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Brain Informatics, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Our objective is to clarify the effects of acupuncture on hippocampal connectivity in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty-eight right-handed subjects (14 AD patients and 14 healthy elders) participated in this study. Clinical and neuropsychological examinations were performed on all subjects. MRI was performed using a SIEMENS verio 3-Tesla scanner. The fMRI study used a single block experimental design. We first acquired baseline resting state data during the initial 3 minutes and then performed acupuncture stimulation on the Tai chong and He gu acupoints for 3 minutes. Last, we acquired fMRI data for another 10 minutes after the needle was withdrawn. The preprocessing and data analysis were performed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM5) software. Two-sample t-tests were performed using data from the two groups in different states. We found that during the resting state, several frontal and temporal regions showed decreased hippocampal connectivity in AD patients relative to control subjects. During the resting state following acupuncture, AD patients showed increased connectivity in most of these hippocampus related regions compared to the first resting state. In conclusion, we investigated the effect of acupuncture on AD patients by combing fMRI and traditional acupuncture. Our fMRI study confirmed that acupuncture at Tai chong and He gu can enhance the hippocampal connectivity in AD patients.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Acupuncture Points
Acupuncture Therapy*
Aged
Alzheimer Disease / physiopathology*
Brain Mapping
Case-Control Studies
Female
Hippocampus / physiopathology*
Humans
Male
Nerve Net / physiopathology*
Neuropsychological Tests
Rest*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Project Sponsored by the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81000606, 81370037, 61105118, 81141018, 81030028, and 81225012), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (No. 201003142), and Key Work of Special Project supported by the city government (Z101107052210002 and Z111107067311036).The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.