title: Increase of electrodermal activity of heart meridian during physical exercise: the significance of electrical values in acupuncture and diagnostic importance.
abstract: Electric field measurements of skin potential and electrical currents are physiological indicators of electrodermal activity (EDA) and have been associated with a variety of sensory, cognitive and emotional stimuli. The aim of this study was to investigate the EDA at some hand acupoints before, during and after a physical exercise. EDA of eight points located at the corner of fingernails of hands was measured in 10 healthy young volunteers before, during and after a 14-min acute exercise in a bicycle ergometer. In pre-exercise resting state the parameters were stable and similar between the 8 different tested points, while during exercise a significant increase of current (from 1000-2000 to 4000-8000 nA) was observed, with the maximal values related to the point located on the ulnar side of the little finger, at the base of the nail, corresponding to the Shao chong (HT9) of heart meridian.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Morfologico-Biomediche, University of Verona, Piazza L.A. Scuro 10, 37134 Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pontarollo
authors.affiliation: Associazione Italiana Omeopatia di Risonanza, Via Natta, 28, 29010 Pontenure, Piacenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuliana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rapacioli
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Morfologico-Biomediche, University of Verona, Piazza L.A. Scuro 10, 37134 Verona, Italy. Electronic address: paolo.bellavite@univr.it.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bellavite
mesh_terms: D026881:Acupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000328:Adult; D001642:Bicycling / Q000502:physiology; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology*; D006321:Heart; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016740:Meridians; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods; D012146:Rest