title: [Study on the relative specificity of the heart and lung meridians in brain with fMRI].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the central modulation mechanism on the relative specificity of the Heart and Lung Meridians and to provide the experimental evidence for deeply study on correlation between meridian-viscera and brain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten healthy students in Anhui College of TCM were chosen and a modified block design was adopted. After 32 time points of resting and 32 of rotation needling, then 48 of resting and 32 stimulating, and 16 resting time points, functional imagings were collected at last. All the process would last for 10 min 44 sec. Acupuncture work was finished by one acupuncturist with extensive experience by acupuncture at the left Shenmen (HT 7) or Taiyuan (LU 8) with the disposable sterile stainless steel needle, and uniform reinforcing-reducing method was used with frequency of 1 Hz and depth of 1.0 cm. After the experiment, the sensation of acupuncture and the other feeling or psychic process were inquired and recorded detailedly. These data were analyzed by AFNI software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Acupuncture at Taiyuan (LU 8) could excite the contralateral frontal lobe, apical lobe, cerebral ganglion, VI, VIII areas and inferior semilunar lobule of cerebellum, and restrain bilateral callosal gyrus and homolateral gyrus rectus. Acupuncture at Shenmen (HT 7) could excite the contralateral IV-VIII areas of cerebellum, and homolateral VI, VII areas of cerebellum, and restrain parts of homolateral apical lobe.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acupuncture at Shenmen (HT 7) of the Heart Meridian and Taiyuan (LU 8) of the Lung Meridian can excite or restrain different brain areas, indicating that there are relatively specific corresponding brain areas for the Heart Meridian and Lung Meridian.
authors: Institute of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Meridian, Anhui College of TCM, Hefei 230038, China. vagabondowl@163.com
authors: Zi-jian
authors: ZJ
authors: Wu
authors: Rong-lin
authors: RL
authors: Cai
authors: Chun-sheng
authors: CS
authors: Xu
authors: Ling
authors: L
authors: Hu
authors: Lu
authors: L
authors: He
authors: Wu-bin
authors: WB
authors: Hu
authors: Chuan-fu
authors: CF
authors: Li
authors: Yi-ping
authors: YP
authors: Zhou
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D016740:Meridians; D011859:Radiography; D055815:Young Adult