title: Acupuncture modulates resting state hippocampal functional connectivity in Alzheimer disease.
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 Last, we acquired fMRI data for another 10 minutes after the needle was withdrawn.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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Brain Informatics, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Peipeng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhilian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Haiqing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: General Hospital of Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jianyang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: 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.
authors.forename: Kuncheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012146:Rest