Abstract
Scalp acupuncture is a modality of acupuncture in which acupuncture needles are inserted into a certain layer of the scalp in order to affect the function of corresponding areas of the cerebral cortex and relieve symptoms. Clinical studies have demonstrated the potential of scalp acupuncture as a non-pharmacological treatment for dementia. Unfortunately, recent findings from brain neuroimaging studies on dementia have not been incorporated into scalp acupuncture. This study aims to integrate meta-analysis, resting-state functional connectivity, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to identify potential locations of scalp acupuncture for treatment of dementia. We found that the prefrontal cortex, the medial prefrontal cortex, the middle and superior temporal gyrus, the temporal pole, the supplementary motor area, the inferior occipital gyrus, and the precuneus are involved in the pathophysiology of dementia and, therefore, may be the target areas of scalp acupuncture for dementia treatment. The neuroimaging-based scalp acupuncture protocol developed in this study may help to refine the locations for the treatment of dementia. Integrating multidisciplinary methods to identify key surface cortical areas associated with a certain disorder may shed light on the development of scalp acupuncture and other neuromodulation methods such as transcranial electrical current stimulation, particularly in the domain of identifying stimulation locations.
Highlights
In recent years, acupuncture has dramatically increased in popularity and has been widely used in clinical practice in both Eastern and Western societies due to its curative effects and small side effects
We used the meta-analysis on brain imaging studies of dementia (Method 1) to identify brain areas involved in dementia, the surface brain regions associated with dementia
We performed resting-state functional connectivity analysis (Method 2) to identify surface regions that are functionally linked to the hippocampus based on a cohort of subjects collected in our lab
Summary
Acupuncture has dramatically increased in popularity and has been widely used in clinical practice in both Eastern and Western societies due to its curative effects and small side effects. Innovative acupuncture modalities, such as scalp acupuncture, auricular acupuncture, abdominal acupuncture, and wrist acupuncture, have been developed based on new theories. The clinical application and efficacy of these emerging acupuncture modalities have been widely applied in acupuncture practice and have become key components of modern acupuncture. One such modality, which has been attracting more and more attention, is scalp acupuncture
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