Abstract
Objective As a noninvasive and nonpharmacological therapeutic approach, superficial acupuncture (SA) is a special method of acupuncture. In this study, using nonlinear dynamics and multivariate statistics, we studied the electroencephalography (EEG) of primary insomnia under SA intervention to investigate how brain regions change. Method This study included 30 adults with primary insomnia. They underwent superficial acupuncture at the Shangen acupoint. The EEG signals were collected for 10 minutes at each state, including the resting state, the intervention state, and the postintervention state. The data were conducted using nonlinear dynamics (including approximate entropy (ApEn) and correlation dimension (CD)) and multivariate statistics. Result The repeated-measures ANOVA results showed that both ApEn and CD values were not significantly different at the three states (p > 0.05). The paired t-test results showed that the ApEn values of electrodes O2 (the right occipital lobe) at the postintervention state have decreased, compared with the resting state (p < 0.05), and no difference was detected in CD (p > 0.05). The cluster analysis results of ApEn showed that patients' EEG has changed from the right prefrontal lobe (electrode Fp2) to the right posterior temporal lobe (electrode T6) and finally to the right occipital lobe (electrode O2), before, during, and after the SA intervention. In addition, the factor analysis results of CD revealed that patients' EEG of all brain regions except for the occipital lobes has changed to the frontal lobes and anterior temporal and frontal lobes from pre- to postintervention. Conclusion SA activated the corresponding brain regions and reduced the complexity of the brain involved. It is feasible to use nonlinear dynamics analysis and multivariate statistics to examine the effects of SA on the human brain.
Highlights
Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders and can have negative impacts on patients’ quality of life; it is associated with medical morbidity [1, 2]
In this study, using nonlinear dynamics and multivariate statistics, we studied the EEG of primary insomnia under Superficial acupuncture (SA) stimulation to determine what the implications are on the brain. e results and the proposed method in our study will be useful in laying a foundation for further study on the mechanism through which SA affects brain function
Focused on these changes of brain regions strongly implicated in superficial acupuncture intervention, this study was designed to compare EEG signals before, during, and after SA stimulation at the Shangen acupoint for insomnia patients based on the fact that EEG signals are time series
Summary
As a noninvasive and nonpharmacological therapeutic approach, superficial acupuncture (SA) is a special method of acupuncture. In this study, using nonlinear dynamics and multivariate statistics, we studied the electroencephalography (EEG) of primary insomnia under SA intervention to investigate how brain regions change. E cluster analysis results of ApEn showed that patients’ EEG has changed from the right prefrontal lobe (electrode Fp2) to the right posterior temporal lobe (electrode T6) and to the right occipital lobe (electrode O2), before, during, and after the SA intervention. The factor analysis results of CD revealed that patients’ EEG of all brain regions except for the occipital lobes has changed to the frontal lobes and anterior temporal and frontal lobes from pre- to postintervention. It is feasible to use nonlinear dynamics analysis and multivariate statistics to examine the effects of SA on the human brain
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