Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 1998; 3: 191–2
This is a preliminary study of the correlation between an acupuncture point and the corresponding brain localization for vision by using functional MRI (fMRI).
A conventional gradient echo (CGE) sequence with 2.0 T whole-body MRI system was used. Healthy human volunteers (12 volunteers, age 21–30 yrs) were studied for both acupuncture and visual light stimulation. BL67 acupuncture point located in the lateral margin of the little toe was stimulated with gold needle to avoid artifacts. Another non-acupuncture point was also stimulated with the same conditions. As a control stimulation, conventional checkerboard 8-Hz light-flashed stimulation of the eye was done. All time course data of these three experiments were observed.
Results gained with 12 volunteers showed clean data and very close correlation between visual and acupuncture stimulation. There was a similarity between MR images of BL67 acupuncture stimulation and light flash and but not of non-acupuncture point stimulation. Therefore, images of the two relevant stimulations were compared. The result of comparison indicated that the time-course data obtained from BL67 acupuncture and visual stimulation were analogous.
From these data, it can be concluded that the activation of the visual cortices by acupuncture BL67 point is consistent with visual light stimulation previously observed by fMRI.
