Different modes of manual acupuncture stimulation differentially modulate cerebral blood flow velocity, arterial blood pressure and heart rate in human subjects

M. Bäcker, M. G. Hammes, M. Valet, M. Deppe, B. Conrad, T. R. Tölle, G. Dobos

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

84 Scopus citations

Abstract

The psychophysiological effect of different modes of manual acupuncture stimulation was investigated in 12 healthy, right handed, male subjects (mean age 29). The cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) in both middle cerebral arteries, arterial blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and the perceived intensity of the stimulation were monitored while an acupuncture needle in the right dorsal thenar muscle (point Hegu, Li 4) was repetitively rotated with either high frequency (4-8 Hz) and low amplitude (hf-la) or low frequency (1-2 Hz) and high amplitude (lf-ha). Response patterns induced by hf-la and hf-la stimulation differed significantly (P<0.05) as tested by Student's t-test: (1), hf-la stimulation was perceived as more intense and induced a more marked right hemispheric CBFV increase; (2), while hf-la stimulation lead to a slight decrease of BP and HR, lf-ha stimulation induced an initial pressor response (increase of BP, decrease of HR) and a more marked long term decrease of BP. Data indicate that the mode of manual acupuncture stimulation has a differential effect on the perceived stimulation intensity, the cerebral activation and the cardiovascular reflex response.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)203-206
Number of pages4
JournalNeuroscience Letters
Volume333
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 29 Nov 2002

Keywords

  • Acupuncture
  • Cerebral activation
  • Somatocardiovascular reflex response
  • Transcranial Doppler

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