Data from: Modulation of functional activity and connectivity by acupuncture in patients with Alzheimer disease as measured by resting-state fMRI

Acupuncture has been used in the therapy of Alzheimer disease (AD); however, its neural mechanisms are still unclear. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of acupuncture on the functional connectivity in AD by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Twenty-eight subjects (14 AD and 14 normal controls) participated in this study. The rs-fMRI data were acquired before and after acupuncture stimulation at the acupoints of Tai chong (Liv3) and Hegu (LI4). During the baseline resting state, by using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), we found a significantly decreased or increased ALFF in the AD patients relative to the controls. These regions were located in the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), left postcentral gyrus, subgenual cingulate cortex (SCC), right middle cingulate cortex (MCC), right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), right hippocampus and the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG). Then, we selected these brain regions as seeds to investigate whether regional activity and functional connectivity could be modulated by acupuncture in the AD patients. When compared to the pre-acupuncture stage, several of the above regions showed an increased or decreased ALFF after acupuncture in the AD patients. In addition, the functional connectivity between the hippocampus and the precentral gyrus showed enhancement after acupuncture in the AD patients. Finally, there were close correlations between the functional activity, connectivity and clinical performance in the AD patients. The current study confirmed that acupuncture at Tai chong (Liv3) and He gu (LI4) can modulate functional activity and connectivity of specific cognition-related regions in AD patients.

针灸已被应用于阿尔茨海默病（Alzheimer disease, AD）的治疗，但其相关神经机制仍未明确。本研究旨在通过静息态功能磁共振成像（resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, rs-fMRI）探讨针灸对阿尔茨海默病患者脑功能连接的影响。本研究共纳入28名受试者，其中阿尔茨海默病患者14名，正常对照14名。在对受试者施加太冲（Liv3）与合谷（LI4）穴位的针灸刺激前后，分别采集其rs-fMRI数据。在基线静息状态下，通过低频振幅（amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, ALFF）分析发现，相较于正常对照，阿尔茨海默病患者的ALFF存在显著上调或下调的脑区，这些脑区包括右侧额上回（superior frontal gyrus, SFG）、左侧中央后回、扣带回下膝部（subgenual cingulate cortex, SCC）、右侧中扣带回（middle cingulate cortex, MCC）、右侧额下回（inferior frontal gyrus, IFG）、右侧海马体以及右侧颞下回（inferior temporal gyrus, ITG）。随后，我们选取上述脑区作为种子点，探究针灸是否可调节阿尔茨海默病患者的局部脑活动与功能连接。与针灸前相比，阿尔茨海默病患者经针灸后，上述多个脑区的ALFF出现显著升高或降低。此外，阿尔茨海默病患者在接受针灸后，海马体与中央前回之间的功能连接显著增强。最后，阿尔茨海默病患者的脑功能活动、功能连接与临床表现之间存在显著相关性。本研究证实，针刺太冲（Liv3）与合谷（LI4）穴位可调节阿尔茨海默病患者特定认知相关脑区的局部活动与功能连接。