KI 1 for Disorder of Consciousness

KI 1 for Disorder of Consciousness

Disorder of consciousness (DOC) is one of the most serious sequelae of brain injury, and is challenging for neurologists and rehabilitation specialists to manage because of its refractory nature. Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that is often used to help improve the level of consciousness in patients with DOC. However, the responses to stimulation of acupoints in patients with DOC are not fully understood. It is unclear whether stimulation of acupoints simply provides peripheral sensory input, or whether such stimulation induces specific responses that differ from those of other sensory input. To investigate these responses, we studied five patients with DOC who received acupuncture at real and sham acupoints from January 2012 to June 2013. Positron emission tomography (PET) findings were used to study the effects of the two acupuncture procedures on neuronal activation in the brain. Neuronal activity can be observed on PET after injection of 18F-FDG, which shows areas of synaptic firing in the brain. The results of this study show that acupuncture at the Yongquan acupoint (KI 1) induced stronger neuronal activity than acupuncture at the sham acupoints. We believe that acupuncture at the Yongquan acupoints may increase synaptic activity in some areas of the brain. The putamen, cingulate cortex, frontal lobe and cerebellum are involved in conscious thought. Long-term acupuncture may affect the quantity and function of synapses in these areas, leading to neural reorganization. This may explain the mechanism by which acupuncture at the Yongquan acupoints results in improvement of patients with DOC.

Source: Zhang H, Sun X, Liu S, Chen Y, Ling F. Neuronal activation by acupuncture at Yongquan (KI1) and sham acupoints in patients with disorder of consciousness: a positron emission tomography study. Neural Regen Res. 2014 Mar 1;9(5):500-1.