至陰穴和相關大腦皮質之相關性

The Correlative Study between Acupoints and Corresponding Brain Cortices

Our previous study with functional MRI demonstrated that acupuncture stimulation on the vision-related acupoint, Bl-67, activated the visual cortex of human brain. As a further study on the effect of Bl-67 acupuncture stimulation on the visual cortex, we examined c-Fos expression in binocularly deprived rat pups. Binocular deprivation significantly reduced the number of c-Fospositive cells in the primary visual cortex, compared with that of normal control rat pups. Interestingly, acupuncture stimulation on Bl-67 resulted in a significant increase in the number of c- Fos-positive cells in the primary visual cortex whereas acupuncture stimulation on other acupoint less important for visual function had no significant effect on c-Fos expression in the primary visual cortex. The result suggests the possibility of the vision-related acupoint having an influence over the activity of the primary visual cortex.