Peripheral ERK modulates acupuncture-induced brain neural activity and its functional connectivity
Open Access
- 4 March 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Scientific Reports
- Vol. 11 (1), 1-17
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84273-y
Abstract
Acupuncture has been widely used as a therapeutic intervention, and the brain network plays a crucial role in its neural mechanism. This study aimed to investigate the acupuncture mechanism from peripheral to central by identifying how the peripheral molecular signals induced by acupuncture affect the brain neural responses and its functional connectivity. We confirmed that peripheral ERK activation by acupuncture plays a role in initiating acupuncture-induced peripheral proteomic changes in mice. The brain neural activities in the neocortex, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, periaqueductal grey, and nucleus of the solitary tract (Sol) were significantly changed after acupuncture, and these were altered by peripheral MEK/MAPK inhibition. The arcuate nucleus and lateral hypothalamus were the most affected by acupuncture and peripheral MEK/MAPK inhibition. The hypothalamic area was the most contributing brain region in contrast task PLS analysis. Acupuncture provoked extensive changes in brain functional connectivity, and the posterior hypothalamus showed the highest betweenness centrality after acupuncture. After brain hub identification, the Sol and cingulate cortex were selected as hub regions that reflect both degree and betweenness centrality after acupuncture. These results suggest that acupuncture activates brain functional connectivity and that peripheral ERK induced by acupuncture plays a role in initiating brain neural activation and its functional connectivity.Keywords
Funding Information
- Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (K18182)
This publication has 77 references indexed in Scilit:
- Altered Hub Configurations within Default Mode Network following Acupuncture at ST36: A Multimodal Investigation Combining fMRI and MEGPLOS ONE, 2013
- Hypothalamus-Related Resting Brain Network Underlying Short-Term Acupuncture Treatment in Primary HypertensionEvidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013
- Circular representation of human cortical networks for subject and population-level connectomic visualizationNeuroImage, 2012
- TRPV1 expression in acupuncture points: Response to electroacupuncture stimulationJournal of Chemical Neuroanatomy, 2011
- Activation of reciprocal pathways between arcuate nucleus and ventrolateral periaqueductal gray during electroacupuncture: Involvement of VGLUT3Brain Research, 2010
- Adenosine A1 receptors mediate local anti-nociceptive effects of acupunctureNature Neuroscience, 2010
- Electroacupuncture suppresses capsaicin-induced secondary hyperalgesia through an endogenous spinal opioid mechanismPain, 2009
- An fMRI study on the interaction and dissociation between expectation of pain relief and acupuncture treatmentNeuroImage, 2009
- Traditional Chinese acupuncture and placebo (sham) acupuncture are differentiated by their effects on μ-opioid receptors (MORs)NeuroImage, 2009
- Expectancy and treatment interactions: A dissociation between acupuncture analgesia and expectancy evoked placebo analgesiaNeuroImage, 2009