{"title":"Knowledge domain and trends in acupuncture for stroke research based on bibliometric analysis.","authors":"Hongdong Hao, Yifang Xing, Jiashu Chen, Haijun Wang, Aiai Dong, Hai-Xin Liu","doi":"10.3389/fnhum.2025.1544812","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This bibliometric analysis comprehensively investigates the literature on acupuncture for stroke rehabilitation, aiming to identify key research hotspots, map the underlying knowledge structure, and examine developmental trends. The central hypothesis posits that acupuncture plays a pivotal role in enhancing neurological and motor function recovery in stroke patients, particularly when combined with complementary therapeutic modalities. A total of 2,217 relevant publications, spanning from database inception through 2024, were selected following stringent data screening and cleaning protocols. Utilizing advanced bibliometric tools such as CiteSpace and VOSviewer, we analyzed publication trends, leading authors, influential institutions, and citation networks. Our findings reveal a consistent and significant increase in research activity, with China emerging as the predominant contributor to this field. The analysis strongly emphasizes neurological recovery, motor function improvement, language rehabilitation, and the integration of acupuncture with other therapeutic strategies. Prominent keywords, including \"acupuncture treatment,\" \"scalp acupuncture,\" \"electroacupuncture,\" and \"rehabilitation therapy,\" reflect the evolving priorities within this domain. This study provides valuable evidence-based insights to guide future research on acupuncture for stroke rehabilitation, offering a solid framework for experimental investigations. By delineating the knowledge landscape, it contributes to refining research hypotheses and optimizing the clinical application of acupuncture in stroke recovery.</p><p><strong>Systematic review registration: </strong>https://inplasy.com/, INPLASY202530038.</p>","PeriodicalId":12536,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","volume":"19 ","pages":"1544812"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11962014/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Frontiers in Human Neuroscience","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1544812","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"NEUROSCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This bibliometric analysis comprehensively investigates the literature on acupuncture for stroke rehabilitation, aiming to identify key research hotspots, map the underlying knowledge structure, and examine developmental trends. The central hypothesis posits that acupuncture plays a pivotal role in enhancing neurological and motor function recovery in stroke patients, particularly when combined with complementary therapeutic modalities. A total of 2,217 relevant publications, spanning from database inception through 2024, were selected following stringent data screening and cleaning protocols. Utilizing advanced bibliometric tools such as CiteSpace and VOSviewer, we analyzed publication trends, leading authors, influential institutions, and citation networks. Our findings reveal a consistent and significant increase in research activity, with China emerging as the predominant contributor to this field. The analysis strongly emphasizes neurological recovery, motor function improvement, language rehabilitation, and the integration of acupuncture with other therapeutic strategies. Prominent keywords, including "acupuncture treatment," "scalp acupuncture," "electroacupuncture," and "rehabilitation therapy," reflect the evolving priorities within this domain. This study provides valuable evidence-based insights to guide future research on acupuncture for stroke rehabilitation, offering a solid framework for experimental investigations. By delineating the knowledge landscape, it contributes to refining research hypotheses and optimizing the clinical application of acupuncture in stroke recovery.
期刊介绍:
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience is a first-tier electronic journal devoted to understanding the brain mechanisms supporting cognitive and social behavior in humans, and how these mechanisms might be altered in disease states. The last 25 years have seen an explosive growth in both the methods and the theoretical constructs available to study the human brain. Advances in electrophysiological, neuroimaging, neuropsychological, psychophysical, neuropharmacological and computational approaches have provided key insights into the mechanisms of a broad range of human behaviors in both health and disease. Work in human neuroscience ranges from the cognitive domain, including areas such as memory, attention, language and perception to the social domain, with this last subject addressing topics, such as interpersonal interactions, social discourse and emotional regulation. How these processes unfold during development, mature in adulthood and often decline in aging, and how they are altered in a host of developmental, neurological and psychiatric disorders, has become increasingly amenable to human neuroscience research approaches. Work in human neuroscience has influenced many areas of inquiry ranging from social and cognitive psychology to economics, law and public policy. Accordingly, our journal will provide a forum for human research spanning all areas of human cognitive, social, developmental and translational neuroscience using any research approach.