[Advances in the study on the regulatory mechanism of neural circuits in acupuncture treatment of stroke].

Abstract

Stroke is a loss of brain functions due to disturbance of blood supply, leading to a series of diseases and sequelae. Nerve circuit damage is an important cause of functional impairment after stroke. The neural circuit in the brain is a system of interconnected neurons, and is the only way for information transmission in the human body. Neural plasticity and circuit reconstruction are thought to contribute to post-stroke recovery. Acupuncture can effectively improve neural function damage after stroke by remodeling the neural circuit. In the present paper, we summarized the mechanisms of acupuncture in promoting the restoration of motor, sensory, cognitive and other functions after stroke from: 1) increasing the excitability of motor cortex, enhancing the corresponding functional connectivity between the premotor cortex/adjacent supplementary motor area and the supramarginal gyrus (intercortical circuit); 2) enhancing the effective connection between the cerebellum and sensorimotor cortex (cortico-cerebellum circuit); 3) regulating the enhanced functional connectivity between the cortex and the ipsilateral basal ganglia and the weakened functional connectivity between the cortex and the contralateral basal ganglia (cortico-basal ganglia circuit); and 4) promoting the functional connectivity between the cortex and hippocampus, strengthening hippocampal nerve regeneration and regulating synaptic plasticity (cortico-hippocampal circuits). In summary, current studies have focused on the regulation of acupuncture on the neural circuit between the cerebral cortex and other brain regions and on in vivo imaging mechanisms. However, the specific regulation mechanism of acupuncture on single neural circuit and whether there is a correlation between each circuit need to be further studied.