{"title":"Skin-Brain Axis: neural pathways in acupuncture treatment.","authors":"Teng He, Yuanjia Zheng, Jinglan Yan, Yucen Xia, Bokai Wang, Zhen Zhang, Zuoxiang Shang, Kangshuai Li, Bodong Liu, Ning Weng, Yongjun Chen","doi":"10.1186/s13020-025-01213-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The \"Skin-Brain Axis\" hypothesis posits that the skin contains a dense network of nerve endings, neurotransmitters, and neuropeptide receptors capable of detecting tissue damage with high precision and relaying signals to the brain through sensory neurons. Research indicates that therapies involving body surface stimulation, such as acupuncture, modulate brain function. However, there is a paucity of reviews detailing the mechanisms or pathways underlying these therapeutic interventions. This review digs into the neurobiological substrates of acupuncture's efficacy, focusing on three pivotal components: the activation of skin at acupoints, the conduction of peripheral nerve signals, and the subsequent central nervous system responses.</p>","PeriodicalId":10266,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Medicine","volume":"20 1","pages":"163"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12502229/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Chinese Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13020-025-01213-y","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The "Skin-Brain Axis" hypothesis posits that the skin contains a dense network of nerve endings, neurotransmitters, and neuropeptide receptors capable of detecting tissue damage with high precision and relaying signals to the brain through sensory neurons. Research indicates that therapies involving body surface stimulation, such as acupuncture, modulate brain function. However, there is a paucity of reviews detailing the mechanisms or pathways underlying these therapeutic interventions. This review digs into the neurobiological substrates of acupuncture's efficacy, focusing on three pivotal components: the activation of skin at acupoints, the conduction of peripheral nerve signals, and the subsequent central nervous system responses.
Chinese MedicineINTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE-PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY
CiteScore
7.90
自引率
4.10%
发文量
133
审稿时长
31 weeks
期刊介绍：
Chinese Medicine is an open access, online journal publishing evidence-based, scientifically justified, and ethical research into all aspects of Chinese medicine.
Areas of interest include recent advances in herbal medicine, clinical nutrition, clinical diagnosis, acupuncture, pharmaceutics, biomedical sciences, epidemiology, education, informatics, sociology, and psychology that are relevant and significant to Chinese medicine. Examples of research approaches include biomedical experimentation, high-throughput technology, clinical trials, systematic reviews, meta-analysis, sampled surveys, simulation, data curation, statistics, omics, translational medicine, and integrative methodologies.
Chinese Medicine is a credible channel to communicate unbiased scientific data, information, and knowledge in Chinese medicine among researchers, clinicians, academics, and students in Chinese medicine and other scientific disciplines of medicine.
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