基于格兰杰因果分析的针刺不同效应阶段中枢神经传导通路研究

摘要

Objectives: Although accumulating evidence has demonstrated a wide range of cortico-subcortical networks underlying acute effects of acupuncture, less is understood regarding how and by what neural pathways these brain areas interact. We have recently proposed that acupuncture is a slow-acting agent and can induce speciifc patterns of dynamic CNS activities. Implicit in this evidence was the prediction that the reconifguration of brain networks underlying both acute and sustained effects of acupuncture may elucidate its overall functional speciifcity.Materials and Methods:We address the idea directly by adopting a non-repeated event-related design paradigm and multivariate Granger causality analysis (mGCA).Results:We found that brain areas were only sparsely causal connected at early acupuncture needling stage, mainly including ascending path from the thalamus as well as top-down control signals from frontal cortices to nociceptive information processing areas. As time prolonged (sustained effect), more extensive regions integrated into a dense, causally interconnected network only following acupuncture at ST36 but not nonacupoint. Additionally, this reorganization of wide brain networks seemed to be evolved from the resting state.Conclusions:These findings highlighted that the specific effect of acupuncture may involve the integration of recurrent information lfow among multi-levels of brain networks.%目的：探讨针刺不同效应阶段是否会引发中枢神经信号不同的传导通路。材料与方法采用非重复事件相关的实验设计模式和多元格兰杰因果有效连接度分析方法。结果研究表明针刺即时效应仅引发大脑微弱、稀疏的因果有效连接，包括经丘脑的体感上行传导通路与由额叶皮层投射到疼痛反应区的自上而下的控制通路。持续性效应阶段，仅在针刺足三里穴后会引发广泛大脑区域的更为紧密的因果连接模式。结论针刺效应可能涉及大脑网络多水平层面信息流的整合与交互。