Neurophysiological basis of auricular acupuncture for the the treatment of p-chlorophenylalanine-induced insomnia

摘要

Electroacupuncture of auricular concha area (EA-ACR) is a method of acupuncture stimulation of auricular concha area, which has been described in ancient China as well as in Egypt, Greece and Rome [1]. The traditional theory proposed that the auricle was represented by the body and internal organs, such that different body regions and organs appear on the external ear to form a humunculus of inverted fetus. In 1950s, French physician Nogier reawakened the interest in ACR by proposing a theory that there is a somatotopic and viscerotopic representation on the auricle. The distribution of auricular acupoints in the ears has a certain regularity, which like an inverted fetus [2]. Disorders from a particular part of the body could be treated by the corresponding point in the ear [1,2].Since then, EA-ACR has been used to relieve pain [3, 4], ameliorate anxiety disorders and help treat sleep disorders [5, 6]. However there is little empirical evidence showing how this theory working.