Brain activity of a rat reflects apparently the stimulation of acupuncture. A radioautography using 2-deoxyglucose.

To confirm a relationship between the central nervous system and the acupuncture, the response was examined in the rat brain using radioautography with tritiated 2-deoxyglucose, after stimulation of some acupoints. Eight groups, of a total of 27 rats were submitted to acupuncture at 6 different acupoints (Zusanli, Renzhong, Tianshu, Shenmen, Neiguan, Yongquan) and control, with or without electric pulses or with anesthesia respectively, prior to the injection with isotopic deoxyglucose. A hundred twenty cryosections were cut from a freshly frozen brain and exposed on single-coated X-ray films. The results showed that the acupuncture on the four acupoints of Zusanli, Tianshu, Shenmen and Neiguan enhanced the activity of the neocortex, the limbic cortex and the thalamic nuclei in comparison with the control group. The acupoints on Renzhong and Yongquan depressed the activity on the thalamic nuclei and the midbrain. The anesthesia with pentobarbital concealed the most activity on the whole area of the brain, which hardly responded to any stimulation of acupuncture. These results lead to the suggestion that the brain may reflect the signals by the stimulation of acupuncture and change the activity depending upon each acupoint.