Objective To observe the changes of brain rest-state functional connectivity following electroacupuncture(EA)stimulation of right Xia-Jiquan(HT 1)

Shaohai(HT 3)

Lingdao(HT 4)and Shenmen(HT 7)of the Heart Meridian and non-acupoints in healthy volunteers so as to provide an imaging basis for clinical treatment of some related disorders.MethodsA total of 20 healthy volunteers who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into HT-acupoint group(n=10cases)and non-acupoint group(n=10cases)according to the visiting sequence.EA(2Hz

2-5mA)was applied to the right HT 1-HT 3

and HT 4-HT 7(two outputs of the EA stimulator being connected to two acupuncture needle handles)and non-acupoints(4spots on the imaginary mid-line between the HT and the Pericardium Meridian apart from the 4acupoints HT 1-HT 3

and HT 4-HT 7)for6min.All the subjects underwent resting-state(rs)fMRI using an Achieva 1.5Tmagnetic resonance image(MRI)scanner before and after EA stimulation.The bilateral posterior cingulate was used as the seed point and the functional connectivity data was analyzed by using DPARSF software and rs-fMRI data analysis toolkit.Results After EA stimulation of both acupoints and non-acupoints

a similar functional connectivity change was found in the bilateral postcentral gyrus

right inferior parietal lobule

and right inferior frontal gyrus.After EA of acupoints of the HT Meridian

an enhancement of brain functional connectivity was found in the left inferior temporal gyrus and right parahippocampal gyrus

and the newly activated brain regions were the left precentral gyrus

right precuneus

left angular gyrus

left inferior occipital gyrus and the left insula.After EA stimulation of non-acupoints

an increased functional connectivity was found in the left superior temporal gyrus

which was different from EA of acupoints of HT Meridian.Conclusion EA stimulation of acupoints of the HT Meridian can enhance the rs functional connectivity in some brain regions as the postcentral gyrus

inferior temporal gyrus

etc.which is related to mediating information of somatosensory

cognitive

affective

memory

cardiovascular activities

etc.in healthy volunteer subjects.The only difference between the two EA groups is an enhanced functional connectivity found in the left superior temporal gyrus after EA of non-acupoints.