Acupuncture Stimulates Brain Areas Impaired in Parkinson’s Disease

An international study involving Korea, Europe and the US, has revealed that acupuncture stimulation of the point Yanglingquan near the knee, can activate areas of the brain which are known to be impaired in patients with Parkinson’s disease. In a comparison study, twelve patients (mean age 53) with Parkinson’s disease and twelve otherwise matched, healthy individuals, were needled at Yanglingquan whilst brain activity was observed using an fMRI scanner. The patients with Parkinson’s had their usual medication stopped 12 hours before the investigation.

The results showed that acupuncture stimulation had activated the prefrontal cortex, precentral gyrus and putamen in the patients with Parkinson’s; all these areas are known to be impaired in this disease. Furthermore, the characteristics of the activation were different for the two groups, and the patients with Parkinson’s displayed significantly higher post-acupuncture activity in the prefrontal cortex and precentral gyrus.

(Acupuncture on GB34 activates the precentral gyrus and prefrontal cortex in Parkinson’s disease. BMC Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 15 September 2014. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/14/336)

Author: Robin Costello

I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training. I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.