Mechanisms underlying the effect of acupuncture on cognitive improvement: a systematic review of animal studies

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2014

Keywords

Acupuncture, Cognitive, Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease

DOI

10.1007/s11481-014-9550-4

Abstract

Acupuncture has been reported to be beneficial in treating cognitive impairment in various pathological conditions. This review describes the effort to understand the signaling pathways that underlie the acupunctural therapeutic effect on cognitive function. We searched the literature in 12 electronic databases from their inception to November 2013, with full text available and language limited to English. Twenty-three studies were identified under the selection criteria. All recruited animal studies demonstrate a significant positive effect of acupuncture on cognitive impairment. Findings suggest acupuncture may improve cognitive function through modulation of signaling pathways involved in neuronal survival and function, specifically, through promoting cholinergic neural transmission, facilitating dopaminergic synaptic transmission, enhancing neurotrophin signaling, suppressing oxidative stress, attenuating apoptosis, regulating glycometabolic enzymes and reducing microglial activation. However, the quality of reviewed studies has room for improvement. Further high-quality animal studies with randomization, blinding and estimation of sample size are needed to strengthen the recognition of group differences.

Source Publication

Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology

Volume Number

9

Issue Number

4

ISSN

1557-1890

First Page

492

Last Page

507

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