The Role of Acupuncture Improving Cognitive Deficits due to Alzheimer's Disease or Vascular Diseases through Regulating Neuroplasticity

Shaozhen Ji, Jiayu Duan, Xiaobing Hou, Li Zhou, Weilan Qin, Huanmin Niu, Shuyun Luo, Yunling Zhang, Piu Chan, Xianglan Jin, Shaozhen Ji, Jiayu Duan, Xiaobing Hou, Li Zhou, Weilan Qin, Huanmin Niu, Shuyun Luo, Yunling Zhang, Piu Chan, Xianglan Jin

Abstract

Dementia affects millions of elderly worldwide causing remarkable costs to society, but effective treatment is still lacking. Acupuncture is one of the complementary therapies that has been applied to cognitive deficits such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), while the underlying mechanisms of its therapeutic efficiency remain elusive. Neuroplasticity is defined as the ability of the nervous system to adapt to internal and external environmental changes, which may support some data to clarify mechanisms how acupuncture improves cognitive impairments. This review summarizes the up-to-date and comprehensive information on the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment on neurogenesis and gliogenesis, synaptic plasticity, related regulatory factors, and signaling pathways, as well as brain network connectivity, to lay ground for fully elucidating the potential mechanism of acupuncture on the regulation of neuroplasticity and promoting its clinical application as a complementary therapy for AD and VCI.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Copyright © 2021 Shaozhen Ji et al.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The locations of acupoints in mice.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The locations of acupoints in humans.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mechanisms involved in acupuncture regulating neuroplasticity to improve cognitive function.

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