Medical Research

Acupuncture for Better Focus? Persistence Pays Off

Kristen Sparrow • December 18, 2012

woman getting acupunctureA patient told me the story of a friend who went religiously for Acupuncture for a year for help with focus. She’s now able to read a book every other day. It was a good reminder for me to encourage patients to “stick with it” (pardon the pun), and a good reminder for me too!  The patients who are consistent and show up reap tremendous benefit no matter what their age or condition.
Though this article is out of my area of expertise I’m linking to it because a patient of mine told me about a friend of his who went religiously for acupuncture and it helped dramatically with her ability to focus and and read. (She now reads a book every other day.) So when this came to my inbox, I felt destined to share it with you.  Bottom line is that Heart 7 ( treating the heart and shen) is especially good for improving focus as shown by brain scan.

Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Xue Bao. 2012 Jan;10(1):48-53.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”] [fusion_builder_row] [fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”] [Effects of acupuncture at Shenmen (HT7) or Taiyuan (LU9) on P3a and P3b of event-related potentials in healthy young adults].
Cai RL, Hu L, Wu ZJ, Wang KM, He L, Zhou YP, Zhao L, Hu WB.Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
OBJECTIVE:
To investigate the effects of manual acupuncture at Shenmen (HT7) or Taiyuan (LU9) on the attention function of the brain, and to lay an experimental foundation for researching brain function and integration mechanisms of the human brain in relation to acupuncture stimulation.
METHODS:
Ten healthy young college students were selected as experimental subjects. P3a and P3b potentials were induced by novel stimulation and target stimulation with vision and were observed using Neuroscan event-related potentials system at time windows of ms 330-430 or 400-600 ms for observing the change of intensity distribution of P300 after manual acupuncture at HT7 or LU9.
RESULTS:
The amplitude of P3a and P3b decreased significantly after manual acupuncture at HT7 or LU9, but the degree of decreases affected by the acupoints was different. The decrease of the amplitude of P3a due to acupuncture at HT7 was more significant than acupuncture at LU9 (P<0.05).
CONCLUSION:
The attention function of the brain is affected by manual acupuncture at HT7 or LU9 and manual acupuncture at HT7 has a greater influence on the attention function of the brain.

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