Acupuncture-induced changes in locus coeruleus connectivity and memory improvement in patients with amnestic cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND

An increasing number of neuroimaging studies have consistently indicated that the locus coeruleus is associated with cognitive impairment in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, and the locus coeruleus plays a critical role in cognition, including memory encoding, consolidation, and retrieval.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether and how acupuncture modulates the functional connectivity patterns of the locus coeruleus, and offer a new perspective on the mechanism through which acupuncture exerts its efficacy.

METHODS

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected from 50 patients with amnestic cognitive impairment (aMCI) before and after verum or sham acupuncture. Seed-based whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) was calculated and compared to explore the changing patterns of the locus coeruleus in aMCI patients following acupuncture.

RESULTS

Increased FCs were observed between the left locus coeruleus and the left inferior parietal lobule, and between the right locus coeruleus and the right posterior cerebellum in aMCI patients after verum acupuncture. Further analyses revealed a correlation between FC of the left locus coeruleus and the left inferior parietal lobule before acupuncture and improvement in immediate recall in aMCI patients.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that acupuncture could enhance FC between the locus coeruleus and the inferior parietal lobule/the posterior cerebellum. These functional alterations appear to be linked to the efficacy of acupuncture, particularly in ameliorating memory deficits.