Neural Substrates and Functional Hypothesis of Acupuncture Mechanisms - Neural substrates and humoral-, neural-, and immune-responses related to acupuncture stimulation-

침의 치료기전에 대한 신경기반 및 신경기능 가설 -침자극과 관계된 신경기반 및 체액성 반응, 신경적 반응, 면역반응-

Acupuncture therapy has demonstrated efficacy in several clinical areas, and of these areas the understanding of pain has progressed immensely in the last two decades. The underlying mechanisms of acupuncture in general and the analgesic effect in particular are still not clearly delineated. The leading hypothesis include the effects of local stimulation, neuronal gating, release of endogenous opiates, and the placebo effect. Accumulating evidence suggests that the central nervous system(CNS) is essential for the processing of these effects, via its modulation of the autonomic nervous system, neuro-immune system, and hormonal regulation. These processes tap into basic survival mechanisms. As such, understanding the effects of acupuncture within a neuroscience-based framework becomes vital. We propose a model which incorporates the stress-induced hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis(HPA-axis) model of Akil et al., the cholinergic anti-inflamatory observations of Tracey et al., and Petrovic et al.