The Role of Acupuncture Improving Cognitive Deficits due to Alzheimer's Disease or Vascular Diseases through Regulating Neuroplasticity. (12th January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ji, Shaozhen; Duan, Jiayu; Hou, Xiaobing; Zhou, Li; Qin, Weilan; Niu, Huanmin; Luo, Shuyun; Zhang, Yunling; Chan, Piu; Jin, Xianglan
• Other Names: Zheng Zhen Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: Neural plasticity. Volume 2021(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-01-12
• Subjects: Neuroplasticity -- Periodicals; 612.82
• DOI: 10.1155/2021/8868447
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2090-5904

Abstract

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.