Prospects from Basic Acupuncture Research to Clinical Practice

Abstract

In the East, therapies such as acupuncture, moxibustion, and massage have been used to relieve pain and regulate the functions of internal organs. In these therapies, stimulation of the skin and muscles from the body surface excites somatic afferent fibers. This information is transmitted to the central nervous system, and reaches consciousness as sensations, influencing emotions and causing analgesic effects and visceral regulation via autonomic reflexes. This paper first briefly describes the characteristics of somatic-autonomic reflexes, and then introduces basic research conducted in the authors' laboratory on reflex responses to the autonomic nervous system, mainly using anesthetized animals. Finally, the authors present data from their recent olfactory research and discuss the clinical implications.