Hu Ke, Zhang Wenan (Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine)
The traditional Chinese medicine had already realized long ago a certain relationship between the points on channels and auditory function of the body. In the book of "Canon of Medicine", it was stated that "When puncturing Ting-gong, the patient may have a reaction on his eye, and may hear something in his ear, so this is the point"; "Along the twelve channels and the 365 collaterals, their divisional vital energy is transported to the ear, so that something will be heard" and "The ear is an organ where the important channels are converged". In order to study this problem, we have made clinical observations and carried on experiments in animals.
1. The phenomenon of the needling sensation tends toward the ear: There were 13 patients with this phenomenon. Five of them complained of tinnitus and eight of them suffered from deafness. We have never seen this phenomenon among persons with normal auditory function. When the needle was inserted into the point, or non-acupuncture point, repeated rotating, lifting and thrusting of the needle, would cause the needling sensation to be conducted upward to the head and face along or not along the channel and finally entered into the ear. The conductive velocity of the sensation was evaluated at the quantitative level of centimeters per second. As soon as the needling sensation entered into the ear of the patient with tinnitus, the symptom would disappear. In some patients other sorts of sound might be heard when the needling sensation entered into their ears. If there was not such phenomenon of needling sensation tending toward the ear, the therapeutic effect of tinnitus would be unsatisfactory.
2. The observation of the evoked potential of the cortical auditory area by electric acupuncture stimuli on the points: Seventeen healthy guinea pigs were used in this experiment. Epidural silver-ball electrode was implanted in. The animals were kept awake during the experiment. The applied acoustic stimuli were clicks, the electric pulses of square waves were 2v. and 0.5 msec. and the evoked potential was expressed as mean average response. In thirteen (76.47%) animals could be recorded the evoked potential which consisted of mainly a negative fast wave followed by a positive slow wave from the auditory cortex by stimulating points selected from the channels of the Spleen, the Liver, the Urinary Bladder, the Gall Bladder, the Sanjiao, the Kidney and the Stomach.
3. The converged projection of the afferent impulses of the points on channels and auditus to a neuron in the inferior colliculus: This study was conducted on 28 healthy guinea pigs. The animals were anesthetized with chloralose (1%) in urethane solution (10%). Glass microelectrode with a tip about 1 micron in diameter was used for extracellular recording. The unit discharges of 95 neurons in the inferior colliculus were observed, 6 units of them responsed not only to clicks but also to the electric acupuncture stimuli of the points (Lingxia point). The latency of the acoustic response ranged from 6 to more than 10 msec., and the latency of the electric acupuncture response ranged from 20 to 72 msec.
4. The effect of electric acupuncture of points upon the evoked potentials of the cortical auditory area: Twenty four healthy guinea pigs were used in this experiment. The epidural silver-ball electrode implanted and the animals remained awake during the experiment. Clicks were used for the acoustic stimuli. The puncturing points were Tinggong and Lingxia. Changes of the evoked potential amplitude were observed and recorded once per ten min. Generally, three control tests were made before puncture. The effect of acupuncture upon auditory evoked potential showed individual difference among these animals. In 150 items of the results, 54.67% did not reveal any significant change, 26% showed increasing potential amplitude, while 19.33% decreasing amplitude.
It is obvious that implications of certain relationships between the points on channels and the auditory function were revealed in the evidences derived from our research: disapperance of tinnitus in some patients when the needling sensation reaches the ear; projection of the afferent impulses of acupuncture stimulus and hearing to the same region of the auditory cortex and inferior colliculus, even with convergence to the same neuron of the inferior colliculus; and influence on the acoustic evoked potential amplitude induced by acupuncture of points in certain experimental animals.
The traditional Chinese medicine had already realized long ago a certain relationship between the points on channels and auditory function of the body. In the book of "Canon of Medicine", it was stated that "When puncturing Ting-gong, the patient may have a reaction on his eye, and may hear something in his ear, so this is the point"; "Along the twelve channels and the 365 collaterals, their divisional vital energy is transported to the ear, so that something will be heard" and "The ear is an organ where the important channels are converged". In order to study this problem, we have made clinical observations and carried on experiments in animals.
1. The phenomenon of the needling sensation tends toward the ear: There were 13 patients with this phenomenon. Five of them complained of tinnitus and eight of them suffered from deafness. We have never seen this phenomenon among persons with normal auditory function. When the needle was inserted into the point, or non-acupuncture point, repeated rotating, lifting and thrusting of the needle, would cause the needling sensation to be conducted upward to the head and face along or not along the channel and finally entered into the ear. The conductive velocity of the sensation was evaluated at the quantitative level of centimeters per second. As soon as the needling sensation entered into the ear of the patient with tinnitus, the symptom would disappear. In some patients other sorts of sound might be heard when the needling sensation entered into their ears. If there was not such phenomenon of needling sensation tending toward the ear, the therapeutic effect of tinnitus would be unsatisfactory.
2. The observation of the evoked potential of the cortical auditory area by electric acupuncture stimuli on the points: Seventeen healthy guinea pigs were used in this experiment. Epidural silver-ball electrode was implanted in. The animals were kept awake during the experiment. The applied acoustic stimuli were clicks, the electric pulses of square waves were 2v. and 0.5 msec. and the evoked potential was expressed as mean average response. In thirteen (76.47%) animals could be recorded the evoked potential which consisted of mainly a negative fast wave followed by a positive slow wave from the auditory cortex by stimulating points selected from the channels of the Spleen, the Liver, the Urinary Bladder, the Gall Bladder, the Sanjiao, the Kidney and the Stomach.
3. The converged projection of the afferent impulses of the points on channels and auditus to a neuron in the inferior colliculus: This study was conducted on 28 healthy guinea pigs. The animals were anesthetized with chloralose (1%) in urethane solution (10%). Glass microelectrode with a tip about 1 micron in diameter was used for extracellular recording. The unit discharges of 95 neurons in the inferior colliculus were observed, 6 units of them responsed not only to clicks but also to the electric acupuncture stimuli of the points (Lingxia point). The latency of the acoustic response ranged from 6 to more than 10 msec., and the latency of the electric acupuncture response ranged from 20 to 72 msec.
4. The effect of electric acupuncture of points upon the evoked potentials of the cortical auditory area: Twenty four healthy guinea pigs were used in this experiment. The epidural silver-ball electrode implanted and the animals remained awake during the experiment. Clicks were used for the acoustic stimuli. The puncturing points were Tinggong and Lingxia. Changes of the evoked potential amplitude were observed and recorded once per ten min. Generally, three control tests were made before puncture. The effect of acupuncture upon auditory evoked potential showed individual difference among these animals. In 150 items of the results, 54.67% did not reveal any significant change, 26% showed increasing potential amplitude, while 19.33% decreasing amplitude.
It is obvious that implications of certain relationships between the points on channels and the auditory function were revealed in the evidences derived from our research: disapperance of tinnitus in some patients when the needling sensation reaches the ear; projection of the afferent impulses of acupuncture stimulus and hearing to the same region of the auditory cortex and inferior colliculus, even with convergence to the same neuron of the inferior colliculus; and influence on the acoustic evoked potential amplitude induced by acupuncture of points in certain experimental animals.
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