Skip Navigation



eCAM Advance Access published online on September 30, 2008
eCAM, doi:10.1093/ecam/nen061
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Arai, Y.-C. P
Right arrow Articles by Komatsu, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Arai, Y.-C. P
Right arrow Articles by Komatsu, T.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?


© 2008 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The Influence of Acupressure at Extra 1 Acupuncture Point on the Spectral Entropy of the EEG and the LF/HF Ratio of Heart Rate Variability

Young-Chang P Arai1, Takahiro Ushida1, Takako Matsubara1, Kazuhiro Shimo1, Hiroshi Ito2, Yuko Sato2, Yoshiko Wakao2 and Toru Komatsu2

1Multidisciplinary Pain Centre and 2Department of Anaesthesiology, Aichi Medical University, School of Medicine, 21 Karimata, Nagakutecho, Aichigun, Aichi, 480-1195, Japan

Acupressure applied on the Extra 1 acupuncture point results in sedation, thereby reducing bispectral index (BIS) values. Mental status and hypnotic agents influence the autonomic nervous system. We hypothesized that acupressure at the Extra 1 point would induce sedation and change sympatho–parasympathetic nerve balance. We investigated the effect of acupressure at the Extra 1 point on the EEG spectral entropy values and heart rate variability (HRV). Forty-eight volunteers (24 males and 24 females) were randomly assigned to the control or Extra 1 group. The control group received acupressure at a sham point and the Extra 1 group received acupressure at the Extra 1 point. Acupressure was applied for 5 min. The record of the EEG spectral entropy values and HRV started 5 min before acupressure and stopped 5 min after acupressure. Acupressure significantly reduced the EEG spectral entropy values in both groups, but the values of the Extra 1 group were significantly smaller than those of the control group (P < 0.01). Acupressure significantly decreased the LF/HF ratio of HRV in both groups (P < 0.05). When divided upon gender, although acupressure tended to decrease the LF/HF ratio, the ratio significantly decreased during and after acupressure only in females of the Extra 1 group (P < 0.05). We concluded that acupressure on the Extra 1 point significantly reduced the EEG spectral entropy in both the genders, but affected the LF/HF ratio of HRV only in females.

Keywords: acupressure – Extra 1 acupuncture point – EEG – spectral entropy – heart rate variability

For reprints and all correspondence: Young-Chang P. Arai, MD, Multidisciplinary Pain Centre, Aichi Medical University, School of Medicine, 21 Karimata, Nagakutecho, Aichigun, Aichi, 480-1195, Japan. Tel: +81-561-62-3311; Fax: +81-561-62-5004; E-mail: arainon{at}aichi-med-u.ac.jp

Received January 30, 2008; accepted August 20, 2008


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.