Acupuncture Modulates Intracranial Self-Stimulation of the Medial Forebrain Bundle in Rats.
Seong Shoon YoonJaesuk YunBong Hyo LeeHee Young KimChae Ha YangPublished in: International journal of molecular sciences (2021)
Acupuncture affects the central nervous system via the regulation of neurotransmitter transmission. We previously showed that Shemen (HT7) acupoint stimulation decreased cocaine-induced dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. Here, we used the intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) paradigm to evaluate whether HT stimulation regulates the brain reward function of rats. We found that HT stimulation triggered a rightward shift of the frequency-rate curve and elevated the ICSS thresholds. However, HT7 stimulation did not affect the threshold-lowering effects produced by cocaine. These results indicate that HT7 points only effectively regulates the ICSS thresholds of the medial forebrain bundle in drug-naïve rats.