Auricular acupuncture has been described in ancient China as well as Egypt, Greece, and Rome. At the end of the 1950s, ear acupuncture was further developed by the French physician Dr. Paul Nogier. The goal of this study was to develop a new system for ear acupressure (vibration stimulation) and to perform pilot investigations on the possible acute effects of vibration and manual ear acupressure on heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), pulse wave velocity (PWV), and the augmentation index (AIx) using new noninvasive recording methods. Investigations were performed in 14 healthy volunteers (mean age ± SD: 26.3±4.3 years; 9 females, 5 males) before, during, and after acupressure vibration and manual acupressure stimulation at the heart auricular acupuncture point. The results showed a significant decrease in HR (𝑃≤0.001) and a significant increase in HRV total (𝑃=0.008) after manual ear acupressure. The PWV decreased markedly (yet insignificantly) whereas the AIx increased immediately after both methods of stimulation. The increase in the low-frequency band of HRV was mainly based on the intensification of the related mechanism of blood pressure regulation (10-s-rhythm). Further studies in Beijing using animal models and investigations in Graz using human subjects are already in progress.

Objective: Scalp acupuncture is a somatic stimulation therapy that produces prominent clinical effects when used to treat cerebral diseases. However, this acupuncture's therapeutic mechanisms have not yet been well-addressed. Scalp acupoints are innervated by the trigeminal nerve, which is coincident with the intracranial sensory afferents as well as with the meningeal vessels. In recent years, cerebrospinal fluid–contacting neurons have been found and proved to transmit allergic substances between brain the parenchyma and meninges, representing a possible network between scalp acupuncture and the brain. The aim of the current study was to observe the connections between scalp acupoints and the meninges and to establish a possible mechanism for scalp acupuncture. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five adult Sprague-Dawley rats were used for the present study. Evans Blue dye (Sigma Chemical Co, St. Louis, MO) was injected though each rat's caudal vein after trigeminal stimulation for plasma extravasation observation. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) values of the rat's brain surface were measured at different timepoints before and after electroacupuncture (EA) on GB 15 ( Toulinqi ) or ST 36 ( Zusanli ). Results: These preliminary studies indicated that neurogenic plasma extravasation on a rat's skin and dura mater after mechanical or electrical stimulation of the trigeminal nerves is a reliable way to show the pathologic connection between scalp acupoints and the meninges. Moreover, CBF of the rat's brain surface is increased significantly after EA stimulation at GB 15 ( Toulinqi ), which is located in the receptive field of the supraorbital nerve. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the mechanism of scalp acupuncture might lie in the specific neurologic pathway that could be termed as trigeminal nerve–meninges–cerebrospinal fluid–contacting neurons–brain , which is a possible shortcut to brain functional regulation and cerebral disease treatment.