ACUPUNCTURE ANALGESIA TODAY

In this article the author,after making apreliminary comment on traditional Chinesemedicine,tries to present the modern concept ofacupuncture.The nature of the so-called need-ling sensation,the efficacy of acupuncture ac-cording to stimulus strength and the relativespecificity of acupuncture points are all reas-sessed from the neurophysiologic point of view.On the basis of experimental and clinicalevidence the analgesic effect of acupuncture isconsidered as essentially the result or sensoryinteraction in the central nervous svstem.Thepath ways for mediation of the pain-inhibitingimpulses arising from the noint of acupunctureare believed to be in the extralemniscal systemand the centromedian nucleus of the thalamus.The mode of the inhibitory action of the af-ferent impulses on the discharges of pain sen-sitive neurons in the thalamus and the neuronalcircnit involved in this action are suggested.Endogenous morphine like peptides in the brainare envisaged as a possible synaptic transmitterinvolved in the process of acupuncture analgesia,acting in coordination with other endogenoussubstances for inhibition of pain.