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BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

A systematic review and meta-analysis of acupuncture for improving learning and memory ability in animals

Authors: Kai-Yu Huang, Shuang Liang, Mei-Ling Yu, Shu-Ping Fu, Xia Chen, Sheng-Feng Lu

Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies | Issue 1/2016

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Abstract

Background

Memory loss is the most prominent symptoms of brain aging, but there is currently no evidence-based treatment strategy. Acupuncture has been widely used in China and the effectiveness for improving learning and memory has been mentioned in previous studies. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture for improving learning and memory in animal experiments.

Methods

We searched Pubmed, Embase, Ovid Medline(R), the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP) and Wanfang data Information Site to collect studies published up to December 2015. Study quality for each included article was evaluated according to the CAMARADES 10-item checklist. Outcome measure is Morris water maze. A meta-analysis was conducted according to the Cochrane systematic review method by using RevMan 5.3 software.

Results

Forty-two studies involving 944 animals were included. The quality score of the studies ranged from 2 to 8, with a mean of 5.3. Meta-analysis results showed that 24 studies reported significant effect of acupuncture for decreasing escape latency (−3.00, 95 % CI: −3.78 ~ −2.23, P < 0.00001), 14 studies reported significant effect of acupuncture for increasing frequency of cross platform (2.57, 95 % CI: 1.92 ~ 3.22, P < 0.00001), and 7 studies reported significant effect of acupuncture for increasing time in target quadrant (2.00, 95 % CI: 1.10 ~ 2.91, P < 0.00001) compared with the control group.

Conclusions

These findings show acupuncture has a potential role in improving learning and memory ability in animal models, suggesting it as a candidate therapy for memory loss of aged brain.
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Metadata
Title
A systematic review and meta-analysis of acupuncture for improving learning and memory ability in animals
Authors
Kai-Yu Huang
Shuang Liang
Mei-Ling Yu
Shu-Ping Fu
Xia Chen
Sheng-Feng Lu
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 2662-7671
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-016-1298-3

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