Objective： To observe the effects of comprehensive therapy （CT） with electroacupuncture （EA） in combination with psycho-intervention （PI） on the cognitive function and event-related potentials （ERP）, P300 and mismatch negativity （MMN）, in patients with internet addiction （IA） for a preliminary exploration of the possible mechanism of the therapy. Metheds： One hundred and twenty patients with IA were randomly divided into three groups, and a total of 112 subjects reached the final analysis of the trial, the EA group （39 patients）, the PI group （36 patients） and the CT group （37 patients）. EA was applied at acupoints Baihui （GV20）, Sishencong （EX-HN1）, Hegu （LI4）, Neiguan （PC6）, Taichong （LR3） and Sanyinjiao （SP6）, once every other day; PI with the cognition- behavior mode was implemented every 4 days; both EA and PI were used in the CT group. The treatment course for all patients was 40 days. Changes before and after treatment in terms of scoring by the IA self-rating scale, short-term memory capacity, short-term memory span, and the latency and amplitude of P300 and MMN in patients were observed. Results： After treatment, in all groups, the IA score was lowered significantly （P〈0.05） and scores of short-term memory capacity and short-term memory span increased significantly （P〈0.05）, while the decreased IA score in the CT group was more significant than that in the other two groups （P〈0.05）. ERP measurements showed that P300 latency was depressed and its amplitude raised in the EA group; MMN amplitude increased in the CT group （all P〈0.05）. Cenclusien： The EA in combination with PI could improve the cognitive function of IA patients, and its mechanism might be related to the speedup of cerebral discrimination on external stimulus and the enhancement of effective resource mobilization during information processing of the brain.
Objective： To observe the impacts of electro-acupuncture（EA） and psychological intervention（PI） on impulsive behavior among internet addiction（IA） adolescents. Methods： Thirty-two IA adolescents were allocated to either EA（16 cases） or PI（16 cases） group by a randomized digital table. Subjects in the EA group received EA treatment and subjects in the PI group received cognition and behavior therapy. All adolescents underwent 45-d intervention. Sixteen healthy volunteers were recruited into a control group. Barratt Impulsiveness Scale（BIS-11） scores, Young＇s Internet Addiction Test（IAT） as well as the ratio of brain N-acetyl aspartate（NAA） to creatine（NAA/Cr） and choline（Cho） to creatine（Cho/Cr） were recorded by magnetic resonance spectroscopy before and after intervention respectively. Results： The IAT scores and BIS-11 total scores in both EA and PI group were remarkably decreased after treatment（P〈0.05）, while EA group showed more significant decrease in certain BIS-11 sub-factors（P〈0.05）. Both NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr were significantly improved in EA group after treatment（P〈0.05）; however, there were no significant changes of NAA/Cr or Cho/Cr in PI group after treatment（P〉0.05）. Conclusions： Both EA and PI had significantly positive effect on IA adolescents, especially in the aspects of psychological experiences and behavioral expressions, EA might have an advantage over PI in terms of impulsivity control and brain neuron protection. The mechanism underlying this advantage might be related to the increased NAA and Cho levels in prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices.
YANG YangLI HuiCHEN Xi-xiZHANG Luo-mingHUANG Bing-jieZHU Tian-min
