About the neurobiological foundations of the De-Qi--stimulus-response relation.

In acupunctural reflexotherapy, it is usually stated that no appreciable therapeutic effect is obtained under a certain stimulation level, which is determined by the appearance of a particular sensation known as De-Qi. Given that afference control actions of the central nervous system do not work in this way, but rather adapt, with some peculiarities, to a classical schedule of proportionality between stimulus and response, our aim is to evaluate the extent to which acupunctural stimuli of increasing intensity can also increasingly modify neurophysiological parameters, by focusing on quantification of metameric levels, by an F-wave study and by means of somatosensorial evoked potential in the telencephalus. Twenty-one healthy volunteers were studied; values corresponding to the parameters indicated in a basal situation were taken and both a non-acupunctural point and the classical 4IG point were punctured simply, until the De-Qi sensation was obtained, following which, electrical stimulation was applied.