Meridian is the relic of the evolution of human ancestor's nerve.
Lv chengfu
Meridian theory was founded more than 2000 years ago. After liberation, China has made a large-scale study of meridians, and after many aspects of work, it can be said that it has achieved fruitful results. Among them, it not only affirmed some meridian phenomena, but also created extremely favorable conditions for explaining the essence of meridians. The author has devoted himself to the study of meridians for nearly 20 years, and thinks that it is reasonable to claim that meridians exist in the nerve center, and meridians are actually the remains of the evolution of human distant ancestors' nervous system (especially trapezoidal nervous system).
Meridian and central nervous system
According to the phenomenon of "phantom limb sensation", Professor Xue and others in China have put forward the view that the meridian phenomenon occurs inside the nerve center. After they stimulated the amputee's telepathy with acupuncture, the amputee still felt that telepathy had reached the amputee's limb. Therefore, they think that without legs, they can still feel the nerve activity on their legs, which means that this process occurs in the cerebral cortex. They also found that after spinal anesthesia and continuous epidural anesthesia, the sensory transmission of most subjects went down into all areas where sensory function disappeared and continued to spread down to the toes. In their view, it is impossible to continue telepathy in the part where the peripheral feeling has disappeared, and this phenomenon can only be extended in a certain tattoo pattern in the central somatosensory area, so there is a phenomenon of telepathy along the meridian.
The experiment of "phantom limb sensation" by Xue et al. strongly proves that the phenomenon of sensation transmission along meridians does exist in the central nervous system. At this time, people may ask, in this case, how did the so-called "body pattern" existing in the central nervous system form and enter the central nervous system?
The evolution of animal nervous system and the formation of human nervous system
The author studied the evolution of animal nervous system from low level to high level. It is found that the evolution of animal nervous system has gone through a long process, such as reticular nervous system, trapezoidal nervous system, chain nervous system, plate nervous system, tubular nervous system and central nervous system. Humans evolved from lower animals, and the evolution of the nervous system of our distant ancestors naturally went through these processes. The radiation mechanism of acupuncture sensation may be related to the experience of reticular nervous system by human ancestors, while the transmission of zonal sensation may be related to the experience of tabular nervous system. The most exciting thing is that the trapezoidal nervous system structure is very similar to the ancient description of meridian structure. By comparison, it can be found that the longitudinal nerve cords in the trapezoidal nervous system are consistent with the "meridians" in the meridians; The transverse nerve connected by each meridian is equivalent to the "collaterals" in the meridian. Among all kinds of animals with trapezoidal nervous system, the nerve structure most similar to the meridian structure is the nematode-Ascaris lumbricoides. From the neural structure of this animal, it seems that some embryonic forms of meridian structure can be found. For example, the dorsal and ventral nerves of ascaris lumbricoides are consistent with the Du meridian and Ren meridian; Its anal nerve ring is equivalent to the vein in the meridian; The pharyngeal nerve ring is consistent with Li's preliminary conclusion, that is, the twelve meridians can be connected with the head, and communicate with the related exterior and interior meridians, homonym meridians and bladder meridians to form a meridian ring. Judging from the position of various animals with trapezoidal nervous system in the evolution process, the distant ancestors of human beings should also go through this nervous stage.
Zoological studies have proved that in amphibians, after the formation of gastrula in embryonic stage, the embryo body is elongated, and nerve substances are concentrated on the back, forming neural plate area. The formation of neural plates in human embryonic development is similar to that of amphibians. So the formation of neural plates in human embryos should be the same. Only in humans, whether the so-called "nerve substance" concentrated here contains trapezoidal nervous system structure needs further scientific research.
The author also found that the central part of the evolution of animal nervous system evolved in a way of gradual concentration and merger on the basis of keeping the original structure intact. For example, the formation of the nerve center of animal shrimp is like this. Shrimp brain is formed by the healing of the first three pairs of ganglia in the head during embryonic period. The abdominal nerve cord consists of two nerve trunks, which can be clearly seen in the chest, especially where the straight thoracic artery passes. There are many examples like this. This discovery seems to enable us to draw the conclusion that the so-called "body pattern pattern conducted along the meridian" in the human center is the remains of the trapezoidal nervous system structure experienced by our distant ancestors. This is related to the fact that some people think that the feeling transmitted along the meridian seems to have the nature of "primitive feeling" from the classification of modern sensory physiology; Some theories think that meridians are an older and less differentiated conduction system.
An explanation of the mechanism of sensation transmission in meridians
The author thinks that when acupuncture acts on a certain point on the body surface, the nerve impulse formed by acupuncture will reach the center along the afferent nerve. In the central somatosensory area, on the one hand, nerve impulses form acupuncture sensation, on the other hand, they transmit acupuncture impulses to their corresponding efferent nerves to produce acupuncture effect; On the other hand, the acupuncture pulse propagates excitedly along the trace route of the trunk of the primitive trapezoidal nervous system. Because there is a corresponding relationship between the central somatosensory area and the body surface, and usually most of the stimuli received by the central somatosensory area come from the body surface, the sensory center will mistake the excitatory diffusion along the route of the original trapezoidal nervous system for the motivation of the body surface, thus making the subjects feel telepathy on the body surface. For example, in the somatosensory area, when the acupuncture impulse propagates from point A to point B along the tracing route, the cell group at point B will be excited. Because most of the stimuli received by point B usually come from the body surface, the cell group at point B will mistakenly think that the stimuli that stimulate it come from its corresponding body surface. This is the mechanism of the phenomenon of sensation transmission along the meridian. It should be noted that when the B cell group is excited, it will also transmit nerve impulses to its corresponding efferent nerve to produce effects. This is the principle of "Qi is effective".
Modern physiological research has also proved that in human brain surgery, stimulating the cerebral cortex with appropriate intensity of current can make patients feel as if they came from lower limbs when stimulating the top of the central posterior gyrus, while stimulating the lower part will produce subjective feelings as if they came from upper limbs. This conclusion can be said to provide an explanatory basis for the sensory misjudgment of the phenomenon of sensory transmission along the meridian caused by the excitatory diffusion of the central primitive trapezoidal nervous system along the main relic.
Generally speaking, through the study and systematic analysis of the essence of meridians, it can be considered that meridians exist in the nerve center, and meridians are actually the remains of the evolution of human long-distance nervous system (especially trapezoidal nervous system). The structural remains of trapezoidal nervous system existing in the center are the material basis of human sensory conduction along meridians.
On Meridian "Internal Zang-fu Organs and External Collateral Limbs"
Lv chengfu
Meridian "internal organs and external collaterals in limbs" is the core content of meridian theory. Generally speaking, it shows that human body functions are interlinked inside and outside. Inside can be outside, and outside can be inside. That is, the diseases of viscera can be reflected in the meridians and acupoints of the body; Acupuncture at the corresponding meridians and acupoints can also treat some visceral diseases. A large number of experiments and clinical experiments have proved that there is a specific relationship between meridian points and viscera. The author has made a long-term discussion on its contact mechanism.
The author concludes that the distant ancestors of human beings may have experienced the coelenterate stage of the lower animal stage. Because most coelenterates have two neural networks, which are located at the base of endoderm and ectoderm respectively, and the neural networks are connected by the processes of mesoderm. According to the physiology and distribution law of somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system in human nervous system. The author speculates that the somatic nervous system of modern people may have evolved from the external neural network of coelenterates; The autonomic nervous system may originate from the internal neural network of coelenterates. The material basis of the connection between human somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system may be related to the remains of the prominent structure connected between the two neural networks of coelenterates. The phenomenon that the meridians belong to the zang-fu organs inside and the collaterals of the limbs outside, explained by modern medicine, may be the pathological stimulation of the viscera, which leads to the central nerve through the viscera. In the center, pathological information is transmitted to the somatic nervous system through the connecting route that highlights the remains, and the pathological information is expressed in the body surface meridians through the somatic nerve.
Similarly, acupuncture stimulation information can also reach the center through afferent nerves at acupoints on the body surface; In the center, the stimulation information of acupuncture and moxibustion can also be transmitted to the autonomic nerve through the process of connection, thus playing a benign role in regulating internal organs. This may be the contact mechanism of meridians "internal organs and external collaterals".
On "Qi to Disease"
Lv chengfu
The phenomenon of "Qi reaching the diseased place" has long been recorded in many classic medical books in China, and modern medical research has also fully affirmed it. For example, it is reported that a heart patient often concentrates on the heart after being transmitted through different meridians. However, although the mechanism of its occurrence has been controversial, so far, many scholars have not had a satisfactory explanation.
The author thinks that the vertical conduction of acupuncture sensation along the body surface may be related to the ladder nervous system, chain nervous system, plate nervous system and tubular nervous system experienced by our distant ancestors. It may be that the distant ancestors of human beings experienced the nervous system stage of longitudinal arrangement of these nerve cells; According to its sensitivity, the arrangement and combination of central nerve cells presents a vertical arrangement phenomenon, which constitutes an invisible path.
According to the experimental observation, this structure is only relatively stable, and many factors such as acupuncture and pathological stimulation can have a great influence on it. In acupuncture clinic, the author once met a person who is very sensitive to meridians. When acupuncture one of its acupoints, the first thing that appears is the sensory conduction in the up and down direction. The sensory conduction line is very thick, as thick as chopsticks. However, if several acupoints are pricked up and down on both sides of the transmission line in turn, and the acupuncture points are induced by moving the needles from near to far in turn, then the transmission of feelings generated at a certain acupoint will not be transmitted up and down along the original transmission line, but will be transmitted from near to far in turn along the connecting line direction of the sequentially arranged acupoints. If you do circular acupuncture induction on the body surface connection line of a certain acupoint cross section, you can form circular induction; But the transmission line is very thin, like a line. The closer the induction point is to the point, the higher the incidence.
According to statistics, the incidence of sensory conduction along meridians in the patient group is significantly higher than that in the healthy group, which shows that pathological stimulation can also improve the sensitivity of nerve cells in the corresponding areas of the center, laying a foundation for the transmission and diffusion of sensory impulses along the meridians to the affected areas. When the sensitivity of nerve cells in the central area corresponding to the lesion site exceeds the sensitivity of nerve cells in the central area corresponding to each meridian, the phenomenon of "qi reaching the lesion" will inevitably occur. This is the author's new explanation of the phenomenon of "Qi reaching the disease".
A preliminary analysis of the characteristics of sensory transmission in meridians
Lv chengfu
Inductive resistance
When sensory conduction is carried out from two directions of the stimulation point, mechanical compression, freezing, cooling at any point, or local injection of drugs such as physiological saline in the sensory conduction path can block sensory conduction to some extent, or even disappear. The author believes that many stimuli acting on sensory transmission lines will form nerve impulses, which will reach the center through afferent nerves and cause nerve cells in the corresponding areas of the center to be excited.
Because there is a trace route of the trapezoidal nervous system structure of human ancestors in the central nervous system, when acupuncture stimulation impulses spread along the trace route, nerve impulses will converge between them, and the transmission properties of nerve impulses will change through integration in the central nervous system. As a result, the excitability of nerve cells is inhibited at the convergence site of nerve impulses. On the body surface, it is a phenomenon that sensory transmission is blocked. The application of pressure tourniquet in the lower limbs of healthy people can block the transmission of sensation; It is proved that the pressure tourniquet is tied to the lower limbs of paraplegia patients with spinal cord rupture, but it can not block the transmission of sensation.
The induction speed is very slow
Regarding the problem that the speed of sensory transmission along the meridian is obviously slower than that of nerve transmission, the author's point of view is that the transmission process of sensory transmission along the meridian is completed within the central nervous system and is not really conducted on the body surface. Therefore, it cannot be simply compared with the conduction velocity of nerve fibers. Sensory transmission along the meridian is a diffusion phenomenon of excitement between central nerve cells, which is essentially different from the transmission of nerve fibers. So the two can't be compared.
Zhu Chongbin, from the Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion of Anhui College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and others once wrote that sensory conduction often does not appear immediately after acupuncture "gets angry", but after a period of time, the sensory conduction can only appear after the stimulation intensity reaches a certain threshold. It can be seen that the sensitivity of sensory impulse is obviously later than that of nerve impulse.
Biphasic conduction
When any point on the body is stimulated, there are usually two opposite sensory transmissions from that point. For this phenomenon, the author thinks that the excitability of nerve cells exists in the remains of the trunk of human ancestors' trapezoidal nervous system in the central nervous system, and there is a structural basis for conducting impulses to both sides. That is, in a certain part, synaptic vesicles may exist on both sides of nerve cells to varying degrees. Therefore, when a local nerve cell group is excited, two-way conduction will occur.
Telepathy has a pause.
Many subjects report that sensory transmission is not walking at a constant speed, but there is a pause, that is, stopping and walking again. This pause is mostly where acupuncture points are located. According to the author's preliminary analysis, the stagnation of acupoints may be caused by the uneven arrangement and combination of cells on the main remains of the central trapezoidal nervous system. Specifically, like the ganglion of the chain nervous system, nerve cells form a group of cells along the trace route. According to the anatomy of acupoints, most acupoints are places where nerve structure substances are concentrated; It has also been suggested that nerve cells are relatively concentrated in the central somatosensory area corresponding to acupuncture points on the body surface.
Acupoints stimulate more nerve fiber activity. So it will cause the excitement of more nerve cells in the center. Therefore, there are multiple synaptic connections in these relatively independent nerve cell groups, so it naturally takes a relatively long time for excitatory impulses to spread in these relatively independent nerve cell groups. This is the root cause of the pause phenomenon.