NEUROBIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF THE MERIDIAN AND THE PROPAGATION OF NEEDLE FEELING ALONG THE MERIDIAN PATHWAY

The present experiments attempt to find the meridian phenomenon and ho w the needle feeling propagates along the given meridian channels. The neurobiological mechanisms of the meridian were studied with neuroele ctrical recording from the motor neurons and CB-HRP retrograde histoch emistry technique in both rats and cats. The results demonstrated that most, but not all, of alpha motor neurons supplying a muscle group of a given meridian were selectively activated by afferent inputs origin ating not only from homonymous or heterogeneous, but synergistic muscl e, but also from the skin nerve overlying the muscle group of the homo nymous meridian. However, the afferent inputs from the heterogeneous m eridian have very weak or no effect. On the other hand, the labeled mo tor neurons supplying a given meridian muscles form a discrete longitu dinal column with a definite bound in the lateral ventral horn. There are oriented dendro-dendristes projections between the labeled motor n eurons. The characteristics of both selective responses of the motor n eurons to afferent inputs and their neuro-anatomical arrangements in s pinal cord offer neurobiological evidence for the meridian phenomenon.