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Post-stroke cognitive impairment is a common and serious complication that reduces quality of life and hampers rehabilitation. This randomised controlled trial enrolled eighty-four patients who were divided equally into three groups over a four-week treatment period. The first group received conventional cognitive training alone. The second group received conventional training alongside scalp acupuncture. The third group received all of the above plus acupoint injections of mouse nerve growth factor.
All three groups showed meaningful improvements in cognition, daily living ability, motor function, and self-care capacity by the end of the intervention. However, the group receiving all three therapies together consistently achieved the best outcomes across every measure. Their cognitive scores were significantly higher than those in the other two groups, and their independence and motor function scores also improved the most. The group receiving scalp acupuncture alongside conventional training outperformed the conventional training-only group, confirming an added benefit from acupuncture even without the injections.
The findings suggest a stepwise benefit: adding scalp acupuncture to standard cognitive training enhances outcomes, and further adding mouse nerve growth factor acupoint injection produces the greatest overall improvement in rehabilitation. The authors highlight the practical clinical value of combining these approaches.
Conclusion: Scalp acupuncture, particularly when combined with mouse nerve growth factor acupoint injection and conventional cognitive training, significantly improves cognitive function, independence, and motor recovery in patients with post-stroke cognitive impairment.
Source: Zhou H, Li M, Liu Y and colleagues. Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN (2026). View on PubMed (PMID 42435277) · doi:10.1007/s12031-026-02562-5