Objective: This meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy of acupuncture in improving cognitive impairment of post-stroke patients.Design: Randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of acupuncture compared with no treatment or sham acupuncture on post-stroke cognitive impairment before December 2019 were identified from databases. The literature searching and data extracting were independently performed by two investigators. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Meta-analyses were performed for the eligible RCTs with Revman 5.3 software.Results: Thirty-seven RCTs were included (...) in this meta-analysis. Merged Random-effects estimates of the gain of MMSE or MoCA were calculated for the comparison of acupuncture with no acupuncture or sham acupuncture. Following 2–8 weeks of intervention with acupuncture, pooled results demonstrated significant effects of acupuncture in improving PSCI assessed by MMSE or MoCA.Conclusion: The results suggest that acupuncture was effective in improving PSCI and supported the needs of more rigorous design with large-scale randomized clinical trials to determine its therapeutic benefits. (shrink)

Several recent studies have found that when the other’s gain is greater, even subjects’ reward may seem like a loss and lead to a negative experience. These studies indicate the complexity of reward evaluation in the context of social comparison. The satisfaction rating of reward outcome not only depends on objective social comparison but also on subjective evaluation. However, less is known about the neural time course of subjective evaluation. Therefore, we employed a 2 × 2 within-subjects factorial design, in (...) which we manipulated the reward distribution for the subjects. Electroencephalography responses were recorded, while two subjects concurrently but independently performed a simple dot-estimation task that entailed monetary rewards. Behavioral results showed that the subjects were more satisfied with the advantageous distribution, regardless of upward or downward comparison. The analysis of event-related potentials revealed that disadvantageous distribution elicited a larger P2 than advantageous distribution, and this effect was not modulated by comparison direction. In contrast, the late positive potential showed an effect of comparison direction independent of subjective evaluation. The data suggest that subjective evaluation acts upon the early stage of reward processing and manifests in the P2 component, whereas social comparison plays a role in the later appraisal process. (shrink)