California Institute for Human Science: Research at CIHS

Research at CIHS

Apparatus for Meridian Identification (AMI)

INFORMATION ON CIHS RESEARCH

I would like to report on an interesting event which I attended recently and could have important repercussions on future of CIHS Research Center. I am talking about the 10^th Annual Symposium of the Society for Acupuncture Research that was held on November 15 and 16 at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts. About 100 people attended. Most of the attendees were researchers or acupuncturists. On Saturday morning I presented a 15 minutes talk on the diagnostic utility of the SSVP (Single Square Voltage Pulse) method on which the AMI (Apparatus for Meridian Identification) is based (Motoyama, H., Smith, W. T., & Harada, T. (1984). Pre-polarization resistance of the skin as determined by the single square voltage pulse method. Psychophysiology, v.21 (5), pp. 541-550). Other collaborators of CIHS who spoke that morning are Dr. Shin Lin from the University of California in Irvine (Changes in Mind/Body Functions Associated with Qi-Gong Practice), and Dr. Agatha Colbert from Kaiser-Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland Oregon (Reliability of Prognos, An Acupoint Electrodermal Measuring Device). On Saturday afternoon I presented a one hour poster session on Dr. Kazuhito Mori’s dissertation project entitled “Electrophysiological Evidence of the Existence of Acupuncture Meridians in Traditional Chinese Medicine Utilizing the SSVP Method”. On Sunday morning another CIHS collaborator, Dr. Richard Hammerschlag, Research Director at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in Portland, Oregon, did a half hour presentation entitled “Systematic Review of Acupuncture RDTs: 1997-2002”. Dr. Hammerschlag was co-president of the Society for Acupuncture Research until Sunday November 16 at which date his mandate ended. This information was announced to us during the 10^th Anniversary Lunch

The most important part of this symposium was the opportunity I had to discuss about research collaboration with Dr. Shin Lin, Dr. Hammerschlag, Dr. Colbert and Dr. Helene Langevin. Dr. Helene Langevin was the co-chair of the symposium and she is a Board of Director of the Society for Acupuncture Research. She was nominated co-president of the Society for Acupuncture Research during the 10^th Anniversary Lunch. In my discussions with Dr. Lin, we agreed to perform a series of basic experiments to determine the reliability of the AMI based on current models of reliability. The importance of these fundamental experiments cannot be overstated as there is only one other device (Prognos) that has a reliability study that satisfies the current standards of reliability. The other collaboration is with Dr. Hammerschlag, Dr. Colbert and Dr. Langevin. Together the respective institutions each one of us represents will form a consortium to research the nature of acupoints and meridians. The details of this collaboration are too long to be presented here but there is great hope that we can contribute much advance in the resolution of the nature of meridians and acupuncture points. This will be a multi-year collaboration with short term and long terms goals. I am sure that I will have more to say about these research collaborations in future issues of this newsletter.

It is a very exciting time to be doing research at CIHS with these new collaborations. I will be more involved than ever in research since I have been relieved of other responsibilities in order to be able to concentrate more or developing CIHS as a first class Research Center at the cutting edge of research in electrophysiology and subtle energies.

Gaetan Chevalier, Ph.D.
Director of Research
Rev.: 11/20/03

TITLE: Similarities and Dissimilarities of Meridian Functions between Genders. Authors:Hiroshi Motoyama, Ph.D. Ph.D., and Gaetan Chevalier, Ph.D. SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION: Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, Nov. 2001

Abstract : The Single Square Voltage Pulse (SSVP) method was applied on specific acupuncture points of about 2500 male and female subjects who live in California. Data was gathered during a period of six years from 1994 to 2000 at the California Institute for Human Science (CIHS). The gathered data were examined to investigate possible gender differences regarding meridian function. From the current curve generated by the application of the SSVP method, only the BP (Before Polarization; the pre-polarization current in the dermis) was used in this study. Analysis of the data showed that male meridian function is more active and has more energy than female meridian function during cold and hot climates, whereas female subjects have more energy and have more active meridian function during mild climates. On the contrary, the distribution of the most excessive meridians and the most deficient meridians shows the same pattern between males and females, which indicates that males and females are almost the same in their vital energy system.

FRONTIER RESEARCH

Research at CIHS on identifying and understanding the measurable effects of human and biological subtle energies Programs include a National Institute of Health funded collaboration with the University of Virginia (CSCAT); and a proposed Department of Defense funded collaboration with the University of California at Los Angeles; and a collaboration with School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, of the University of New Mexico. Research equipment and modalities used at CIHS are described below.

Apparatus for Meridian Identification (AMI)

This computerized system was invented by Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama in 1971. The full name of this system "the Apparatus for measuring the functioning of the Meridians and their corresponding Internal organs" indicates the function of the AMI which is to measure the pure resistance of the meridian which correlates with the Ki energy in 14 acupuncture meridians (12 standards + 2 extra meridians). The AMI gives also a reading of the autonomic nervous system similar to a sensitive corresponding to the measured meridians.

Shielded room and photon counter

Biophoton experiments are planned to be performed in a completely dark room which is now built at CIHS. This room insulates a person from all electromagnetic energies below the power line frequency of 60 Hertz. The biophotons measured using a photon counter which is a photo multiplier tube with a dark count noise of 10 photons per second per square centimeter.

Potential Probe

Dr. Motoyama noticed that it is very difficult to measure accurately the electrical potential at an acupuncture point. Their small size (~1mm) prohibits the use of any electrode. Needling the point is also perturbing too much the potential of the point. One way of measuring accurately the potential is to measure it without touching the point. This is what the potential probe does. Using a small vibrating plate above the acupuncture point, D. Motoyama was able to use an effect called capacitive coupling to measure the true potential of the acupuncture point. This method of measurement was refined in an equipment called the potential probe. This equipment can be used to monitor the electrical activity of an acupuncture point while an experiment is performed.

Electrophysiological equipment

CIHS research facilities may be used for many types of electrophysiological measurements such as Electroencephalography (EEG), Electroculography (EOG), Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), Photoplethysmography (PPG), skin surface temperature (TEMP), Pneumography (PNG) and other electrophysiological measuring modalities.

Research Experiments
Preliminary research done by Dr. Motoyama in Japan has shown that a person emits very small amounts of visible light. The amount is so small that a photon counter is needed. Dr. Motoyama found that photon emission is higher at certain acupuncture points compared to a region of skin with no acupuncture point. According to unpublished research done by Dr. Motoyama in Japan, there is some indication that emission at certain acupuncture points is increased for persons with psychic abilities. Furthermore, this research showed that there is a possible link between specific acupuncture points and the chakras of the Yogic Tradition. We are planning future experiments using the potential probe in conjunction with the photon counter to elucidate the mechanism of light emission at acupuncture points.

California Institute for Human Science
701 Garden View Court
Encinitas, CA 92024
Phone: 760-634-1771, Fax: 760-634-1772
email: admin@cihs.edu
director@cihs.edu

Research Affiliations
California Institute for Human Science maintains reciprocal research programs with:

University of Austria
School of Agriculture
A-1190 Wien
Peter Jordon-Strasse 82
Vienna, Austria
c/o Prof. E. Frohmann
The Center for the Study of Complementary and Alternative Therapies

University of Virginia
McLeod Hall, Suite 5006
Charlottesville, VA 22903-3395
c/o Dr. Justine Owens
The University of New Mexico
Health Sciences Center
School of Medicine
Department of Pediatrics
Albuquerque, NM 87131-5311
c/o Stanley Handmaker, M.D., Ph.D.

Degree candidates at California Institute for Human Science have opportunities for supervised research and graduate study abroad with respect to the student's degree program and thesis/dissertation objectives.