BDNF and stroke disorder: In studies on experimental stroke rats, EA stimulation at the Baihui acupoint (2/15Hz) reduced glutamate toxicity [22] and exerted antiapoptotic effects by increasing the Bcl-2/Bax ratio [16] during the acute phase, and EA stimulation (3Hz) improved behavioral performance by increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) production [23] during the subacute phase after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo).