Objective To observe the effect of scalp acupuncture and rehabilitation training on the regulation of neuro-plasticity-associated protein MAP-2 in gerbils modelling cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.Methods Cerebral ischemia and reperfusion were modelled into thirty-six male gerbils.They were then randomly divided into a model group (A),a scalp acupuncture and rehabilitation training group (B) and a rehabilitation training group (C),each of 12 cases.The scalp acupuncture and rehabilitation training were administered daily to the gerbils in group B beginning 24 h after modeling,for 14 d.Any changes in Bederson scores were observed after one,7 and 14 days.On the 14th day the expression of MAP-2 around the infarct focus was detected using western blotting in all 3 groups.Results On the 7th day the average Bederson score in group B (1.81 ± 0.52) was not significantly different from that in group A (2.13 ± 0.49) or group C (2.00 ± 0.31) (P ＞ 0.05).At the end of the treatment,however,there were significant differences between the groups,with group B (0.47 ± 0.31) scoring significantly better than groups C (1.04 ± 0.63) and A (1.46 ± 0.72) (P ＜ 0.05).Group C was also significantly better than group A (P ＜0.05).The expression of MAP-2 as measured as integrated optical intensity (IOD) in group B (0.91 ±0.18) was significantly higher than that in group A (0.43 ± 0.21) and group C (0.67 ± 0.24) (P ＜ 0.05) ; so was group C compared to group A (P ＜0.05).Conclusion The scalp acupuncture combined with rehabilitation training can improve the recovery of motor function and enhance the expression of neuro-plasticity-associated protein MAP-2 in gerbils with after cerebral ischemia and reperfusion.