The first person to historically elaborate on the importance of dendritic function

Chang Hsiang-Tung was recognized by the international academic community as one of the pioneers in the study of dendritic physiological functions, discovering that dendrites are excitable and can conduct nerve impulses, and that dendrites are sensitive to hypoxia and low temperatures.

Two research achievements included in the 1987 American "Encyclopedia of Neuroscience":

Historically the first proof of muscle representation within the monkey motor cortex
Chang Hsiang-Tung demonstrated that each muscle has its own cortical representation area, with the central areas of these representations not overlapping but their peripheral areas overlapping. This deepened the understanding of the functional organization of the motor cortex and is recognized as a classic work in the field.

The classic classification method of muscle nerve afferent fibers still in use today

After measuring a large number of afferent fibers in different muscle nerves with D.P.C.Lloyd, Chang Hsiang-Tung found that muscle nerve afferent fibers could be classified into types I, II, and III based on the diameter of the fibers.

The Zhang Effect

Chang Hsiang-Tung discovered the "light enhancement effect," which was named the "Zhang Effect." He found that the cortical evoked potential induced by stimulating the lateral geniculate body could be increased by the continuous irradiation of weak background light. The background light not only enhances the excitability of the visual center but also that of the entire central nervous system.

The mechanism of acupuncture analgesia

Chang Hsiang-Tung was the first to discover that the parafascicular nucleus and the central lateral nucleus of the thalamus contain neurons that specifically respond to pain stimuli. Acupuncture and analgesics suppress the pain response of these neurons through the neural circuit involving the central medial nucleus, cerebral cortex, parafascicular nucleus, and central lateral nucleus. In his article "The Integrative Role of the Thalamus in the Process of Acupuncture Analgesia," he proposed the "two-sensory interaction" theory, believing that acupuncture analgesia occurs because the sensory impulses from the pain source area and the sensory impulses from the acupoint area interact within the central nervous system.

In 1980, Chang Hsiang-Tung was awarded the Zülch Prize for his significant contributions to the field of acupuncture anesthesia research.