Differential temporal neural responses of pain-related regions by acupuncture at acupoint ST36: a magnetoencephalography study / 中华医学杂志(英文版)
Chinese Medical Journal
;
(24): 1229-1234, 2011.
Article
in English
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-239861
ABSTRACT
<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Previous neuroimaging studies primarily focused on the spatial distribution of acupuncture needling stimulation. However, a salient feature of acupuncture was its long-lasting effect. This study attempted to detect the spatial-temporal neural responses evoked by acupuncture at an analgesia acupoint ST36 by using magnetoencephalography. To further verify its functional specificity, we also adopted acupuncture at Pericardium 6 and nonacupoint as separated controls.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty-two college students, all right-handed and acupuncture naïve, participated in this study. Every participant received only one acupoint stimulation, resulting in 14 subjects in one group. Both magnetoencephalography data (151-channel whole-head system) and structural functional magnetic resonance imaging data (3D sequence with a voxel size of 1 mm(3) for anatomical localization) were collected for each subject. All processing procedures were performed in BrainStorm Toolbox.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Acupuncture at ST36 showed a significantly time-varied brain activities with different onset time. Our results presented that acupuncture at different acupoints (or comparing with nonacupoint) can specifically induce neural responses in different brain areas-acupuncture at ST36 can specifically induce the neural responses of pain-inhibition areas, while acupuncture at PC6 can specifically induce the activities of the insula and amygdala.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>In the present study, we attempted to detect the temporal neural responses underlying the functional specificity of acupuncture at ST36, using acupoint belonging to different meridians and non-acupoint with efficacy-irreverent as separate controls. The specific neural substrates involving acupuncture at different acupoints may be related to its functional specificity in clinical settings.</p>
Full text:
Available
Index:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Main subject:
Pain
/
Psychology
/
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
/
Magnetoencephalography
/
Acupuncture Points
/
Acupuncture Therapy
/
Methods
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
Chinese Medical Journal
Year:
2011
Type:
Article
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