The effect of acupuncture at the acupoint Sanyinjiao on brain function as revealed by the functional magnetic resonance imaging / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of acupuncture at Sanyinjiao with functional magnetic reso- nance imaging(fMRI),analyse the regulating effect of the acupoint Sanyinjiao on various brain areas,explore the mechanisms of Sanyinjiao(SP.6) acupuncture in treating diseases.Methods Eight right-handed healthy volun- teers were scanned at 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner while they were aeupunctured at the right Sany- injiao acupoint.Image data were co-registered to correct head motion,spatial normalization and deconverlution analy- sis were conducted.Functional activation maps were generated.Results There observed certain activation in both sides of medial frontal gyrus,right middle frontal gyrus,left inferior frontal gyrus,both sides of paracentral lobule, precentral gyrus and postcentral gyrus,left inferior parietal lobule,both sides of preeuneus,right middle temporal gy- rus,right cingulated gyrus,posterior cingulated gyrus,both sides of superior temporal gyrus,transverse temporal gy- rus,insula and thalamus.Conclusion Acupuncturing the Sanyinjiao can lead to the functional changes in parietal lobe,frontal lobe,temporal lobe and insula,precuneus,cingulated gyrus,thalamus,which are closely related to the therapeutical effects of Sanyinjiao.The phenomenon that needling Sanyinjiao can activate certain brain areas proved the correlation between acupoint and corresponding brain cortices.