title: Acupuncture stimulation for motor cortex activities: a 3T fMRI study.
abstract: The acupoint, GB34, located in the back of the knee, is known to be effective in recovering motor function after a stroke. This study uses a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study with 3T scanner to investigate whether or not acupuncture of GB34 produces a significant response of the modulation of somatomotor areas. A fMRI of the whole brain was performed in ten normal healthy subjects during two task stimulations of acupuncture manipulation on GB34 and sham points, inserting and twisting the needle for 25 seconds at a rate of approximately 120 times per minute; the needle manipulation was paused for a duration of 25 seconds as a control state. The process was repeated four times to have four epochs of stimulation. Bilateral sensorimotor areas (BA 3, 4, 6 and 7) showed approximately 6% of stimulation-related BOLD signal contrast, whereas very few areas were activated when sham stimulation was given. Acupuncture stimulation in GB34 modulates the cortical activities of the somatomotor area in humans. The present findings may shed light on the CNS mechanism of motor function by acupuncture, and form a basis for future investigations of motor modulation circuits in stroke patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. ssjeun@catholic.ac.kr
authors.forename: Sin-Soo
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Jeun
authors.forename: Jeong-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Bum-Soo
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang-Dong
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Eun-Chul
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Gi-Soon
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Bo-Young
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Choe
mesh_terms: D026881:Acupuncture; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007717:Knee; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy