[Observation on activating effectiveness of acupuncture at acupoints and non-acupoints on different brain regions].
OBJECTIVE
To probe the theoretical basis of acupuncture by investigating the relationship of 'true' acupuncture and 'sham' acupuncture, with the cerebral functions observed by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).


METHODS
Eighteen healthy volunteers with normal vision were randomly divided into group A and B. Firstly, all the volunteers received 'sham' acupuncture, and then acupuncture was given at Guangming (GB 37) and Taichong (LR 3) in the group A, and Fenglong (ST 40) and Xiangu (ST 43) were given in the group Activation in the thalamus, B.A 1.5 Tesla Vision Scanner (Siemens, Erlangen) was used for imaging.


RESULTS
Activation in the thalamus, the red nucleus, the sulcus lateralis and the parieto-temporal cortex proved that there was a significant difference between true acupuncture and sham acupuncture in the GLM test.


CONCLUSIONS
Acupuncture does not have effects on the visual cortex, but it has active action on the insula sulcus lateralis and the parieto-temporal cortex, which are involved in painful and somatosensory stimulation.
Hu
Ka-ming
KM
Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of TCM, Sichuan 610075, China. huwang@mail.sc.cninfo.net
Wang
Cheng-ping
CP
Xie
Hui-jun
HJ
Henning
J
J
D026881:Acupuncture; D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D001921:Brain; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging