title: fMRI review on brain responses to acupuncture: the limitations and possibilities in traditional Korean acupuncture.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Since the late 1990s, imaging studies have allowed the visualization of brain response to acupuncture stimulation with alteration in blood flow. In 1998, the first functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study for the Korean acupuncture was published and thereafter, many subsequent neuroimaging studies with acupuncture have been published and revealed that acupuncture modulates central nervous system in human being. The purpose of this review is to summarize and evaluate the acupuncture studies using fMRI.
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey of computerized literature searches for experimental studies of acupuncture studies using fMRI revealed that a total of 19 studies were published from 1998 to 2005.
  
  
  RESULTS
  These studies have mainly focused on the correlation between acupoints and corresponding brain cortices, acupoint-specific patterns of brain activity. The analgesic effect of acupuncture implied that the pain network, including the hypothalamus and limbic system, was induced by different kinds of acupuncture stimulation. There are still several limitations in these experimental designs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We reviewed studies that contributed to an understanding of the neurophysiologic mechanisms of acupuncture with the hope that this review will be of benefit to the future traditional Korean acupunctural fMRI studies.
authors.affiliation: Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Younbyoung
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chae
authors.forename: Hi-Joon
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Dae-Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Hahm
authors.forename: Meesuk
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Eunyoung
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: Hun-Kuk
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hyejung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D026881:Acupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D007723:Korea; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D039781:PubMed; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen