Combining spatial and temporal information to explore function-guide action of acupuncture using fMRI.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the brain response patterns of modulation of GB37 (Guangming) and KI8 (Jiaoxin).


METHODS
An experiment using nonrepeated event-related fMRI design was carried out on 28 subjects with electroacupuncture stimulation (EAS) at GB37 or KI8 on the left leg. The discrete cosine transform and functional connectivity methods were adopted to detect the differences related with these two acupoints before and after the EAS.


RESULTS
Spatial patterns were distinct for EAS at the two acupoints, and the overlapping brain regions were mainly located in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and precuneus (pC). Two opposite patterns of modulation in the default mode network were detected from the temporal patterns with the overlapping PCC/pC as the region of interest. Furthermore, the specific responses of sustained effects at these acupoints were also identified.


CONCLUSIONS
Spatial and temporal patterns of the sustained effect modulation of GB37 and KI8 were distinct. We suggest these findings may attribute to the functional specificity of a certain acupoint. Moreover, our current results reflect a significant methodological contribution to future acupuncture studies.
Liu
Peng
P
School of Sino-Dutch Biomedical and Information Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
Qin
Wei
W
Zhang
Yi
Y
Tian
Jie
J
Bai
Lijun
L
Zhou
Guangyu
G
Liu
Jixin
J
Chen
Peng
P
Dai
Jianping
J
von Deneen
Karen M
KM
Liu
Yijun
Y
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D015671:Electroacupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D007866:Leg; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult