title: Determining the precise cerebral response to acupuncture: an improved FMRI study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In acupuncture brain imaging trials, there are many non-acupuncture factors confounding the neuronal mapping. The modality of the placebo, subjects' psychological attitude to acupuncture and their physical state are the three most confounding factors.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To obtain more precise and accurate cerebral fMRI mapping of acupuncture.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 2×2 randomized, controlled, participant-blinded cross-over factorial acupuncture trial was conducted at Xuanwu Hospital in Beijing, China.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-one college students with myopia were recruited to participate in our study and were allocated randomly to four groups, Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D.
  
  
  METHODS
  Group A received real acupuncture (RA) and treatment instruction (TI); Group B received RA and non-treatment instruction (NI); Group C received sham acupuncture (SA) and TI; Group D received SA and NI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Stimulation at LR3 activated some areas of the visual cortex, and the cerebral response to non-acupuncture factors was complex and occurred in multiple areas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results provide more evidence regarding the credibility of acupuncture therapy and suggest that more precise experimental designs are needed to eliminate sources of bias in acupuncture controlled trials and to obtain sound results.
authors.affiliation: Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China. liuhua@ihep.ac.cn
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jianyang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Baoci
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.forename: Yongzhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jingquan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Binbin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nie
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000328:Adult; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology