title: Gender differences in the neural response to acupuncture: clinical implications.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine gender differences and similarities in the psychophysical and brain responses to acupuncture at GB34, a point that is frequently used to treat motor function issues in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
  
  
  METHODS
  Functional MRI (fMRI) was used to measure brain activation in response to acupuncture at GB34 (on the right) in 19 healthy participants (9 male, 10 female). De qi sensations were rated to measure their psychophysical responses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall de qi scores did not differ by gender, although females reported greater intensity of aching (p=0.04). Acupuncture activated the hippocampus, thalamus, globus pallidus, caudate body, claustrum, cingulate gyrus, and culmen in males, and the middle and inferior frontal gyrus, precuneus, postcentral gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, superior temporal gyrus, caudate body, insula, fusiform gyrus, cingulate gyrus, amygdala, and parahippocampal gyrus in females. The middle/medial frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, thalamus, globus pallidus, caudate body, uvula, and cerebellar tonsil were activated when data from all subjects were combined. Relative to males, females exhibited greater brain activation in the right-sided postcentral gyrus, precentral gyrus, precuneus, postcentral gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, declive, middle occipital gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The neural effects of GB34 acupuncture might differ between males and females because different brain structures were modulated in response to acupuncture. This potential gender effect should be taken into account in future clinical research. We also revealed that the caudate body was activated by GB34 acupuncture in both males and females and may represent a major target of GB34 acupuncture.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  KMC IRB 0861-06.
authors.affiliation: College of Korean Medicine, Sang Ji University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sujung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yeo
authors.affiliation: Department of Meridian & Acupoint, College of Korean Medicine, WHO Collaborating Center for Traditional Medicine, East-West Medical Research Institute, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.affiliation: Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peggy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bosch
authors.affiliation: Department of Meridian & Acupoint, College of Korean Medicine, WHO Collaborating Center for Traditional Medicine, East-West Medical Research Institute, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Research Group of Pain and Neuroscience, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Maurits van den
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Noort
authors.affiliation: Department of Meridian & Acupoint, College of Korean Medicine, WHO Collaborating Center for Traditional Medicine, East-West Medical Research Institute, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Research Group of Pain and Neuroscience, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sabina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: ACUPUNCTURE