Acupuncture can be regarded as a complex somatosensory stimulation. Here, we evaluate whether the point locations chosen for a somatosensory stimulation with acupuncture needles differently change the brain activity in healthy volunteers. We used EEG, event-related fMRI, and resting-state functional connectivity fMRI to assess neural responses to standardized needle stimulation of the acupunctu...

The existence of point specificity in acupuncture is controversial, because many acupuncture studies using this principle to select control points have found that sham acupoints have similar effects to those of verum acupoints. Furthermore, the results of pain-related studies based on visual analogue scales have not supported the concept of point specificity. In contrast, hemodynamic, functiona...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to examine the immediate effect of single acupuncture stimulation to the most painful point in patients with low back pain. METHOD A randomised, evaluator-blinded, sham controlled clinical trial was conducted in which 31 patients with low back pain were randomly allocated to either an acupuncture group (n = 15) or a sham acupuncture group (n = 16). Bot...

UNLABELLED Acupuncture is a form of Eastern medicine that has been practiced for centuries. Despite its long history and worldwide application, the biological mechanisms of acupuncture in relieving pain have been poorly defined. Recent studies in mice, however, demonstrate that acupuncture triggers increases in interstitial adenosine, which reduces the severity of chronic pain through adenosine...

Since the last Cochrane review of acupuncture and headache in 2001, which found methodological and/or reporting shortcomings in the majority of the studies, several large, randomized trials on the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment for headache have been published. Following a brief overview of the pathophysiology of migraine and possible action mechanisms of acupuncture, we look at cu...

BACKGROUND De qi is a sensory response elicited by acupuncture stimulation. According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), de qi is essential for clinical efficacy. However, the understanding of the neurobiological basis of de qi is still limited. OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between brain activation and de qi by taking a single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scan ...

BACKGROUND Although evidence of its effects is tentative, acupuncture has long been used in the treatment of multiple maladies. So far, it has not been possible to discriminate the effects of the venue from specific results of needling itself, thus physicians merely depend on patients' statements. The authors investigated the efficacy of infrared thermography in distinguishing response to true ...

BACKGROUND Peripheral joint osteoarthritis is a major cause of pain and functional limitation. Few treatments are safe and effective. OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of acupuncture for treating peripheral joint osteoarthritis. SEARCH STRATEGY We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library 2008, Issue 1), MEDLINE, and EMBASE (both through December 2007)...

BACKGROUND Acupuncture in humans can produce clinical effects via the central nervous system. However, the neural substrates of acupuncture's effects remain largely unknown. RESULTS We utilized functional MRI to investigate the topological efficiency of brain functional networks in eighteen healthy young adults who were scanned before and after acupuncture at the ST36 acupoints (ACUP) and its...