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Updated: Aug 14, 2026
Monitoring Acupuncture Effects on Human Brain by fMRI
Published on: April 8, 2010
[Effects of acupuncture at Neiguan (PC 6) on human brain functional imaging in different functional states]
Ping Fu1, Jian-Ping Jia, Jiang Zhu
1Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China. doc_fuping@sina.com
Objective:
To study on effects of acupuncture at a same point at physiological or pathological state on brain functional imaging.
Methods:
Electroacupuncture was given at Neiguan (PC 6) of the healthy senile persons (normal group) and the patients of Alzheimer's disease (AD group), and they were scanned on a 1.5 T MRI scanner and the data of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were analyzed by Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM99). The functional imaging of different brain regions were obtained from both the healthy group and the AD group.
Results:
Both the frontal lobe and the temporal lobe were activated in varying degrees by electroacupuncture at Neiguan (PC 6) in the healthy group. However, the frontal lobe, the temporal lobe and the cingulate gyrus as well as the cerebellum were activated in varying degrees and other brain regions were not activated by electroacupuncture at Neiguan (PC 6) in the AD group.
Conclusion:
Acupuncture at Neiguan (PC 6) can activate functions of different brain regions in the healthy group and the AD group, indicating that acupuncture at Neiguan (PC 6) has different effects on functional magnetic resonance imaging in different functional states.
