Autonomic and subjective responses to real and sham acupuncture stimulation

This study compared verum acupuncture (VA) and sham acupuncture (SA) stimulation by assessing autonomic and subjective responses. Autonomic responses such as skin conductance response (SCR) and heart rate (HR) were measured. Subjective pain ratings were collected and evaluated. A correlation analysis was performed for SCR and HR changes and subjective pain ratings. In both VA and SA sessions, SCR increased, and HR decreased. Subjective responses were different for VA and SA. The SCR changes correlated with subjective responses for VA, but not SA. The present results suggest that VA and SA do not fundamentally differ in their autonomic response patterns.