Acupuncture mobilizes the brain's default mode and its anti-correlated network in healthy subjects

Abstract

Previous work has shown that acupuncture stimulation evokes deactivation of a limbic-paralimbic-neocortical network (LPNN) as well as activation of somatosensory brain regions. This study explores the activity and functional connectivity of these regions during acupuncture vs. tactile stimulation and vs. acupuncture associated with inadvertent sharp pain. Acupuncture during 201 scans and tactile stimulation during 74 scans for comparison at acupoints LI4, ST36 and LV3 was monitored with fMRI and psychophysical response in 48 healthy subjects. Clusters of deactivated regions in the medial prefrontal, medial parietal and medial temporal lobes as well as activated regions in the sensorimotor and a few paralimbic structures can be identified during acupuncture by general linear model analysis and seed-based cross correlation analysis. Importantly, these clusters showed virtual identity with the default mode network and the anti-correlated task-positive network in response to stimulation. In addition, the amygdala and hypothalamus, structures not routinely reported in the default mode literature, were frequently involved in acupuncture. When acupuncture induced sharp pain, the deactivation was attenuated or became activated instead. Tactile stimulation induced greater activation of the somatosensory regions but less extensive deactivation of the LPNN. These results indicate that the deactivation of the LPNN during acupuncture cannot be completely explained by the demand of attention that is commonly proposed in the default mode literature. Our results suggest that acupuncture mobilizes the anti-correlated functional networks of the brain to mediate its actions, and that the effect is dependent on the psychophysical response.

Acupuncture and Massage Therapy for Neuropathic Pain following Spinal Cord Injury: An Exploratory Study

“…Both treatment modalities activate endogenous pain inhibitory systems, however they are believed to act through different mechanisms. 17 …”

Deconvolution Analyses with Tent Functions Reveal Delayed and Long-sustained Increases of BOLD Signals with Acupuncture Stimulation

“…25 It has been reported that SI processing is performed with input provided by mechanoreceptors, 26 but the activation of much of the SI has not been conˆrmed by acupuncture stimulation. 1,2,[4][5][6][7][8][10][11][12][13][14] The peripheral receptors involved in acupuncture stimulation have been suggested to be the polymodal receptors that are nociceptive receptors of the C-ˆbers. 27 It is also thought that the input is the transmission through C-ˆber in response to production of a chemical substance following deep tissue injury by manual acupuncture stimulation.…”

“…In the past 20 years, the development of imaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), has opened the door for the study of brain activity in response to acupuncture stimulation. Numerous studies have been performed with fMRI and a variety of acupuncturerelated stimulations, such as electroacupuncture, 1,2 manual acupuncture, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] sham acupuncture of the skin some distance from a known acupoint [4][5][6] or by noninsertive acupuncture and poking of the skin over an acupuncture point, [7][8][9][10][11] pressure to the acupoint, 12 laser acupuncture, 13 and electrical acupoint stimulation. 14 fMRI studies of acupuncture have typically utilized a block design that is used as a general linear model regressor in the analysis of fMRI data based on the assumption that mechanoreceptors and nociceptor-associated aŠerence work coincidentally with acupuncture stimulation, which is the conscious perception and evaluation of this aŠerence.…”

An fMRI Investigation on Brain Activity in Response to Unilateral Acupuncture, Electroacupuncture and Electromyostimulation on ST36 and ST39

“…Obviously, a common factor in these two treatments was the nociceptive afferents. Pain (from nociceptors) has been shown to elicit activation of the sensorimotor cortices, rostral anterior cingulate cortex, insula, cerebellum, hippocampus and brain stem Hui et al, 2009;Kong et al, 2007;Lewith et al, 2005;Seidler et al, 2004) through spinothalamus bundle. A number of cortical areas have been shown to be involved in pain processing, including the primary somatosensory cortex, the secondary somatosensory cortex, the insula, the anterior cingulate, the prefrontal cortex, the hypothalamus and periaqueductal gray (PAG) (Kong et al, 2009;Zhang et al, 2004).…”