• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.57-71
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• 2004

Objective : Physiological evidence regarding acupuncture's effect in human patients is not yet well established, despite considerable evidence for its therapeutic efficacy. Besides target or disease specificity of acupuncture, acupuncture analgesia (AA) appears to be another large subclass that poses many questions, such as whether there is point specificity with respect to which acupoint is most effective for a particular condition. Methods : We observed brain activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using a set of stimuli that consist of pain, pain following Meridian acupuncture, and pain following Sham acupuncture. Results : Among the new observations, the most interesting fact is that data sets of both Meridian acupuncture and Sham acupuncture show decreased activation of the same brain areas related to the pain processing signals. Present functional MRI study demonstrate two important biological observations that could elucidate AA mechanism in human participants: the effects of acupuncture occur through mediation of the higher brain areas. Sham acupuncture stimulation appears to be almost as effective as traditional Meridian acupoint stimulation, suggesting that acupuncture is not entirely point specific. Decreased activation in the limbic paleo cortical areas appears to be the probable neurological manifestation of AA and strongly implies that acupuncture stimulation inhibits the transmission of ascending pain signals to the higher cortical areas by the previously known descending pain inhibitory circuit. Conclusion : We, therefore, a hypothesized that this pain inhibitory circuit is initiated and mediated via the broad sense Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenal (BS HPA) axis in conjunction to the "sensory stimulation."