| PART â… Relations between brain network activation and analgesia effectinduced by different manipulations: A control functional MRIstudy with electroacupuncturePurpose Control study is designed to find the relations between brain network activation and analgesia effect induced by three different electroacupunture (EA) and to allocate the possible mechanisms underlying the acupuncture analgesia by using functional MRI (fMRI)Materials and methods In this study three different EA manipulations were devised: real EAS (deep needling at acupoints), sham EAS (deep needling at non-acupoints) and shallow EAS (subcutaneous needling at acupoints).Eighteen healthy right handedness volunteers received three different manipulations with consistent 2Hz , output electric current 5 mA EAS at left analgesic points GB34 (yanglingquan) and GB39 (xuanzhong) in counter-balanced orders. Functional MRI data were obtained from scanning the whole brain. Each experimental session was composed of four blocks lasting 2 min each. The DeQi scores are used to evaluate the subjects' needling sensation. Pain thresholds before and after different EAS were immediately tested and recorded, also were the evident pain feeling during EAS. Functional images were processed by using FEAT(FMRIB Expert Analysis Tool)software at different levels including the simple single subject analysis , multisubjects group mean analysis , multisubjects paired two difference analysis and also ROI(region of interesting )analysis of PAG(periaqueductal gray). Results Eighteen subjects were finally finished the whole experiment. The DeQi scores of subjects receiving real EAS were significantly higher than those of sham EAS and those of shallow EAS (Wilcoxon signed ranks test, p<0.01). The post-acupuncture pain thresholds of subjects received three different EAS were increased simultaneously; but the post-acupuncture pain thresholds of subjectsreceived real EAS were significantly higher than that of other two EAS (one-factor ANOVA,F2.51 = 38.45, p< 0.01),but no significant difference (p=0.579) were found when comparing the subjects received shallow EAS to those received sham EAS. The activation of right SI/SII, bilateral insular, ACC (BA24), superior temporal gyrus and cerebellum were observed in all subjects received different EAS. The degree of activation are sham EAS>real EAS>shallow EAS. Increase of fMRI signals in the bilateral thalamus, basal ganglia were found in the subjects experienced real and sham EAS. The activation of orbitofrontal cortex were found in sham EAS but deactivation in real EAS group. The subjects experienced real EAS also revealed evident signal increasing of PAG In comparison of real EAS versus shallow EAS, there was significant activation of right basal ganglia, PAG. In comparison of real EAS versus sham EAS, there was also evident activation of PAG .ROI analysis proved that PAG were higher activation in real EAS group than other two groups (p=0.008; p=0.001). Conclusion The strong needling sensation of EAS similar to pain signal may be induced by stimulating receptors deep at the acupoints, and activates multiple brain regions correlated with pain modulation, especially the thalamus-limbic system, then produce analgesia through descending inhibition system which is triggered by PAG When EA was operated, needling at acupoints accurately and appropriate needling depth could produce stronger needle sensation and better analgesia effect. fMRI is proved to be an valuable method to study EA.PART â…¡ Electroacupuncture modulates the sympathetic nerve conditions:A primary functional MRI studyPurpose To investigate the electroacupunture effect on sympathetic nerve condition and conditions and brain response by using functional MRI (fMRI) Materials and methods In this study twelve patients with left lower extremity pain were enrolled. Each was given deep needling at GB34 (yanglingquan) and GB39...
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