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ICCMR 2010
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Changes in fMRI in the Human Brain Related to Different Durations of Manual Acupuncture Needling

To cite this article:
Ke Li, Baoci Shan, Jianyang Xu, Hua Liu, Wei Wang, Lianhe Zhi, Kuncheng Li, Bin Yan, Xiaowei Tang. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. September 2006, 12(7): 615-623. doi:10.1089/acm.2006.12.615.

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Ke Li, Ph.D.
Key Laboratory of Nuclear Analysis Techniques, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Baoci Shan, Ph.D.
Key Laboratory of Nuclear Analysis Techniques, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Jianyang Xu, M.D.
General Hospital of Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Hua Liu, M.M.
Key Laboratory of Nuclear Analysis Techniques, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, People's Republic of China.
Wei Wang, M.D.
Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Lianhe Zhi, Ph.D.
Key Laboratory of Nuclear Analysis Techniques, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Kuncheng Li, M.D.
Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Bin Yan, Ph.D.
Key Laboratory of Nuclear Analysis Techniques, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Xiaowei Tang
Key Laboratory of Nuclear Analysis Techniques, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.

Objectives: The present study is aimed at evaluating the effects of manual acupuncture with different durations on the human brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Materials and methods: Eighteen healthy right-handed volunteers were divided into three groups randomly. Each group received only one kind of acupuncture on the right LI4 (Hegu) point, which lasted 30 sec, 60 sec, or 180 sec, respectively. Fix-effect and conjunction analysis were used to compare the effects of the three kinds of acupunctures.

Results: The results indicated that the stimulation of manual acupuncture with different durations could induce different effects in the central nervous system on the human brain. The longer duration of manual acupuncture might induce more significant areas.

Conclusions: The present study provided not only neuroimaging evidence for manual acupuncture, but also a useful guide for clinical applications of acupuncture. In addition, the results might be helpful to understand the relationship between the central nervous system responses and the durations of acupuncture.

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