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

Kathleen K.S. Hui, Ovidiu Marina, Joshua D. Claunch, Erika E. Nixon, Jiliang Fang, Jing Liu, Ming Li, Vitaly Napadow, Mark Vangel, Nikos Makris, Suk-tak Chan, Kenneth K. Kwong (+1 others)
2009 Brain Research  
Previous work has shown that acupuncture stimulation evokes deactivation of a limbicparalimbic-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
more » ... 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 Keywords: Acupuncture fMRI Limbic-paralimbic-neocortical network Default mode network Deqi Amygdala B R A I N R E S E A R C H X X ( 2 0 0 9 ) X X X -X X X ava i l a b l e a t w w w. s c i e n c e d i r e c t . c o m w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / b r a i n r e s ARTICLE IN PRESS Please cite this article as: Hui, K.K.S., et al., Acupuncture mobilizes the brain's default mode and its anti-correlated network in healthy subjects, Brain Res. (2009), 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. Published by Elsevier B.V. B R A I N R E S E A R C H X X ( 2 0 0 9 ) X X X -X X X ARTICLE IN PRESS Please cite this article as: Hui, K.K.S., et al., Acupuncture mobilizes the brain's default mode and its anti-correlated network in healthy subjects, Brain Res. (2009),
doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2009.06.061 pmid:19559684 pmcid:PMC3742122 fatcat:rhi66wpdlrg5dh3ggln7spihk4