Trial reportMolecular pain2010
Imaging the functional connectivity of the Periaqueductal Gray during genuine and sham electroacupuncture treatment.
Trial report in Molecular pain, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Identifying robust neural signatures of acupuncture modulation in healthy brains: a multimodal meta-analysis mapping core network.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- Sham Electroacupuncture Methods in Randomized Controlled Trials.Scientific reports · 2017Pooled it
- Neuroimaging of the periaqueductal gray: state of the field.NeuroImage · 2012Pooled it
- Modulation effects of different treatments on periaqueductal gray resting state functional connectivity in knee osteoarthritis knee pain patients.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2023Trial
- The modulation effect of longitudinal acupuncture on resting state functional connectivity in knee osteoarthritis patients.Molecular pain · 2015Trial
- Acupuncture modulates cortical thickness and functional connectivity in knee osteoarthritis patients.Scientific reports · 2014Trial
- Building up analgesia in humans via the endogenous μ-opioid system by combining placebo and active tDCS: a preliminary report.PloS one · 2014Trial
- The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) val158met polymorphism affects brain responses to repeated painful stimuli.PloS one · 2011Trial
- Immediate changes after manual therapy in resting-state functional connectivity as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging in participants with induced low back pain.Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeuticsTrial
- Mechanisms of Different Brainstem Nuclei Involved in Electroacupuncture-Induced Analgesia.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2026Review
- Opioidergic activation of the descending pain inhibitory system underlies placebo analgesia.Science advances · 2025Article
- Mechanism of cognitive processing for acupuncture action on generalized anxiety with naturally occurring consecutive partial sleep deprivation in early adulthood: a randomized controlled study and evaluation of event-related potentials.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Adaptive neuroplasticity in the default mode network contributing to absence of central sensitization in primary dysmenorrhea.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- Hotspots and Trends in Research on Treating Pain with Electroacupuncture: A Bibliometric and Visualization Analysis from 1994 to 2022.Journal of pain research · 2023Article
- Modulation effect of acupuncture treatment on chronic neck and shoulder pain in female patients: Evidence from periaqueductal gray-based functional connectivity.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2022Article
- Effects of Acupuncture on Neuropathic Pain Induced by Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Review
- Different modulation effects of 1 Hz and 20 Hz transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on the functional connectivity of the periaqueductal gray in patients with migraine.Journal of translational medicine · 2021Article
- Resting-State fMRI in Studies of Acupuncture.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021Review
- Bibliometric Analysis of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies on Acupuncture Analgesia Over the Past 20 Years.Journal of pain research · 2021Review
- Differential Modulating Effect of Acupuncture in Patients With Migraine Without Aura: A Resting Functional Magnetic Resonance Study.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundElectroacupuncture (EA) is currently one of the most popular acupuncture modalities. However, the continuous stimulation characteristic of EA treatment presents challenges to the use of conventional functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) approaches for the investigation of neural mechanisms mediating treatment response because of the requirement for brief and intermittent stimuli in event related or block designed task paradigms. A relatively new analysis method, functional connectivity fMRI (fcMRI), has great potential for studying continuous treatment modalities such as EA. In a previous study, we found that, compared with sham acupuncture, EA can significantly reduce Periaqueductal Gray (PAG) activity when subsequently evoked by experimental pain. Given the PAG's important role in mediating acupuncture analgesia, in this study we investigated functional connectivity with the area of the PAG we previously identified and how that connectivity was affected by genuine and sham EA.
resultsForty-eight subjects, who were randomly assigned to receive either genuine or sham EA paired with either a high or low expectancy manipulation, completed the study. Direct comparison of each treatment mode's functional connectivity revealed: significantly greater connectivity between the PAG, left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and precuneus for the contrast of genuine minus sham; significantly greater connectivity between the PAG and right anterior insula for the contrast of sham minus genuine; no significant differences in connectivity between different contrasts of the two expectancy levels.
conclusionsOur findings indicate the intrinsic functional connectivity changes among key brain regions in the pain matrix and default mode network during genuine EA compared with sham EA. We speculate that continuous genuine EA stimulation can modify the coupling of spontaneous activity in brain regions that play a role in modulating pain perception.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.