Trial reportJournal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)2014
Acupuncture-related modulation of pain-associated brain networks during electrical pain stimulation: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study.
Trial report in Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Identifying robust neural signatures of acupuncture modulation in healthy brains: a multimodal meta-analysis mapping core network.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- Moxibustion Stimulation Induces Changes in Brain Activity: A Functional MR Imaging Study.Magnetic resonance in medical sciences : MRMS : an official journal of Japan Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine · 2025Article
- Verification of Pain-Related Neuromodulation Mechanisms of Calcitonin in Knee Osteoarthritis.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
- Research Trends on Acupuncture for Shoulder Pain Treatment Over the Past 15 Years: A Bibliometric Analysis.Journal of pain research · 2023Review
- Neuroimaging Assessment of Pain.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2022Review
- Neuroimaging in the Understanding of Acupuncture Analgesia: A Review of Acupuncture Neuroimaging Study Based on Experimental Pain Models.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Review
- Acupuncture Modulation Effect on Pain Processing Patterns in Patients With Migraine Without Aura.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Article
- Clinical study on acupuncture acupoints around the eyes in treating myopia in children and adolescents: A study protocol.Medicine · 2020Article
- Brain Metabolism in Rats with Neuropathic Pain Induced by Brachial Plexus Avulsion Injury and Treated via Electroacupuncture.Journal of pain research · 2020Article
- The Effects of Acupuncture on Hemodynamic Changes During Endotracheal Intubation for General Anesthesia.Medical acupuncture · 2019Article
- Different Brain Activation after Acupuncture at Combined Acupoints and Single Acupoint in Hypertension Patients: An Rs-fMRI Study Based on ReHo Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2019Article
- Acupuncture for the Treatment of Pain - A Mega-Placebo?Frontiers in neuroscience · 2019Review
- Article
- The scientific basis of acupuncture for veterinary pain management: A review based on relevant literature from the last two decades.Open veterinary journalReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveFindings of existing functional MRI (fMRI) studies on the neural mechanisms that mediate effects of acupuncture analgesia are inconsistent. This study analyzes the effects of manual acupuncture on pain ratings and brain activation in response to experimental, electrical pain stimuli.
designFourteen healthy volunteers were examined by using a 1.5-T MRI scanner. The intensity of pain stimuli was adjusted to individual pain ratings on a numeric rating scale. Baseline fMRI was performed during electrical pain stimulation in a blocked design. For the second session, manual acupuncture with repeated stimulation was performed on contralateral acupoints-large intestine 4, liver 3, and stomach 36-before imaging. After imaging, subjective pain ratings and ratings of the de qi sensation were assessed.
resultsCompared with baseline, volunteers showed modulated brain activity under pain conditions in the cingulate gyrus, insula, primary somatosensory cortex, and prefrontal areas after the acupuncture session. In accordance with the literature, anterior insular and prefrontal activity seemed to be correlated with acupuncture treatment.
conclusionThis study supports the existence of analgesic acupuncture effects that outlast the needling period. Pain-associated brain areas were modulated in direct response to a preceding acupuncture treatment.
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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.