Trial reportJournal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)2016
Evidence of a Synergistic Effect of Acupoint Combination: A Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.
Trial report in Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of acupuncture on brain regions modulation of mild cognitive impairment: A meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Comparative Evaluation of ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and Physician-Generated Acupuncture Treatment Protocols Across Chinese and English Language Settings: Cross-Sectional Evaluation Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Magnetoencephalography study of the Xingnao Kaiqiao acupuncture during acupuncture and language task states in healthy volunteers: a single-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial protocol.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Article
- Impact of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation combined with aromatherapy on postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing microvascular decompression surgery: A prospective randomized study.Journal of anesthesia and translational medicine · 2025Article
- Application and underlying mechanism of acupuncture for the nerve repair after peripheral nerve injury: remodeling of nerve system.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2023Review
- Effects of acupoints-based TENS combined with tDCS on spasticity and motor function in ischemic stroke with spastic hemiplegia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- Acupuncture for Poor Ovarian Response: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Adjunct ketamine treatment of depression in treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients is unsatisfactory in pilot and secondary follow-up studies.Brain and behavior · 2020Article
- Changes in resting-state functional connectivity in nonacute sciatica with acupuncture modulation: A preliminary study.Brain and behavior · 2020Article
- A Key Node Mining Method Based on Acupoint-Disease Network (ADN): A New Perspective for Exploring Acupoint Specificity.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2020Article
- Modulatory effect of International Standard Scalp Acupuncture on brain activation in the elderly as revealed by resting-state fMRI.Neural regeneration research · 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
- An Apriori algorithm-based association rule analysis to identify acupoint combinations for treating uremic pruritus.Tzu chi medical journalArticle
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 at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis study aimed to find evidence of a synergistic effect of acupoint combinations by analyzing different brain regions activated after acupuncture at different acupoint combinations.
methodsA total of 57 healthy subjects were randomly distributed into three groups: LR3 plus KI3 acupoints, LR3 plus sham acupoint, or LR3 alone. They underwent a magnetic resonance imaging scan before and after acupuncture. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) values of different brain regions were analyzed to observe changes in brain function.
resultsALFF and ReHo produced an activated area in the cerebellum posterior lobe after acupuncture at LR3 plus KI3 acupoints versus LR3 alone. ALFF and ReHo revealed altered activity in Brodmann area 10 (BA10), BA18, and brainstem pons after acupuncture at LR3 plus sham acupoint compared with at LR3 alone. A comparison of acupuncture at LR3 plus KI3 acupoints with LR3 plus sham acupoint demonstrated an increase in BA6 of ALFF and a downregulation of ReHo.
conclusionsThe increased number of brain regions with altered brain activity after acupuncture at acupoint combinations versus a single acupoint are evidence of the synergistic effect of acupoint combinations. BA6 was significantly activated after acupuncture at LR3 plus KI3 acupoints compared with at LR3 plus sham acupoint, suggesting that BA6 is the specific region of synergistic effect of acupoint combinations of LR3 plus KI3 acupoints. Affected brain regions were different between acupuncture at LR3 plus sham acupoint and LR3 alone, which indicates that the sham acupoint may have some psychological effect. However, the specific mechanism of acupoint combinations requires further research.
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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.