Trial reportNeuroImage. Clinical2016
Repeated acupuncture treatments modulate amygdala resting state functional connectivity of depressive patients.
Trial report in NeuroImage. Clinical, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 2 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
44 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy comparison of different external traditional Chinese medicine therapies as monotherapy or in combination for premenstrual syndrome: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of acupuncture for anxiety and depression in functional dyspepsia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- The efficacy and cerebral mechanism of intradermal acupuncture for major depressive disorder: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- Acupuncture modulates emotional network resting-state functional connectivity in patients with insomnia disorder: a randomized controlled trial and fMRI study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Trial
- Acupuncture as Add-on Therapy to SSRIs Can Improve Outcomes of Treatment for Anxious Depression: Subgroup Analysis of the AcuSDep Trial.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2024Trial
- Enhancing treatment of osteoarthritis knee pain by boosting expectancy: A functional neuroimaging study.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2018Trial
- Acupuncture treatment modulates the corticostriatal reward circuitry in major depressive disorder.Journal of psychiatric research · 2017Trial
- Mapping Depression Correlated Amygdala Communication.Brain topography · 2026Article
- New perspective on acupuncture treatment for obesity: mechanisms in the brain based on multidimensional neural circuits.American journal of translational research · 2026Review
- Acupuncture's Multisystem Neuroimmunomodulation: Central-Peripheral Interactions in Gastroenteric, Psychiatric, and Chronic Pain Disorders.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Review
- Integrative research on the mechanisms of acupuncture mechanics and interdisciplinary innovation.Biomedical engineering online · 2025Review
- Emotional characteristics and intrinsic brain network functional connectivity among adults aged 75.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2025Article
- Research status and trends of functional magnetic resonance imaging technology in the field of acupuncture: a bibliometric analysis over the past two decades.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Review
- Acupuncture may play a key role in anti-depression through various mechanisms in depression.Chinese medicine · 2024Review
- Transcriptome analysis of rats with chronic unpredictable mild stress treated with electroacupuncture.Brain and behavior · 2024Article
- Efficacy and cerebral mechanisms of acupuncture for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: study protocol for a multicenter, randomized controlled neuroimaging trial.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial: Evaluating the Impact of Acupuncture on Menstrual Regulation and Pregnancy Enhancement in Patients with DOR Using Rs-fMRI to Assess Brain Functional Networks.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2024Article
- Beneficial effect of electroacupuncture on the distribution of foreign substances in the brain of rats developing depression-like behavior.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2023Article
- Application and underlying mechanism of acupuncture for the nerve repair after peripheral nerve injury: remodeling of nerve system.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2023Review
- Optimizing Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder in Adolescents: The Impact of Intradermal Acupuncture - A Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
As a widely-applied alternative therapy, acupuncture is gaining popularity in Western society. One challenge that remains, however, is incorporating it into mainstream medicine. One solution is to combine acupuncture with other conventional, mainstream treatments. In this study, we investigated the combination effect of acupuncture and the antidepressant fluoxetine, as well as its underlying mechanism using resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) in patients with major depressive disorders. Forty-six female depressed patients were randomized into a verum acupuncture plus fluoxetine or a sham acupuncture plus fluoxetine group for eight weeks. Resting-state fMRI data was collected before the first and last treatments. Results showed that compared with those in the sham acupuncture treatment, verum acupuncture treatment patients showed 1) greater clinical improvement as indicated by Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) scores; 2) increased rsFC between the left amygdala and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC)/preguenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC); 3) increased rsFC between the right amygdala and left parahippocampus (Para)/putamen (Pu). The strength of the amygdala-sgACC/pgACC rsFC was positively associated with corresponding clinical improvement (as indicated by a negative correlation with MADRS and SDS scores). Our findings demonstrate the additive effect of acupuncture to antidepressant treatment and suggest that this effect may be achieved through the limbic system, especially the amygdala and the ACC.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.