Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33776442›Full record

ArticleNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2021

The Instant and Sustained Effect of Electroacupuncture in Postgraduate Students with Depression: An fMRI Study.

Xiang-Yu Wei, Hui Chen, Cui Guo, Wen-Li Tan, Song-Hua Zhan

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
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  4. Pooled it
  5. 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 · 2025
    Trial
  6. Trial
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Immediate and sustained effects of acupuncture on the default mode network.Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999) · 2025
    Article
  10. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Xiang-Yu WeiDepartment of Radiology, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of China.ORCID 0000-0001-6549-1478
Hui ChenDepartment of Radiology, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of China.
Cui GuoDepartment of Radiology, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of China.
Wen-Li TanDepartment of Radiology, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of China.ORCID 0000-0001-7727-5772
Song-Hua ZhanDepartment of Radiology, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of China.ORCID 0000-0002-7482-290X
Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectionThis study was a primary study to evaluate the instant and sustained effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at GV20 (Baihui) in postgraduate students with mild depression by using a special flexible head coil.

methodsA total of 20 postgraduate students with mild depression underwent EA stimulation at GV20 and 3 phases of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scanning. Phase I: Preparation (before needle insertion); Phase II: during EA; Phase III: 15 minutes after needle removal. The Rs-fMRI data were processed using DPABI and SPSS 25.

results1) ReHo values showed significantly differences in the right posterior cingulate cortex, right calcarine gyrus, right angular gyrus, right precuneus, right cuneus, and bilateral postcentral gyri among Phase I, Phase II and Phase III; 2) Relative to the Phase I, increased brain activity in the Phase II was observed in the bilateral postcentral gyri, right calcarine gyrus, right cuneus. Compared with the Phase II, decreased brain activity in the Phase III was observed in the right precuneus, right posterior cingulate cortex, right angular gyrus. Relative to the Phase I, Significantly increased brain activity in the Phase III was observed in the right calcarine gyrus, right cuneus, and bilateral postcentral gyri. While decreased ReHo values were found in the right posterior cingulate cortex, right angular gyrus, right precuneus; and 3) Correlation analysis showed that the ReHo values of multiple brain regions in Phase I and Phase III were significantly correlated with the VAS and HRSD-17 scores.

conclusionThis study focuses on the instant and sustained effect in postgraduate students with depression. Our study showed that instant effect produced by EA stimulation at GV20 firstly induced changes in somatosensory and visual area, and then, sustained effect (Phase III) have a higher intensity and more extensive than instant effects. Meanwhile, we provide a visualization way to study the instant effects of head acupoints by using a flexible head coil.

Indexed as

acupuncturedefault mode network; DMNdepressionfunctional magnetic resonance imaging; fMRIneuroimaging

Identifiers

PMID33776442
PMCPMC7989050
OpenAlexW3138028770

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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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.