Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38681626›Full record

ArticleHeliyon2024

Altered functional brain activity in first-episode major depressive disorder treated with electro-acupuncture: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

XiaoLing Wang, Ping Luo, Ling Zhang, JiFei Sun, JiuDong Cao, Zhang Lei, Hong Yang, XueYu Lv, Jun Liu, XiaoYan Yao and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Heliyon, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

12 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Trial
  6. Acupuncture for subthreshold depression: a randomized controlled trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025
    Trial
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Immediate and sustained effects of acupuncture on the default mode network.Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999) · 2025
    Article
  12. Article
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

12 authors.

XiaoLing WangGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Ping LuoGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Ling ZhangGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
JiFei SunGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
JiuDong CaoGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Zhang LeiGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Hong YangGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
XueYu LvGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Jun LiuGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
XiaoYan YaoGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
ShanShan LiGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
JiLiang FangGuang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have found electroacupuncture could improve the clinical symptoms of first-episode major depressive disorder (MDD), but the exact neural mechanism of action needs to be further elucidated. Methods: Twenty-eight first-episode MDD patients were randomly divided into 14 electro-acupuncture stimulation (EAS) groups and 14 sham-acupuncture stimulation (SAS) groups, and clinical symptoms were assessed and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were done in both groups. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) was used to observe the changes between the pre-treatment and post-treatment in the two groups, and the altered brain areas were selected as region of interest (ROI) to observe the FC changes. Meanwhile, the correlation between the altered clinical symptoms and the altered ALFF and FC of brain regions in the two groups was analyzed. Results: The EAS significantly decreased the HAMD-24 and HAMA-14 scores of MDD than SAS group. The imaging results revealed that both groups were able to increase the ALFF of the left middle temporal gyrus and the left cerebellar posterior lobe. When using the left middle temporal gyrus and the left posterior cerebellar lobe as ROIs, EAS group increased the FC between the left middle temporal gyrus with the left superior frontal gyrus, the left middle frontal gyrus, and the left hippocampus, and decreased the FC between the left posterior cerebellar lobe and the left calcarine gyrus, while SAS group only increased the FC between the left middle temporal gyrus with the left superior frontal gyrus. The alternations in clinical symptoms after EAS treatment were positively correlated with the altered ALFF values in the left middle temporal gyrus and the altered FC values in the left middle temporal gyrus and the left middle frontal gyrus. Conclusion: EA demonstrates modulation of functional activity in the default mode network (DMN), sensorimotor network (SMN), cognitive control network (CCN), limbic system, and visual network (VN) for the treatment of the first-episode MDD. Our findings contribute to the neuroimaging evidence for the efficacy of EAS.

Indexed as

Amplitude of low frequency fluctuationElectro-acupunctureFirst episodefMRIFunctional connectivityMajor depressive disorderSham-acupuncture

Identifiers

PMID38681626
PMCPMC11053281

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.