Intersubject synchronisation analysis of brain activity associated with the instant effects of acupuncture: an fMRI study

• Published in: Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society Vol. 36; no. 1; pp. 14 - 20
• Main Authors: Jin, Lingmin, Sun, Jinbo, Xu, Ziliang, Yang, Xuejuan, Liu, Peng, Qin, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.02.2018; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Acupuncture; Acupuncture Points; Acupuncture Therapy; Adult; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiology; Brain Mapping; Brain research; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical research; Noise; Pain; Young Adult; China; intersubject synchronization; acupuncture instant effect; functional magnetic resonance imaging; general linear model
• ISSN: 0964-5284; 1759-9873; 1759-9873
• DOI: 10.1136/acupmed-2016-011327

ObjectiveTo use a promising analytical method, namely intersubject synchronisation (ISS), to evaluate the brain activity associated with the instant effects of acupuncture and compare the findings with traditional general linear model (GLM) methods.Methods30 healthy volunteers were recruited for this study. Block-designed manual acupuncture stimuli were delivered at SP6, and de qi sensations were measured after acupuncture stimulation. All subjects underwent functional MRI (fMRI) scanning during the acupuncture stimuli. The fMRI data were separately analysed by ISS and traditional GLM methods.ResultsAll subjects experienced de qi sensations. ISS analysis showed that the regions activated during acupuncture stimulation at SP6 were mainly divided into five clusters based on the time courses. The time courses of clusters 1 and 2 were in line with the acupuncture stimulation pattern, and the active regions were mainly involved in the sensorimotor system and salience network. Clusters 3, 4 and 5 displayed an almost contrary time course relative to the stimulation pattern. The brain regions activated included the default mode network, descending pain modulation pathway and visual cortices. GLM analysis indicated that the brain responses associated with the instant effects of acupuncture were largely implicated in sensory and motor processing and sensory integration.ConclusionThe ISS analysis considered the sustained effect of acupuncture and uncovered additional information not shown by GLM analysis. We suggest that ISS may be a suitable approach to investigate the brain responses associated with the instant effects of acupuncture.