Chinese Traditional Medicine, Visualized: The Human
Brain On Acupuncture
Lying down on an exam table, spreading
your arms and legs apart, and closing your eyes as fine needles are inserted
into your skin sounds counterintuitive to pain relief. The ultra-thin
stainless-steel acupuncture needles are strategically placed into your skin at
acupuncture points to evoke "deqi" sensations that can lead to a
relaxed and healthier you. The tiny sensations caused by the pricks on your
skin actually activate the nervous system and the brain, but how does this all
work?
The “qi” sensation that is widely
discussed in acupuncture is produced when a needle is inserted. The aching,
tingling sensation generates responses in different brain regions as acupoints
are needled. In fact, specific acupuncture points have distinct deqi
characteristics that have a consistent and unique ability to stimulate specific
brain regions.
Stimulating acupuncture points leads
to overlapping brain responses in a number of cortical and subcortical brain
regions. This includes the insula, thalamus, anterior cingulate cortex and
primary and secondary somatosensory cortices — all part of the
sensorimotor cortical network, according to Medscape. At the same time, there is a
deactivation in the limbic-paralimbic-neocortical network, which includes the
medial prefrontal cortex, caudate, amygdala, posterior cingulate cortex, and
parahippocampus. These brain areas are associated with a pain matrix that is
responsible for modulating both the sensation of pain and affective pain
perception.
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