A. Normal brain when pain stimulated B. Patients with low back pain C. Patients after acupuncture treatment
There was a very interesting editorial in the Acupuncture In Medicine journal last year discussing the de Qi sensation (pronounced De Chee) in Traditional Chinese Medicine and MRI brain scanning changes. Namely, that a course of acupuncture producing the needling stimulation sensation (De Qi) for chronic low back pain was shown to have a desensitising effect on the emotional centres of the brain involved in pain AND an activating effect on the sensorimotor areas associated with muscle responses to acupuncture. A desensitising effect on one area of the brain relating to pain and emotion AND an activating effect on another part relating to muscle response and movement.
My blog in this series on acupuncture reported how acupuncture stimulates opiod based pain relief. This latest functional MRI scanning shows how 'pain processing' changes occur within the brain as a result of acupuncture. Image A shows active areas of the brain in normals when pain is stimulated.
Image B shows the scattered brain activation in people with low back pain.
Image C shows the brain activation patterns in low back patients after successful acupuncture treatment - notice how close to normal they are again and how different to before treatment.
So pain can be changed via what is known as a 'pain matrix' in the brain. The images are fascinating because they show how the brain's pain activity becomes more localised and more normal in the brain as pain becomes better regulated . Photographic proof that acupuncture changes your brain activity patterns for the better!
Ref: Acupuncture In Medicine, June 2013, 31(2):129-131
My blog in this series on acupuncture reported how acupuncture stimulates opiod based pain relief. This latest functional MRI scanning shows how 'pain processing' changes occur within the brain as a result of acupuncture. Image A shows active areas of the brain in normals when pain is stimulated.
Image B shows the scattered brain activation in people with low back pain.
Image C shows the brain activation patterns in low back patients after successful acupuncture treatment - notice how close to normal they are again and how different to before treatment.
So pain can be changed via what is known as a 'pain matrix' in the brain. The images are fascinating because they show how the brain's pain activity becomes more localised and more normal in the brain as pain becomes better regulated . Photographic proof that acupuncture changes your brain activity patterns for the better!
Ref: Acupuncture In Medicine, June 2013, 31(2):129-131
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