Brain-Imaging Study Explores Analgesic Effect of Acupuncture

Although acupuncture has long been used to relieve pain, scientific understanding of how acupuncture might achieve an analgesic effect is incomplete. Previous research has linked acupuncture's effects to the neuronal networks and opioid (pain response) systems of the brain. In light of these findings, NCCAM-funded researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital recently used two imaging technologies—functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET)—to investigate how specific areas of the brain might be involved in acupuncture analgesia.