functional magnetic resonance

(Radiological Society of North America) Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, researchers have captured pictures of the brain while patients experienced a pain stimulus with and without acupuncture to determine acupuncture's effect on how the brain processes pain.

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.