An article published in the journal CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics, the authors investigated the reaction of different areas in the brain to acupuncture treatment. They concluded that acupuncture treatment seems to help reconnect different areas of the brain that significantly helps to reduce chronic neck pain and chronic shoulder pain in women. ~ Dr. Broussard
CNS Neurosci Ther. 2022 Jan 19. doi: 10.1111/cns.13803. Online ahead of print.
Modulation effect of acupuncture treatment on chronic neck and shoulder pain in female patients: Evidence from periaqueductal gray-based functional connectivity
Hui Xu 1 2, Yilin Chen 2, Yin Tao 2, Yiwen Zhang 3 4, Teng Zhao 3 5, Mi Wang 3 4, Lihua Fan 3, Yunsong Zheng 3 4, Chenguang Guo 1
Affiliations expand
PMID: 35048524 DOI: 10.1111/cns.13803
Abstract
Aims: Chronic neck and shoulder pain (CNSP) is a common neurological disorder, which females are more likely to suffer from. The periaqueductal gray (PAG) plays a key role in the descending modulation of pain. This study aimed to investigate altered PAG-based functional connectivity (FC) in female patients with CNSP related to healthy controls (HCs) and the effect of acupuncture for female patients with CNSP using PAG-based FC biomarkers.
Methods: PAG-based FC value was calculated based on resting-state functional images and then compared between patients with CNSP at pre-acupuncture, post-acupuncture, and HCs. Then, correlational analyses were performed to examine the relationships between increased PAG-based FC strength and improved clinical parameters in patients after acupuncture treatment.
Results: Before acupuncture treatment, compared to HCs, patients with CSNP showed altered PAG-based FC with widely distributed brain regions, including the left medial superior frontal gyrus, bilateral posterior insula (pIns), and cingulate gyrus. After treatment, patients with CNSP exhibited specially improved PAG-pIns FC compared to that before treatment, and no significant difference was observed in the increased PAG-pIns FC strength between HCs and patients with CNSP after treatment. Furthermore, pain catastrophizing reduction was significantly correlated with the increased PAG-pIns FC strength in patients after treatment.
Conclusion: The effect of acupuncture treatment may relate to the increased PAG-pIns FC, which significantly correlated with pain catastrophizing reduction after treatment. These findings shed important mechanistic information on the role of therapeutic approaches in treating chronic neck and shoulder pain.