MRI's Don't Lie

A study published in 2004 by Harvard medical school demonstrated that "acupuncture stimulation modulates human central nervous system including cerebral limbic/paralimbic and subcortical structures."   The acupuncture point Pericardium 6 (Neiguan) is known for its management of nausea including vestibular-related motion sickness and was used in this study, along with a sham point.

According to the study, "Acupuncture manipulation on PC6, in comparison to the sham acupuncture and tactile stimulation conditions, selectively activated left superior frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus, and dorsomedial nucleus of thalamus. Acupuncture-specific neural substrates in cerebellum were also evident in declive, nodulus, and uvula of vermis, quadrangular lobule, cerebellar tonsil, and superior semilunar lobule. Negative MR signal changes, often seen during the acupuncture of analgesic points, were not observed in the present study. Our data suggest that cerebellum serves as important activation loci during the acupuncture stimulation of PC6, and clinical efficacy of PC6 may be mediated by the cerebellar vestibular neuromatrix."

I'm truly amazed that MRIs can pick up the placebo effect...