Acupuncture and brain circuitry

There are those who believe acupuncture to be a bunch of mumbo jumbo. I'm convinced it works, though. There have been a ton of well designed medical studies published in the peer reviewed literature to back it up with plenty of science. But how does it work?

Way back in 2004, a scientist in California published a manuscript describing the neurobiology of acupuncture. A review of the available medical literature provided evidence regarding acupuncture altering a specific brain pathway: from the gracile nucleus (an area in the medulla (a primitive brain area responsible for crucial life functions such as heart rate and breathing) to the thalamus (the main relay station for signals going from and coming to the brain)

By stimulating this dorsal medulla-thalamic pathway, acupuncture effects may spread upwards to different parts of the cerebral cortex (mediating acupuncture effects on such things as pain, cravings and anxiety) and downwards to the spinal cord (mediating acupuncture effects on such things as heart rate and digestion)

Over the ensuing two decades new tools have evolved, which have made the study of brain circuits more precise. Chief amongst these is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Like a standard MRI, fMRI yields beautiful, lifelike brain images. What’s more, fMRI uses blood flow or sugar metabolism to evaluate activity of various brain regions and subregions. 

In 2022, Chinese scientists evaluated patients with chronic migraine headaches who responded to acupuncture. Seventy volunteers were enrolled in the study. After acupuncture or sham (control) treatment, the patients were subjected to clinical testing and fMRI. The researchers discovered a brain circuit altered by acupuncture: medulla, cerebellum (a part of the brain responsible for muscular coordination) and precuneus (a part of the brain that allows one to feel in control of one’s actions and events in the external world).

Acupuncture was first performed thousands of years ago and it’s still being done today. That alone should tell you there’s something to it. Early practitioners believed they were balancing life force and rhythm.  Modern science has proven acupuncture alters brain circuitry. Either way, if you’re having it done to you, I hope you feel better soon!

(Image from: Ma SX. Neurobiology of Acupuncture: Toward CAM. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2004 Jun 1;1(1):41-47.)