http://www.nitrc.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=8177 <table border="0" width="100%"><tr><td align="left"/><td align="right"><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&amp;cmd=Link&amp;LinkName=pubmed_pubmed&amp;from_uid=29343693">Related Articles</a></td></tr></table> <p><b>Phantom Acupuncture Induces Placebo Credibility and Vicarious Sensations: A Parallel fMRI Study of Low Back Pain Patients.</b></p> <p>Sci Rep. 2018 Jan 17;8(1):930</p> <p>Authors: Makary MM, Lee J, Lee E, Eun S, Kim J, Jahng GH, Kim K, Youn YS, Lee JH, Park K</p> <p>Abstract<br/> Although acupuncture is an effective therapeutic intervention for pain reduction, the exact difference between real and sham acupuncture has not been clearly understood because a somatosensory tactile component is commonly included in the existing sham acupuncture protocols. In an event-related fMRI experiment, we implemented a novel form of sham acupuncture, phantom acupuncture, that reproduces the acupuncture needling procedure without somatosensory tactile stimulation while maintaining the credibility of the acupuncture treatment context. Fifty-six non-specific low back pain patients received either real (REAL) or phantom (PHNT) acupuncture stimulation in a parallel group study. The REAL group exhibited greater activation in the posterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex, reflecting the needling-specific components of acupuncture. We demonstrated that PHNT could be delivered credibly. Interestingly, the PHNT-credible group exhibited bilateral activation in SI/SII and also reported vicarious acupuncture sensations without needling stimulation. The PHNT group showed greater activation in the bilateral dorsolateral/ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC/vlPFC). Moreover, the PHNT group exhibited significant pain reduction, with a significant correlation between the subjective fMRI signal in the right dlPFC/vlPFC and a score assessing belief in acupuncture effectiveness. These results support an expectation-related placebo analgesic effect on subjective pain intensity ratings, possibly mediated by right prefrontal cortex activity.<br/> </p><p>PMID: 29343693 [PubMed - in process]</p> en-us Copyright 2000-2026 NITRC OSI Sun, 03 May 2026 15:36:19 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss NITRC RSS generator