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Lasers in Medical Science
Published in: Lasers in Medical Science 2/2005

01-09-2005 | Original Article

Laser acupuncture induced specific cerebral cortical and subcortical activations in humans

Authors: Christian M. Siedentopf, Florian Koppelstaetter, Ilka Anna Haala, Veronika Haid, Paul Rhomberg, Anja Ischebeck, Waltraud Buchberger, Stephan Felber, Andreas Schlager, Stefan M. Golaszewski

Published in: Lasers in Medical Science | Issue 2/2005

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Abstract

As recent studies demonstrated, acupuncture can elicit activity in specific brain areas. This study aims to explore further the central effect using laser acupuncture. We investigated the cerebral effects of laser acupuncture at both acupoints GB43 with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). As a control condition the laser was mounted at the same acupoints but without application of laser stimulation. The group results showed significant brain activations within the thalamus, nucleus subthalamicus, nucleus ruber, the brainstem, and the Brodmann areas 40 and 22 for the acupuncture condition. No significant brain activations were observed within the placebo condition. The activations we observed were laser acupuncture-specific and predominantly ipsilateral. This supports the assumption that acupuncture is mediated by meridians, since meridians do not cross to the other side. Furthermore, we could show that laser acupuncture allows one to design a pure placebo condition.
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Metadata
Title
Laser acupuncture induced specific cerebral cortical and subcortical activations in humans
Authors
Christian M. Siedentopf
Florian Koppelstaetter
Ilka Anna Haala
Veronika Haid
Paul Rhomberg
Anja Ischebeck
Waltraud Buchberger
Stephan Felber
Andreas Schlager
Stefan M. Golaszewski
Publication date
01-09-2005
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Lasers in Medical Science / Issue 2/2005
Print ISSN: 0268-8921
Electronic ISSN: 1435-604X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-005-0340-3

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