Research Article

Connectivity Study of the Neuromechanism of Acute Acupuncture Needling during fMRI in “Overweight” Subjects

Figure 7

Changes in functional connectivity (FC) with the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) after acupuncture minus before acupuncture (ACU) in relation to delta hunger correlation scores after ACU minus before ACU. Increased hypothalamus-ACC functional connectivity (HYP-ACC FC) after acupuncture (after ACU) was positively correlated with ACU-induced change in hunger suggesting that increased dopamine modulation during ACU was presumably associated with increased poststimulation limbic system and spinothalamic tract connectivity (; ).