De Qi, a Threshold of the Stimulus Intensity, Elicits the Specific Response of Acupoints and Intrinsic Change of Human Brain to Acupuncture

Figure 2

Acupuncture manipulation paradigm. Manual acupuncture was administered to LI4 and ST36 on the right. The subject’s sensitivity to needling was pretested and adjusted to tolerance prior to scanning. After remaining in place for 30 s (R1), the needle was rotated forward and backward with stimulation for 30 s at the rate of 60 times per minute with an amplitude of approximately 180° in each direction (S1). After a rest period of 30 s (R2), needle manipulation was repeated in the same manner (S2). The needle was withdrawn after completion of 5 cycles of R-S acupuncture.