Needling at the Waiguan (SJ5) in healthy limbs deactivated functional brain areas in ischemic stroke patients

Deactivation is common in cerebral functional imaging. However, the physiological mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon remain poorly understood. The present study analyzed 12 ischemic stroke patients, who were randomly assigned to two groups: one group underwent sham needling and true needling at the Waiguan (SJ 5) in the healthy upper limb and the other group underwent sham and true needling at a sham point. Functional magnetic resonance imaging results showed no activation points in brain tissues following needling at SJ 5. However, compared with sham needling at SJ 5, true needling at SJ 5 deactivated Broadmann 4, 6, 24, and 32 areas. In addition, compared to needling at the sham point, true needling at SJ 5 deactivated bilateral hypothalamus. Results demonstrated that SJ 5 needling in the healthy upper limb resulted in specific directional brain action, as manifested by deactivation of cerebral areas related to motor (Broadmann 4 and 6), emotion (hypothalamus), and cognition (Broadmann 24, 32).