통증, 침술 및 뇌영상

Abstract

Pain is very complex and multi-level experience that should be objective or subjective. Acupuncture is a traditional method to heal the pain and have been based on meridian theory. There have been many clinical evidences showing the pain-relieving effect of acupuncture but science-based understanding of it was poor. Furthermore in daily life, we feel huge gap between the source of pain and pain control by acupuncture stimulation. However, the underlying connection between pain control and acupuncture stimulation has been reported in many recent reports. In this paper, we briefly introduce the brain imaging techniques (functional magnetic resonance images, positron emission tomography, electroencephalograph, and magnetoencephalography) and review researches in pain and acupuncture. Through this, the brain areas that activated by pain and acupuncture will be verified, and compared each other regarding their specificity and similarity. In addition, detailed understanding of brain function which is related to pain and acupuncture analgesia through brain imaging techniques will be discussed