Effects of acupuncture on craving after tobacco cessation: a resting-state fMRI study based on the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation
Wang YY, Liu Z, Chen F, Sun L, Wu Y, Yang JS, Fang JL · Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery · 2019 June
DOI 10.21037/qims.2019.06.07
Objective
To investigate the immediate effects and neural mechanisms of acupuncture on smoking craving after tobacco cessation using fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation.
Conclusions
The study indicated that acupuncture significantly reduced smoking craving and nicotine withdrawal symptoms, with the salience network playing a critical role in this process.
Critical Appraisal
Published research can offer valuable insights, but a paper’s conclusions may go beyond what its results support. Critical appraisal examines the methods, findings and limitations to clarify what can reasonably be concluded—and what remains uncertain.
This article has not yet been critically appraised by the Research Hub.
Learn more about Critical Appraisal
Insights
Acupuncture rapidly reduced tobacco craving and withdrawal symptoms, apparently by altering activity within the brain network that detects important internal and external signals.
Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare people who smoked with people who did not smoke. Participants who smoked abstained from tobacco before scanning, then underwent brain imaging before and after acupuncture at several traditional body points. The study assessed craving and withdrawal questionnaires alongside changes in the fractional amplitude of low-frequency brain activity.
Following acupuncture, participants who smoked reported reduced craving, withdrawal symptoms, and urges to smoke. Brain activity changes suggested that the salience network, which helps identify meaningful bodily and environmental signals, played a central role in acupuncture’s apparent effect on tobacco craving.
