Acupuncture, chronic back pain & disorganised brain activity

It is now well known that acupuncture is an excellent treatment for back pain. Interestingly, this study found a link between chronic low back pain and disorganised brain activity. Acupuncture was able to reduce the back pain while also creating more connectivity in brain networks associated with thinking/daydreaming.

"Less connectivity within the DMN was found in patients with cLBP than in healthy controls, mainly in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate gyrus and precuneus. After acupuncture, patients’ connectivities were restored almost to the levels seen in healthy controls."

Acupuncture Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain Reverses An Abnormal Brain Default Mode Network in Correlation with Clinical Pain Relief

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1136/acupmed-2013-010423