The Study of Meditation and Image Evocation Using Functional MRI

Acupressure stimulation of changing intensity was given on the hoku (note: acupoint, LI4) followed by remembering a past stimulation image. Then the activated state of the brain was examined with functional MRI (f-MRI). The acupressure stimulation with strong pain activated the bilateral secondary sensory area, parietal lobes, thalamus and insula, and also activated the visual area of some people. When these acupressure stimuli were recalled in the mind, the signal intensity at the secondary sensory area decreased, and the signal at the visual area and temporal lobes increased. The strong pinching stimulation (severe pain) on the skin at the hoku did not activate the brain as widely as the acupressure stimulation did. In an experiment to send qi from the left index finger tip to the laokung (note: acupoint, PC8) of the right hand palm, the restricted parts of the right sensory area and the right basal ganglia were activated. 'Meditation' and 'Siaozhoutian' methods induced no activation.