Trial reportLasers in medical science2026
Sex differences in brain functional connectivity changes to different energy densities of laser acupuncture at PC6 (Neiguan): a pilot resting-state fMRI study.
Trial report in Lasers in medical science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Purpose previous studies have suggested that laser acupuncture (LA) may influence autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and brain functional connectivity (FC); however, the underlying neural mechanisms and potential sex-dependent responses remain to be further investigated. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined the effects of LA at different energy densities (EDs), hypothesizing that varying dosages elicit differential brain responses influenced by biological sex. Methods we enrolled 60 healthy adults of both sexes aged 18-55 years with a BMI of 18.5-24 kg/m². Participants were randomized into three groups (n = 20 each) receiving LA at EDs of 0, 7.96, or 23.87 J/cm², with male/female distributions of 7/13, 7/13, and 9/11, respectively. Bilateral PC6 (Neiguan) was stimulated, and two 500-second resting-state fMRI scans were acquired before and after LA to analyze FC between ANS-related brainstem regions and other brain areas by sex. Results female-specific analyses more closely resembled previously reported sex-independent results, indicating females as the primary contributing subgroup. Accordingly, in females, LA at 23.87 J/cm² enhanced FC between the rostral ventrolateral medulla and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), while reducing FC between the caudal ventrolateral medulla (CVLM), nucleus of the solitary tract/nucleus ambiguus, and dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus with the sensorimotor cortex (SMC). In males, 23.87 and 7.96 J/cm² LA decreased FC between the CVLM and OFC, with no significant changes between all regions of interest (ROIs) and SMC. Conclusion different EDs of LA elicited distinct FC changes in males and females between ROIs and other brain areas, while PRV findings showed limited evidence of sex-dependent autonomic modulation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.