Acupuncture, taking the advantage of modality-specific neural pathways, has shown promising results in the treatment of brain disorders that affect different modalities such as pain and vision. However, the precise underlying mechanisms of within-modality neuromodulation of acupoints on human high-order cognition remain largely unknown. In the present study, we used a non-invasive and easy-operating method, focused ultrasound, to stimulate two language-relevant acupoints, namely GB39 (Xuanzhong) and SJ8 (Sanyangluo), of thirty healthy adults. The effect of focused ultrasound stimulation (FUS) on brain activation was examined by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We found that stimulating GB39 and SJ8 by FUS evoked overlapping but distinct brain activation patterns. Our findings provide a major step toward within-modality (in this case, language) acupoint-brain (acubrain) mapping and shed light on to the potential use of FUS as a personalized treatment option for brain disorders that affect high-level cognitive functions.

针灸利用特定模式的神经通路，在治疗影响不同模式（如疼痛和视力）的脑部疾病方面取得了可喜的成果。然而，穴位对人类高阶认知的模态内神经调节的确切潜在机制在很大程度上仍然未知。在本研究中，我们使用一种无​​创且易于操作的方法，聚焦超声，刺激两个与语言相关的穴位，即 GB39（玄中）和 SJ8（三阳洛）。），三十个健康成年人。通过功能磁共振成像 (fMRI) 检查聚焦超声刺激 (FUS) 对大脑激活的影响。我们发现 FUS 刺激 GB39 和 SJ8 会引起重叠但不同的大脑激活模式。我们的研究结果向模态内（在这种情况下，语言）穴位-大脑（acubrain）映射迈出了重要一步，并阐明了 FUS 作为影响高级认知功能的脑部疾病的个性化治疗选择的潜在用途。