Acupuncture - Deep pain with an autonomic dimension?

► Acupuncture needling sensation correlates negatively with subjects' heart rate. ► Cortical and brainstem activations indicate that acupuncture elicits deep pain. ► The heart rate response is an autonomic concomitant of the deep pain stimulation. ► It is mediated by a network of prefrontal areas, hypothalamic and brainstem centers.