Acupuncture-induced changes in functional connectivity of the primary somatosensory cortex varied with pathological stages of Bell’s palsy

Bell’s palsy is the most common cause of acute facial nerve paralysis. In China, Bell’s palsy is frequently treated with acupuncture. However, its efficacy and underlying mechanism are still controversial. In this study, we used functional MRI to investigate the effect of acupuncture on the functional connectivity of the brain in Bell’s palsy patients and healthy individuals. The patients were further grouped according to disease duration and facial motor performance. The results of resting-state functional MRI connectivity show that acupuncture induces significant connectivity changes in the primary somatosensory region of both early and late recovery groups, but no significant changes in either the healthy control group or the recovered group. In the recovery group, the changes also varied with regions and disease duration. Therefore, we propose that the effect of acupuncture stimulation may depend on the functional connectivity status of patients with Bell’s palsy.