24/08/2026
How impressive: Acupuncture shown through multiple studies to be helpful in managing depression + anxiety! Read on, and if you feel like acupuncture maybe for you, give the clinic a call (93999659 or book online, www.hbhc.melbourne ) for an appointment with Dr Elisabeth Staunton, our Chinese Medicine Practitioner. Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years but scientists are still figuring out what it actually does to the brain.
A new analysis combined brain-imaging data from seven clinical trials involving 357 people with major depression.
The researchers found that acupuncture was associated with changes in brain regions involved in emotion and reward, including the cingulum and caudate nucleus. More acupuncture sessions were also associated with greater changes in the amygdala, a key emotional-processing region.
Interestingly, antidepressants appeared to affect a different pattern of brain regions, particularly the hippocampus and an area involved in visual processing.
Across these studies, acupuncture was also associated with greater reductions in depression and anxiety scores than antidepressants alone. Although importantly, many receiving acupuncture were also taking antidepressants.
So this isn’t evidence that acupuncture should replace medication. But it does suggest this ancient practice may influence measurable brain networks through a different pathway, potentially making it an interesting complementary treatment to investigate further.
Source: Zhang, J., Shi, X., Wang, W., Xu, K., Li, Y., Shi, X., Shen, Y., & Zou, Y. (2026). Effects of acupuncture on brain function in patients with depression: A meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. Medicine, 105(33), e50185. DOI:10.1097/MD.0000000000050185