Functional connectivity patterns are altered by low back pain and cause different responses to sham and real dry needling therapies: a systematic review of fMRI studies.

Needling therapies, like acupuncture, may have a central effect on patients beyond the local tissue effects, reducing patients' pain and disability due to alterations in neural processing, including the DMN, and potentially other central nervous system effects. The meta-analysis should be interpreted with caution due to the narrow focus and confined sample used.