Cheng, Ci-Song, Zhu, Yi-Hui, Liang, Fan-Rong et al. · Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion · 2010
This study looked at whether acupuncture can help ME/CFS patients by examining brain wave patterns that reflect attention and thinking. Researchers compared brain signals in healthy people and ME/CFS patients at different times of day, then treated some ME/CFS patients with acupuncture. They found that acupuncture helped restore normal daily rhythms in brain activity and improved daytime thinking ability.
ME/CFS patients often experience cognitive dysfunction and abnormal circadian rhythms. This study provides electrophysiological evidence that acupuncture may restore disrupted biological timing mechanisms, potentially explaining symptom improvement in a subset of patients and supporting investigation of circadian interventions.
This study does not prove acupuncture is effective as a standalone treatment for ME/CFS, as there was no sham acupuncture control group to account for placebo effects. The small sample size and single-site design limit generalizability. The study measures brain electrical activity changes but does not establish whether these changes correlate with clinical symptom improvement or functional outcomes.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Cheng, Ci-Song, Zhu, Yi-Hui, Liang, Fan-Rong, Wu, Xi, Jin, Shuo-Guo, & Wu, Fang-Peng (2010). [Effect of electroacupuncture at Shenshu (BL 23) and Zusanli (ST 36) on the event-related potentials of chronic fatigue syndrome].. Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20568438/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-cheng-2010-effect-electroacupuncture,
author = {Cheng, Ci-Song and Zhu, Yi-Hui and Liang, Fan-Rong and Wu, Xi and Jin, Shuo-Guo and Wu, Fang-Peng},
title = {[Effect of electroacupuncture at Shenshu (BL 23) and Zusanli (ST 36) on the event-related potentials of chronic fatigue syndrome].},
journal = {Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion},
year = {2010},
note = {PubMed: 20568438},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/cheng-2010-effect-electroacupuncture},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/cheng-2010-effect-electroacupuncture
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