Objective To compare the difference of the brain activated regions when swallowing after electro-acupuncture on different acupoints in the healthy people and research the central mechanism of the specificity of acupoints affecting the swallowing function.Methods Ten elder healthy volunteers were recruited and received electro-acupuncture on the treatment acupoints of Renying（ST9） and Lianquan（RN23） or the control acupoints of Tiaokou（ST38） and Diji（SP8）.Three days later

the acupoints exchanged.After each treatment

the volunteers were scanned by magnetic resonance imaging（MRI） while swallowing.The data sets of treatment acupoints and control acupoints were collected and analyzed by two-sample t-test.Results After electro-acupunture on the treatment acupoints

the brain activated regions were located in bilateral precentral gyrus

postcentral gyrus

middle frontal gyrus

middle temporal gyrus

cerebellum

brainstem

left inferior parietal lobule and supramarginal gyrus during the preparation of swallowing

while located in bilateral precentral gyrus

right superior temporal gyrus and cerebellum during the action of swallowing.Comparing with the control acupoints

the different brain regions were superior parietal lobule during the preparation of swallowing

while right fusiform gyrus

left middle occipital gyrus

right lingular gyrus

posterior cingulate gyrus and cuneus during the action of swallowing after electro-acupuncture on the treatment acupoints.Conclusion Electro-acupuncture on Renying（ST9） and Lianquan（RN23） could improve the swallowing function by activating more related brain regions of the opposite hemisphere to participate in swallowing and increasing the synergy and compensation of brain.