Objective To observe the effects of acupuncture at Taichong（ LR3） and adjunct acupoints on brain functional imaging in healthy people

and to explore the related mechanism of acupoints compatibility. Methods A total of 40 healthy subjects were randomly divided into right Taichong（ LR3） group

bilateral Taichong（ LR3）group

right Taichong（ LR3） plus right Neiguan（ PC6） group

right Taichong（ LR3） plus right Guangming（ GB37）group

with 10 subjects in each group. On the basis of twisting needle stimulation

both groups were alternately stimulated and retained needles according to block design. At the same time

functional magnetic resonance imaging（ fMRI） scanned the resting brain functional imaging during the needling process. The data obtained were used to analyze affected brain area by SPM12 module of MATLAB software. Results Acupuncture at right Taichong（ LR3） mainly caused the increase of oxygen consumption in the contralateral brain area

and activated the left ventromedial prefrontal lobe（ medial prefrontal lobe/anterior cingulate gyrus）

left middle temporal gyrus（ MTG）

right inferior temporal gyrus（ ITG）

left middle frontal gyrus（ MFG） and left brainstem. In the bilateral Taichong（ LR3）group

the main activated areas were left cerebellum

right thalamus

posterior cingulate gyrus

left fusiform gyrus of occipital lobe（ OFuG） and left cuneiform lobe. In right Taichong（ LR3） plus right Guangming（ GB37） group

the main activated areas were right cerebellum

right OFuG

right lingual gyrus（ li G） and right MFG. In right Taichong（ LR3） plus right Neiguan（ PC6） group

the areas of brain activation were the right middle occipital gyrus and right cuneus. No significant inhibition of brain function was observed in the right Taichong（ LR3） group and the bilateral Taichong（ LR3） group; the main inhibited area of brain function in the right Taichong（ LR3） plus right Guangming（ GB37） group was bilateral ITG; The inhibited area of brain function in the Right Taichong（ LR3） plus right Neiguan（ PC6） group was the left cerebellum

the right supramarginal gyrus

the left inferior frontal gyrus

and the left occipital fusiform gyrus. Conclusion There is a significant difference in the effect of acupuncture at Taichong（ LR3） only and different acupoint-matching on brain function. Taichong（ LR3） acupoint-matching can affect the occipital lobe related to vision extensively. In addition

cerebellum may participate in the integration of acupuncture signals in the brain

and it is related to the rules of acupoint-matching.