{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,18]],"date-time":"2026-10-18T11:59:03Z","timestamp":1792324743608,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,11]],"date-time":"2026-05-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778457600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Hum. Neurosci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a common clinical syndrome and a leading cause of disability. The high disability rate associated with CLBP is more susceptible to reduced labor capacity, poorer quality of life, and increased psychological, social, and medical burdens. Tai Chi is an effective and safe therapy for treating chronic low back pain (CLBP).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study aims to determine the effect of Tai Chi on brain function in patients with CLBP.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study included 72 participants randomly divided into a Tai Chi group and a control group. The Tai Chi group received a Yang-style 24-form Tai Chi program for 8\u202fweeks. The control group had a waiting time of 8\u202fweeks. Participants underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Sichuan Province (No. 2022KL-038-02) and registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry under the number ChiCTR2200064977.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The Visual Analog Score (VAS), duration and frequency of pain, Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) significantly improved at 8\u202fweeks (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt;\u202f0.05). Compared with the control group, the Tai Chi group showed amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) values significantly changed in the left fusiform and left rolandic operculum (voxel-level\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001, cluster-level\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.05). The intensity of local spontaneous neural activity in the Tai Chi group was higher than in the control group. Tai Chi had a potential effect on the decrease of functional connectivity (FC) between the left fusiform and left lingual, between the left rolandic operculum and the right insula. (voxel-level\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001, cluster-level\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.05). The Tai Chi group has a close correlation with brain-related regions.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study indicated that Tai Chi training could effectively relieve pain and improve physical function in elderly people with CLBP. The study suggested that the fusiform-lingual and rolandic operculum-insula circuits are potential treatment regions that might be the mechanism for the effect of Tai Chi.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Clinical Trial Registration<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:uri>https:\/\/www.chictr.org.cn<\/jats:uri>\n                      , Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2200064977).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2026.1739419","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,11]],"date-time":"2026-05-11T05:30:49Z","timestamp":1778477449000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Tai Chi alleviates pain on fusiform-lingual and rolandic operculum-insula circuit in older participants with chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled neuroimaging trial"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Feng","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Changsha, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bo","family":"Peng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine","place":["Chengdu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xing","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine","place":["Chengdu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lili","family":"Peng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Changsha, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e917","DOI":"10.1097\/j.pain.0000000000002534","article-title":"Functional brain mapping in patients with chronic back pain shows age-related differences","volume":"163","author":"Baran","year":"2022","journal-title":"Pain"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2355024","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2023.55024","article-title":"Machine learning models for predicting disability and pain following lumbar disc herniation surgery","volume":"7","author":"Berg","year":"2024","journal-title":"JAMA Netw. 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