4.2.3. Emotional State
The psychological factors have significant influence on the function and structure of human brain. For example, Drevets et al. have found an area of abnormally decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex ventral to the genu of the corpus callosum in both unipolar depressives and bipolar depressives [193]. Our study shows that only 4 articles described the psychological assessment performed on the participants; more attention should be paid to the emotional state of subjects during the inclusion and data analysis in future studies, except for the study which focuses on the mechanism of acupuncture treating for psychological disorders.
Furthermore, our study demonstrated that participants with claustrophobia have been excluded in 9 studies. Claustrophobia is a phobic disorder which will cause panic, fear, or anxiety in the confined space. Scanning cannot be accomplished when it is performed on a participant with claustrophobia. So the participants with claustrophobia should be excluded in acupuncture-neuroimaging studies.