The relationship a
patient has with a doc-
tor can affect how much
pain the patient feels,
Napadow said, “but we
don’t know why that
is.” To explore this phe-
nomenon, Napadow
simultaneously records
the brain activity of
an acupuncturist and
a patient in separate
functional magnetic
resonance imaging
machines. They com-
municate through a
video feed (left moni-
tor) while the patient is
treated for experimen-
tally applied pain. To
relieve the discomfort,
the clinician remotely
triggers an electro-
acupuncture device
attached to the leg of
the patient. The moni-
tor at right shows a scan
used to map activity in
the patient’s brain.
ROBERT CLARK
58