Remodeling of the ventral attention network-default mode network as potential neural correlates of anxiety in lumbar disc herniation patients treated with lever positioning manipulation: a resting-state fMRI study.
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies March 16, 2026 Xing-Chen Zhou, Shuang Wu, Kai-Zheng Wang et al.
Patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) who also have negative emotions show altered brain functional connectivity in networks involved in self-referential thought, executive control, and salience processing. Lever positioning manipulation (LPM) treatment relieved anxiety in these patients and was associated with changes in brain activation and connectivity, particularly between the orbitofrontal cortex and the rectal gyrus. Changes in functional connectivity in these regions correlated positively with reductions in anxiety scores, suggesting that neural remodeling of the ventral attention and default mode networks may underlie the anxiety relief seen with LPM.