1. Introduction
death, Stroke, ischemic stroke, poststroke, disability
DISEASE, DISEASES, STROKE, ISCHEMIC STROKE
Stroke remains the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the latest Global Burden of Disease study [Acupuncture, as a vital part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has gained increasing acceptance worldwide and has been applied in different forms to treat diseases in more than 180 countries around the world [As a noninvasive neuroimaging technology, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) lays the foundation for real-time measurement of whole-brain activity and helps advance the understanding of neuroplasticity modulated by acupuncture [Despite such progress, the assessment of brain function is still limited by an assumption that the brain activity is constant throughout recording periods in resting state [Therefore, the goal of the present study was to investigate how acupuncture affected the brain's dynamic connections following ischemic stroke based on dFNC analysis. We hypothesized that acupuncture might modulate dynamic properties of brain functional networks in poststroke patients, while true acupoint stimulation has a more positive effect.