The results add to a growing body of literature showing that acupuncture elicits neuroprotective effects in the CNS and improves motor function after ischemic stroke (Fleminger et al., 2003; Bai et al., 2014), improves gait performance in patients with Parkinson’s disease (Fukuda and Egawa, 2015), and increases serum BDNF levels and reduces Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores in patients with Parkinson’s disease and depression (Xia et al., 2012). Here, BDNF is linked to major depressive disorder.