Fig. 1

a Representative traces of blood pressure responses obtained from the control group and manual acupuncture stimulation groups at the lower leg, ear, abdomen, and forearm. Stripe bars denote the duration of the acupuncture stimulation. b Blood pressure averaged during the pre-stimulation baseline period (− 1 to 0 min) and the acupuncture stimulation period (0–2 min). Values are the mean ± standard deviation. *p < 0.05 by the paired t test