We’ve well known about the effects on the nervous system that chiropractic care has. In fact, chiropractic care was built on the premise that we affect the nervous system in a positive way.
Other studies in the past couple of decades have reinforced this idea. These studies have looked at case reports, have looked at gene expression in the brain,
In the February 2007 issue of Clinical Neurophysiology there appears an article titled, “Cervical Spine Manipulation alters sensorimotor integration: A somatosensory evoked potential study.”
In this study, researchers hooked up electrodes to volunteers. They were plugged in to the brain’s cortex, the brainstem, and the spinal cord. These hookups were measured using somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP). The people being studied had a history of neck stiffness, but not neck pain during the time of the study.
While plugged in to the machine, the patients being studied had their brain activity measured before the adjustment to get a baseline measurement, then they were adjusted. After getting the neck adjusted, they were able to monitor the brain’s frequency of firing; they looked at the level of brain activity.
They found that after people get adjusted in the neck, there is an difference of activity in the brain for a full twenty minutes afterward.
Whenever joints move, they are monitored by nerve receptors all along the joint surface, the muscles surrounding the joint and the joint capsule. These receptors feed information to the brain, brainstem, and the cerebellum. The body covers up lack of this input pretty well, but whenever there is a loss of movement in any given joint, there is a marked loss of information going into the brain. This information is a background level of nervous system support. It’s not readily perceived as light and sounds are perceived, but it provides activation to the rest of the brain. Some people regard this as “tone”; neurophysiologists call it frequency of firing.
This background tone helps other sensory processes along, allowing the brain to work with more ease. Immediate effects of stimulation like this–often seen after adjustments–are an improvement in balance, a sense of more light in your surroundings, or a more upright posture.
-Dr. Lloyd.
St. George Chiropractic Physician
And that is the foundation of chiropractic!