Drs. Avi Karni, Julien Doyon, and Leslie Ungerleider at the National Institute of Mental Health did a study for a simple motor task - finger tapping exercise. As the subjects tapped they did an fMRI to see what parts of the brain were being activated. In 4 weeks after finger tapping exercises were performed, a repeated fMRI of the brain showed that areas of the brain expanded by recruiting new nerve cells and had rewired neuronal connections. The study went on to explain how the prefrontal cortex was slowly reorganized; followed by rapid, dynamic changes in the cerebellum and other cortical areas.

In every day life, we perform simple motor skill activities that allow us to interact with our environment and the people around us. Playing the piano is a great example of a practiced motor activity with time and repetition. What if our health worked the same way? What if we could improve the way our brain communicates with our body by downloading a new operating system that would reconfigure the wiring in the brain to function differently than the current mode?

Within the brainstem is the reticular activating system which is our mental radar system. It is responsible for sensation, consciousness, attention and the sleep-wake cycle. It transmits sensory messages to the cortex through the thalamus. Simply, it determines what gets noticed and what does not. It lets through the most important information and then blocks/filters out the rest of the information so we are not aware of it. The reason for this is so the brain does not have to process more than it can handle.

Unfortunately, through different life stressors- especially the repetitive ones, our brains get stuck in a pattern. Often times due to the chaos in the world, that stuck mode is the sympathetic “fight or flight”. This increases the amount of “noise” or input that gets into the brain because the reticular activating system perceives the information as important, life threating, or a danger to survival. This not only defaults the brain to respond with protection, but also decreases recovery and healing in the body.

HOW CAN CHIROPRACTIC HELP?

Chiropractic adjustments have shown through research to increase neuroplasticity in the brain. Every adjustment removes interference within the nervous system pathways.

With time and repetition of rewiring and stimulating, the brain reconfigures and reorganizes to function more appropriately for not only motor skills but sensory and autonomic functions as well.

One of the ways chiropractic has such a large impact on the entire body is through the Vagus nerve. Another name for it is the “wandering nerve” because of how many things in the body it goes to and communicates with. This nerve plays a huge role on the switch between sympathetic and parsympathetic when it comes to health and healing.

Batterson, Mark. “Unlearning Your Fears”. In a Pit With A Lion on a Snowy Day, Chapter 3, 2016

Ungerleider, Leslie G., Julien Doyon, and Avi Karni. "Imaging brain plasticity during motor skill learning." Neurobiology of learning and memory 78.3 (2002): 553-564.