Children’s Health

Rationale behind the Neuro and Postural Rehabilitation

It is notable that areas of the brain involved in movement, such as the Cerebellum, Basal Ganglion, Thalamus, and prefrontal cortex, also play roles in cognition and emotional integration. These areas have motor and non-motor functions that collaborate to modulate cognition, emotional behavior, and movement.

Muscular activities pattern themselves during the development of primitive reflexes (fixed action patterns) as they adapt to gravity. The Cerebellum, vestibular system, limbic system (Basal ganglion, Thalamus), and prefrontal cortex serve as the control center for these movement patterns, influenced by chemical and structural stress, as well as the individual’s emotional state.

If these reflexes persist beyond their typical time span, they are considered aberrant, retained, and indicative of structural weakness or immaturity within the central nervous system. The integration and inhibition of primitive reflexes are crucial for maintaining brain energy efficiency.

Primitive reflexes emerge in utero, are present at birth, and typically are inhibited by 6-12 months of age. Reflex inhibition correlates with control by higher brain centers, facilitating the development of more complex neural structures and voluntary movements.

These fixed motor patterns give rise to goal-oriented movements and proper development of the neocortex. Delay or disruption in this bottom-up projection, termed “bottom-up interference,” can delay the development of more advanced brain areas, potentially hindering top-down maturational processes that inhibit these reflexes.

Retained primitive reflexes can also impact a child’s sensory perceptions, causing hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity and contributing to asymmetry in left and right brain information processing, speed, and timing.

Emotions can be viewed as a form of fixed action pattern, considered premotor in nature. Just as muscle tone serves as a base platform for muscle movement, emotions serve as premotor platforms that either drive or deter actions. For example, children with autistic spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactive disorders may exhibit stereotyped movement patterns due to uninhibited fixed action patterns, resembling hyperkinetic movements.

Some of the modalities utilized in the implementation of our Neuro Rehab and cognitive therapy protocol based on your child’s needs and evidence available for  their use are:

• Therapeutic Listening Therapy: This therapy has shown global improvements supporting changes in brain performance across various domains such as executive function, communication, motor coordination, auditory processing, self-regulation, attention, social and emotional function, stress response, and creativity. TLP involves listening to acoustically-modified instrumental music through high-quality headphones.
• Interactive Metronome: This training program improves timing in the brain through an organized, systematic, flexible, and engaging format. Research demonstrates that combining movement and cognitive tasks leads to better overall outcomes. IM challenges thinking and movement simultaneously, providing real-time millisecond feedback to synchronize the body’s internal clock. It progresses through 4 phases, with specific goals and exercises designed to be motivating and engaging.
• Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS): Developed by Professor Pavel Kolar Pediatric Physiotherapist at Prague University, DNS focuses on successful motor movements in primitive reflex development stages in early childhood. It relates to sensorimotor integration such as sound and vision, regulated by the vestibular system. DNS enhances functioning in various areas including postural development and control, gross and fine motor coordination, timing and sequencing, spatial awareness and body awareness, balance, eye-hand coordination, eye-foot coordination, eye muscle control, visual motor skills, self-regulation, and attention.
• MNRI Therapy: This protocol focuses on the assessment and integration of primitive reflexes and their influence on postural, emotional, and cognitive development. Integrative exercises improve learning behavior, attention, and focus. Without these exercises, delays in learning, poor balance and coordination, underdeveloped vestibular and proprioceptive systems, and trouble with motor planning may persist.
• Photobiomodulation (soft laser therapy): This therapy increases energy (ATP) within cells to enhance nerve conduction and brain chemical production.
• Brain Mapping/QEEG: A diagnostic tool that measures electrical activity in the form of brain wave patterns. It is sometimes referred to as “brain mapping”. QEEG can reveal brain wave patterns associated with impulsivity, cognitive inflexibility, anxiety, and other symptoms.
• Neurofeedback: A training method to improve brain function by providing feedback on brainwave patterns.

Emotions can be viewed as a form of fixed action pattern, considered premotor in nature. Just as muscle tone serves as a base platform for muscle movement, emotions serve as premotor platforms that either drive or deter actions. For example, children with autistic spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactive disorders may exhibit stereotyped movement patterns due to uninhibited fixed action patterns, resembling hyperkinetic movements.