An interesting study in the Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology finds that Chiropractic Adjustments change Brain Function through SensoriMotor Integration.

Sensorimotor integration sounds like an incredibly complex process, but essentially what it means is that our brain’s take information from all the environmental sources (our senses that include the sense of knowing where our bodies are in space) and then our brains use the input to make an appropriate motor output.

Over the last several years, there has been a lot of talk about sensorimotor problems in kids with learning problems, developmental delays, autism, and ADHD from various professionals that treat these kids like physical therapists (PTs), occupational therapists (OTs), chiropractors, and chiropractic neurologists.

The study mentioned above finds that a chiropractic adjustment can change the integration patterns in the brain and likely helps explain how chiropractic improves function and improves pain in people.

The researchers also report that brain changes occur in both losses of spinal motion and increases in spinal motion (as seen with chiropractic adjustments).

In other words, losing some of the range of motion in a joint or area (like your neck or back) will cause changes in brain function.

Restoring the motion also changes brain function… as talked about in this study with the chiropractic adjustment.

The subjects in the study had previously experienced neck pain and/or neck stiffness.

They were not experiencing neck pain or stiffness at the time of the study.

The study used chiropractors to evaluate dysfunction in the neck’s movement/joints, something that is often referred to as a subluxation by chiropractors.

• This was determined by restricted movement of the small joints in the neck and associated with tenderness in the individuals being checked.
• The tenderness in the region of these small neck joints were reported in the subjects that were not experiencing pain.
• Following a chiropractic adjustment, subjects showed changes in various parts of the brain associated with sensorimotor inegration in the parietal and frontal cortices.
• The adjustment also caused changes in the muscle tone of the muscle that supported the area of the spine.
• No changes were seen in the control group which had simple head movement.

This is another interesting paper that again supports the idea that many of the benefits chiropractic patients experience are through neurological changes.

It also might be a good rationale for treating kids that are experiencing sensorimotor integration problems.

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Clin Neurophysiol. 2007 Feb;118(2):391-402. Epub 2006 Nov 29. Haavik-Taylor H1, Murphy B.
Cervical spine manipulation alters sensorimotor integration: a somatosensory evoked potential study.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17137836