Question

There are many ongoing research projects that have been conducted that have traced the
individual pathways of nerves in the brain (where they start, where they end, and the path
taken). Considering the analogy of the nerves as highways, is this useful or not? Why?

Answer 1

Think of the nerves in our neuromuscular system as the “roads” down which messages from the brain and spinal cord travel, carrying the brain’s response to sensory and motor stimuli. Some of these roads are well paved, open, smooth, and have very little traffic! Think of these highly functional nerve pathways as “highways”. These highways are very efficient at creating movement, and are responsible for the habitual movement patterns that our clients engage in everyday.

Research has shown that functions of our neural pathways are continuously being created and modified throughout our lifetimes, which means those “dirt roads” have a great capacity to turn into highways and lead to greater function and quality of life overall for our clients! Here are four basic ways to aid your clients in improving the quality of their movements, turning those dirt roads into highways!

1.) Address any mobility restrictions which could prevent them from moving into the range of motion they need to perform a movement with soft tissue work including muscle stretching and foam rolling for fascial and connective tissue mobilization

2.) Be sure to prescribe exercise programs that avoid having the client move into pain. Pain is a large factor in interrupting and altering movement patterns, reinforcing those “dirt roads” that we discussed above.

3.) Facilitate movement without the client having to compensate by modifying exercises to more supported positions and using modalities to support their posture and recruit the correct muscles.

4.) Avoid progressing an exercise until your client can perform it independently and consistently with a high quality of movement, to prevent them from developing the compensation patterns that lead to that “dirt road” type of pathway.

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