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The following information is educational in nature and is not intended as medical advice. Anyone wishing to actively use this educational material for personal health improvement, is advised to consult with the qualified health care provider of their choice before attempting to use the information. A (sort
of) Brief Introduction to: Somatics -- Sensorimotor Amnesia -- & Somatics, Afference and Posture Note: whenever you see a "Link" colored {word} surrounded in red colored special { } -- you are seeing a Link that will take you to the glossary for a brief definition/description of the word/process. Thomas Hanna Ph.D. - who developed a health improvement process known as Hanna somatic Education® (HSE) coined the term "Somatics" -- and he derived the usage from considering the concept of - the "Soma". He described the soma as being the body viewed/perceived as a self-sensed whole - rather than as something viewed and describable from outside the self. So - somatics processes deal with working from an inside the self viewpoint. In order to do this - the person doing somatics work must focus their awareness on the sensation of what is happening within their body as they perform movements of the body. This focus is needed because the movement process is actually designed to create improved sensory nervous system outflow {"Afference") to the brain's motor control centers. These afferent signals go towards the brain from specialized nerve endings in the joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles that help the body to know where it is in space. The process of registering the spatial sense of the body and its parts is known as proprioception - and -- depending upon the balance and harmony of the messages going in through the {prorioceptive system} -there will be better or worse central integration and control of muscle tone, strength, and coordination. The somatics movements are done slowly so that the afferent signals can get to the brain for analysis and use in improving the stored patterns the brain uses to control movement (Motor Patterns). And the movements are repeated over time in order to allow repetition to create more brain space (central representation) to become devoted to storing the improved motor pattern(s). There is of course much more to the HSE process than that
-- both technically and philosophically. However, for our purposes here,
the critical thing to understand is that the basic thrust of HSE practices
is to improve the quality of afference so that improved efference (motor
nerve outflow) can happen.
Sensorimotor
Amnesia (SMA) In short - SMA is said to be present when, for one reason or another - the brain has lost its ability to most efficiently create high quality musculo-skeletal activity. Note: The technically correct term for describing a state of less-than-desireable motor activity is Dysponesis - which means: displaying undesireable/bad motor activity - such as staying in too high a state of muscular tone for the demands of the job at hand, or co-contracting opposed muscle groups when doing a task, etc. Somatic Education processes, and other such neurological and soft tissue focused processes -- can be used retrain the brain towards more efficient, improved, stored central motor patterns. However the full resolution of the situation demands the use of PCIs becuase only the PCIs can provide improved neuroregulatory prioprioceptive input to the brain's motor control centers. The 3 Major 'Reflexes' of Postural Distortion Dr. Hanna proposed that SMA generally occurs following repeated occurrences of three basic reflex patterns which are common among individuals in modern urban-industrialized society. These reflexes are; 1). the Startle reflex; 2). the Landau response; and 3). the Trauma reflex. The Startle
Reflex (in the literature) The muscles generally involved in this contraction pattern include: the major flexors and internal rotators of the body -- the Psoas, Abdominals, the pectoral group, Biceps, forearm flexors, Hamstrings, Adductors, Piriformis, Tibialis, Popliteus.
The startle pattern has actually been very well studied in experimental situations - and was included as a major concept within the psychological theory of the late Silvan S. Tomkins. Dr. Tomkins wrote: The startle itself is not just a local stress response to threat or danger, it is a "general interrupter of ongoing activity" (Tomkins, 1963, p. 498). And it is triggered not only whenever there is a novel sensorial input that might be a danger, but whenever there is a surprise factor that is sensed as a newly perceived signal. Considered in this sense, the startle reaction has the ability to act as an immediate and strong circuit breaker that disconnects the mental focus from any ongoing activity and redirects attention to the new afferent sensory signals. The startle itself interrupts by virtue of the dense and sudden neural discharge that it brings about. The importance of the 'surprise' factor is shown by the fact that a startle response can be triggered by anything from a light, unexpected tap on the shoulder to the sudden sound of a nearby gunshot. And - it is the changing level of the density of neuronal firing (surprise factor) that is critical - because -- using a loud sound as an example -- constant noise of the same loudness or density as a gunshot will not trigger a series of startle responses (Tomkins, 1963, p. 501). Dr. Tomkins further pointed out that Startle occurs along a gradient of neural firing, which goes from surprise, as a subjectively perceived neutral event (the unexpected light touch on the shoulder scenario) -- to the classic startle response that is generally self-perceived as unpleasant (as follows a serious near-accident experience, etc.). So we can then understand that the attention may shift to a lesser or greater degree depending upon the intensity of the surprise signal, or upon the increasing nature of the neuronal firing associated with the surprise, or -- the perceived 'danger' or threat of the 'surprise' that is interrupting the ongoing flow of motor events. The Startle Pattern & RFS (Rothbart's Foot Structure) The following is very important to understand -- it is a recapitulation of what was discussed above -- and serves to lead to understanding how {'RFS'} can create the postural havoc that it does -- NOTE: RFS -- is most likely the major factor leading to the high prevalence of Startle Pattern postural distortion we see in our society:
The importance for us of this fact -- in view of our current discussion and the relationship of RFS to postural breakdown -- lies in the fact that; In the presence of RFS -- every time the afflicted person takes a step - the Startle pattern is triggered -- Because the talar bone malformation associated with RFS leads to the need for the body to hyperpronate the ankle in order to walk. AND: Hyperpronation of the feet is a basic part of the Startle pattern. AND: the startle reaction need not be strong, in order to create the prevoluntary command for going into Startle. Thus -- it would only require frequent repetition of even mild interference or threat to create a habituated startle muscular pattern. Elswewhere in this series of pages, it has been pointed out that the central representation (the amount of the brain's neurons devoted to creating a particular motor control pattern) is greater or lesser depending upon how frequently the pattern is sensed. This is true whether the pattern is a "good" pattern, or a "not-so-good" one. RFS triggers a representation of a "not-so-good"stored motor pattern with every step you take (if you have RFS). This tends to create a greater and stronger memory of this undesireable posture with every step you take! The proprioceptive system -- that part of the nervous system that tells out brain where we are in space -- continuously sends signals to the brain. Because the quality and balance of the sensory input from our proprioceptive system determines the quality of the brain's control of muscular contration strength and balance -- any continuous source of "not-so-good" signals to the brain has to result in postural breakdown. To rephrase this in computer terms - - What's to be done about this problem:
=========================================================================================== A PS: for those with an interest in psychological correlates with physical body events-- Dr. Tomkins posited that the Startle response may also vary due to its coupling with any of a variety of other affective reactions to the presenting ('surprise') information. If, at a given moment, fear, pain, anger, distress, or disgust are among the predominant psychological correlates to the startle event, fusion of the two is proposed as possible or likely (Tomkins, 1963, p. 501). In essence, the other affective display becomes coupled with the Startle's tremendous outflow and thus is both augmented and potentially more extended in time. If failure to process the congruent emotional reaction's physical component out of the body should occur, the particular muscular contraction pattern directed by that emotional display might tend to prevent release of the startle pattern as well. =========================================================================================== The Landau Response and the 'Green Light Pattern')
This happens when the extensors and external rotator muscles of the body become activated for use. In the adult -- this response occurs in situations where 'action' is demanded. Examples cited by Dr. Hanna include: the ring of the telephone, a response to a request, and so forth" (Hanna, 1990, p. 8). If you add to these factors such socio-emotional components as competitiveness, the desire to excel, or the need to get caught up, all of which are ordinary work pressures, the potential for chronicity is obvious. Unfortunately, these and similar events are recurrent occurrences in the lives of many people in urban-industrial societies. By virtue of this frequent repetition, the muscular pattern of the Landau response can become habituated and contribute to chronic pain and dysfunction problems. When this response manifests as an ongoing postural contraction of the extensors of trunk -- Dr. Hanna referred to it as the Green Light Pattern (Hanna 1990, p. 8). The muscles commonly associated with the expression of this pattern include: the Paraspinal extensor muscles, Rhomboids/ Latissimus dorsi, Triceps, forearm extensors, Quadriceps femoris, Gluteus medius, Peroneal mm. The Green Light Pattern & RFS In terms of association with causation by RFS - there are two possible scenarios involving excessive drive towards extensor and external rotator hyper-activity. 1. Most commonly -- hyperactivation of the muscles involved in the Landau response equates with the effects seen in person's who display a "bracing" pattern of shoe wear. In this scenario - the nervous system - sensing the inappropriate forward collapse of the body - tries to compensate by ordering external rotation and extension to counteract the inward collapse of the ankles etc., that are associated with the repeated triggering of the Startle pattern that is being caused by the foot deformity. The bracing wear-pattern is brought about when the individual maintains an ongoing activation of the lateral rotators of the leg and hip as a counter response to the inward collapse of the body (towards Startle) that is being driven by the RFD. So -- this looks a bit confusing if you analyze this person because the lower body has been trained to be in extension and external rotation -- while the upper body is displaying the classic startle pattern of forward and downwards collapse. This pattern of muscle contract accounts for the fact that these people will not show the classic medial drift of the ankles and valgus knee movement associated with standing upright and doing the squat test portion of the PCI evaluation procedure. 2. The second scenario can be seen when a person who's lifestyle activities, diet etc. processes create a harried, rushing-forward-at-all- times sort of existence. This type of lifestyle -- with increased levels of reticular activation system (RAS) activity (decreased inhibition of the excitatory neurons in the brain's RAS area) -- these people will show an excessive activation of the physiological-extensor muscle groups muscles of the posterior body above the rib cage and muscles of the anterior body below the ribcage. At the same time -- the person is fighting the opposed contractions of the muscles of the startle group caused by RFS -- to whit: the muscles known as the physiological flexors -- muscles of the anterior body above the ribcage and muscles of the posterior body below the rib cage. This is what Dr.Hanna dubbed the "Dark Vise" pattern of postural derangement. The Dark Vise effect happens because the body is caught in the viselike grip of the co-contraction of opposed muscle groups that are normally inhibited by each others activation. For instance, the intentional activation of the Pectoral muscles would be expected to lead to reflexive ("reciprocal") inhibition of the Rhomboid group. If the RAS controlled get-up-and-go muscles are hypercontracted in the presence of a strong RFS driven startle muscle group activation -- there canbe co-contraction of the opposed muscle groups that results in a generalized musculoskeletal tension that involves contractions throughout the body. Trauma Reflex:
Without denying the above example of how a trauma response can be generated - it is possible to consider a repetitive strain process for bring abut a Trauma reflex response. RFS & the Trauma Pattern Consider that there can be an anatomical difference in the degree of RFS in the right and left feeet of the same individual. Both sides of the body would be expected to act to drive towards startle pattern muuscle group hyperactivation. However -- little differences of inpit repetitively applied over a long period of time (repetitive strain differences) could lead to a torsional pattern with one side more contracted than the other -- this in turn would reflect up the kinetic chain resulting in pelvis torsion and unlevelling, sacro-iliac joint strain -- or spinal tilting and rotations as the sacral base becomes unlevelled. The possible permutations of this scenario are innumerable -- so it is silly to try and make a proposal of an exact finding that would be expected. However -- suffice it that if there is a torsional problem apparent in the musculoskleetal arrangement -- and RFS is also present -- the RFS must be corrected -- using PCIs -- along with doing whatever soft tissue work or other applied therapeutic process is being carried out. This link will take you back to the article on The preceding information is educational in nature and is not intended as medical advice. Anyone wishing to actively use this educational material for personal health improvement, is advised to consult with the qualified health care provider of their choice before attempting to use the information. References: 1. Hanna T. (1988). Somatics. Reading, MA: AddisonWesley. 2. Clinical somatic education: A new discipline in the field of health care. Somatics:Magazine-Journal of the Bodily Arts and Sciences, 8(l), 4-10. Hanna T. (1991). 3. Tomkins, S. (1991). Affect imagery and consciousness. New York: Springer Publishing. 4.Mitz AR, Winstein C, 1993. The Motor System I: Lower Centers; in Cohen, Helen Ed., Neuroscience for Rehabilitation. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott.
The preceding information is educational in nature and is not intended as medical advice. Anyone wishing to actively use this educational material for personal health improvement, is advised to consult with the qualified health care provider of their choice before attempting to use the information.
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