In the early 1980's, several incidents occurred in our reflexology work that sent us to physiology texts to determine if there could be an explanation within the nervous system for what we had observed. The result was the development of the Autonomic-Somatic Integration Theory of reflexology. Quite simply stated, pressure to the feet causes predictable reflexive actions within the nervous system. Both the internal organs of the autonomic nervous system and the neurons of the somatic-motor nervous system respond specifically to pressure applied to the feet. The practice of reflexology is the systematic application of pressure technique to the feet or hands, thus, interrupting, conditioning, and educating the body's response to stress. The net result is the creation of exercise within the body's nervous systems, specifically within the stress mechanism, the autonomic nervous system and the somatic-motor nervous system.
The foot is a sensory organ. Just as the eyes detect sight and the ears detect sound, the foot detects pressure, stretch, and movement. The epicritical portion of the nervous system carries information about such sensory stimulus to the brain stem and brain which respond in manner appropriate to the stimulus received. Five parts of the brain assess and respond to the stimulus. (See I.)
Sensory information from the foot is reported to the brain in an orderly manner. Of the five areas of the brain that receive proprioceptive information, two, the cerebellum and the sensory cortex, reflect an image of the human body, a homunculus. The sensory and motor cortexes reflect the homunculus, the so-called little man, where sensory input and motor output are arranged in a version of the human body. The cerebellum also reflects several separate homunculi. (See II.)
To move the body must see itself. To move the body must fuel itself. Assessment of this autonomic and somatic information takes place through an exchange of information. This exchange must take place quickly. All information about the current position of the body and current nutrients available for use by the body is assessed from moment to moment and second to second. (See III.)
Directions to make further movements possible are accomplished through an ongoing system of feed forward information, the brain sending instructions to body parts to maintain a basic operating tone in movement. (See IV.)
The foot has a role not only in movement but also in intelligent movement. So important are these feed forward messages that Russian reflexologists see illness as the result of incorrect instructions being sent to the organs by the brain. A stomach ulcer, for example, is viewed as correctable by interrupting the feed forward of reflexive nervous system signals from the brain to the stomach.
Every footstep is preprogrammed and the result of a lifetime of learning. Not only the movements themselves but also the ability of the body to fuel movement occur because of the setting of an operating tone throughout the body. This is accomplished by the assessment of somatic (sensory) information and autonomic (internal organ) information. The need for the body to act as a whole. To respond appropriately to a saber-toothed tiger or bed time, requires putting together of information to create a united response to the situation. Such integration of somatic-autonomic information takes place on many levels of the brain but the core of the brain stem is the final common pathway for instructions from various parts of the brain to the body. (See V.)
To be able to do its job, the foot is fed forward information relevant to its role. This information is feed forward in an orderly manner. The brain projects a image of the body to the feet as a means of continually providing and constantly updating information about the ability of, for example, the pancreas to support a dash away from the saber-tooth tiger. Mechanisms exist within the nervous system to create such an index of information, the reflection of the body on the foot or hand. (See VI.)
How does the brain process information when pressure is applied to a specific reflex area of the foot, such as the shoulder reflex area versus the pancreas reflex area?
The demands of the body's fight or flight system creates a schema for a shoulder, for example, to communicate its needs for fueling to a pancreas. The pancreas is kept informed about the pressure applied to the shoulder reflex area. The pancreas must be a part of the energy / fuel production necessary to respond to the demand placed on it by a sensory signal. Each and every part of the body must cooperate to make survival possible.
At the same time, there are "stronger relationships" within the body because of various functions, such as locomotion
When you apply pressure to the feet, very complicated signals are sent out. A general alarm is sent out as reflexes all over the body are triggered to adjust body tone and shift weight bearing. Very specific muscle groups must finesse gravity to make motion possible. Therefore feet and shoulders have a strong relationship. Shoulders should move in unison with other body parts or the results are catastrophic.
An individual with an arthritic shoulder, for example, has specific information about that shoulder "on file" within the brain. Body parts are filed topographically. Separate files are kept about pressure, stretch, movement etc. Temperature and pain information is shared with all files because of the importance of the information.
Every part of the body is reflected (redundantly) by way of the segmental nervous system to other parts of the network. Thus, all body parts have a schematic of the whole system so that the whole body can act reflexively in case of survival situations. The brain creates a three-dimensional representation of body position and movement. Only the necessary information is shared with a particular file. The pancreas, for example, needs to know the energy levels required of an arthritic shoulder to adjust insulin levels to help control the blood sugar and so forth. Body position information is important to the pancreas. Such information helps determine energy /fuel needs. The feet also provide important energy / fuel information to the pancreas and all body parts via the brain.
There is precedent for the body to act specifically. Anything on the surface of the skin causes a general alarm. One needs to know very quickly what is on the surface. If one is not fast enough, for example, a bee will sting. The parasympathetic nervous system reacts in such a specific manner.
The demands of the body's fight or flight system creates a schema for a shoulder to communicate its needs for fueling to a pancreas. Muscles tense or relax specifically, it depends on the part they are to play and whether or not what is impinging on the surface of the skin is a threat or not.
"We may merely state that Makarova recognizes the presence of reflex relationships between the cardiovascular system and the skeletal musculature, that stimulation of the interceptors affects muscle tone and stimulation of the proprioceptors have consistent effects on the circulatory system, and that a lowering of muscle tone, in turn, has a consistent depressor influence on the vascular system, on account of reflex-humoral factors, secondly, on account of mental influences of positive emotions, and thirdly, on account of training and the acquisition of the habit of active voluntary relaxation of the muscles." Udintsev, G. N., ed., Reflex Therapy, Part 1, Pathogenesis, Functional Diagnosis, Treatment and Prophylaxis of Diseases of the Digestive Organs, New York, Consultants Bureau, 1962.
The eye is a commonly used example of a sensory organ receiving feed forward instructions. Try this experiment. Move your eyes, panning the scene before you from left to right. Did the room appear to pass by smoothly? Now, close your left eye. Move your right eye by placing your finger in the corner of your eye and gently nudging it. Did the room appear to move in a jumpy fashion? The reason moving your eyes in two different ways produced two different results is feed forward. When your eyes move to pan across the room, the eye is sent feed forward instructions to maintain a smooth appearance of your view. When you push on the eye to move it manually, no such instructions are fed forward by the brain.
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