Pandiculation and Muscle Repositioning

Pandiculation and Muscle Repositioning: Pandiculation is the name given to the behavior of yawn and stretch. Some studies were done on this subject, whose functions still remain unclear. Interestingly, the tonic activity that we detected by electromyography during MR maneuvers has been accompanied by a subjective experience similar to pandiculation-type of stretch. In addition, some clients have reported the resumption of the habit of pandiculating in the morning, behavior that had unconsciously been abandoned. Furthermore, such behavior was associated with a state of well-being and had helped in improving the pain of which they reported.
A possible function of pandiculation: The hypothesis that we raise from these observations is that the ubiquitous behavior of pandiculating helps maintain the integrative function of the fascial system by: (a) mechanical signaling the connective tissue metabolism (mechanotransduction) to reinforce the collagen links that unites the segments to one another, as when one pandiculates, (b) the redistribution of free water (water that can flow) in the extracellular matrix. This latter effect stabilizes the joints and thus also increases the degree of integration, among other hypothetical mechanisms. Noteworthy is the difference between the pandiculation-type stretch, which arises spontaneously, is pleasurable and increases joint stability, with the regular stretching, which is produced by a volitional action, may produce displeasure and joint instability (because of this, stretching has been contraindicated before physical activity).
Pandiculation, evolution and musculoskeletal disorders: Pandiculation occurs in almost all animal kingdom, even in fish. It is believed to have a role in the development and maintenance of the musculoskeletal system ([1], [2], [3]). Human fetuses are already moving in this way in the womb and children continue to do so. But as we become adults we tend to pandiculate less and less frequently. Would culture and education be responsible for the progressive abolishment of this behavior? If so, could this inhibition be related to the high frequency of functional musculoskeletal disorders in humans?

references:

[1] Fraser AF The phenomenon of pandiculation in the kinetic behaviour of the sheep fetus. Appl Anim. Behav. Sci, 24:169-182, 1989.

[2] Fraser AF Pandiculation: the comparative phenomenon of systematic stretching. Appl Anim Behav Sci, 23:263-268, 1989.

[3] Walusinski, O. Neurofisiologia del bostezar y estirarse: su ontogenia y filogenia. Electroneurobiología, 14 (4):175-202, 2006.

Cortical rhythms associated with Muscle Repositioning

The insights gleaned from the observations set forth in our previous article led our group to make further studies of MR. Summarized below are some recent observations, from both clinical experience and objective measurement, that we are using to refine our research protocol.

First, recent EMG recordings have shown that the MR touch can indeed evoke tonic activity in body regions distant from the contact region. For example, maneuvers in the costal arch have elicited involuntary tonic activity in cervical erectors and abdominal muscles. Second, once tonic activity is elicited during a maneuver, it appears to maintain itself with the support of progressive, but less intense, manual input; i.e., the tonic activity, once evoked, seems to be self-perpetuating. Finally, based on the clients’ reported sensations, these remote tonic reactions seem to cause spontaneous tissue release. We have been exploring and observing the self-organizing quality of these reactions. Significantly, the intensity of a client’s felt sense of tissue opening is sometimes greater remotely than locally, and seems to correlate with the perceived degree of firmness. Such firmness, in turn, tends to be directly proportional to the number of bodily segments integrated during the maneuver.

In other words, correlations among key features of MR -- the EMG response, the firmness and integration (observed by the practitioner), and the sensations of tissue opening (reported by the client) -- are becoming clearer.

The intentional inducement of remote client-generated spontaneous responses is accompanied by some noteworthy phenomena: the client’s subjective experience is increasingly reminiscent of the languid tonic movement quality of the spontaneous morning stretch. In this connection, it also appears that visceral structures are being affected. These observations support the hypothesis of a physiological basis for the effects of MR, and also suggest ways that the practitioner’s touch can be trained to be more efficient.

We have also begun to perform simultaneous EEG and EMG measurements. Outstanding among our recorded observations is the so-called sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) during an occipital region maneuver. The SMR was first described in cats ([i]) and is associated with motor learning. Apparently, while the cat is at rest and purring, it is processing the proprioceptive information stored in recent memory in order to enhance its motor capabilities. Neurofeedback training of the SMR rhythm has been used to treat disorders of learning and attention ([ii]), as well as seizures ([iii]). Our observations of SMR, although preliminary, are exiting because they suggest the possibility of inducing recognizable auto-regulatory mechanisms through manipulation.

In keeping with these observations, our new research protocol will include EMG and EEG recordings, along with questionnaires to gather reports of the clients’ and practitioners’ subjective experience and observations. Moreover, to correlate these data with functional variables, we will include stabilometry recordings to assess standing balance.

We hope soon to have a more comprehensive understanding of these phenomena, both theoretically and practically, to share with our colleagues in the MR workshops we offer.

[i] Howe RC and Sterman MB: Cortical-subcortical EEG correlates of suppressed motor behavior during sleep and waking in the cat. J. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 32: 681-695, 1972

[ii] Beauregard M, Levesque J: Functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation of the effects of neurofeedback training on the neural bases of selective attention and response inhibition in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Applied Psychophysiological Biofeedback; 31(1): 3-20, 2006

[iii] Sterman MB, Egner T: Foundation and practice of neurofeedback for the treatment of epilepsy. Applied Psychophysiological Biofeedback, 31(1):21-35, 2006

What is Muscle Repositioning

Luiz Fernando Bertolucci, MD, MSc, Rolf Institute® Anatomy Faculty
reposicionamento.muscular@hotmail.com

HISTORY: Muscle Repositioning (MR) is a style of myofascial release that was discovered serendipitously during the author’s Rolfing® practice. This process started during sessions on Rolfers, when they began noticing the maneuvers they were receiving had “something different” from the techniques familiar to them. As these statements occurred more frequently, the author began empirical research . During this process, various particularities of this manual approach led to coining of the term Muscle Repositioning.

PARTICULARITIES: A singular way to twist soft tissue structures (fascia) around harder structures is the starting point to this technique. One result of such a twisting is the unification of body segments into a single block, a phenomenon that is possible to see (cf: videos) and feel through touch when the practitioner produces small shaking movements on the client’s body. Furthermore, such linkage of body parts leads to a unique sense of firmness under the practitioner’s hands.
Once connected to the sensation of firmness, the maneuvers then proceed, up to a point in which a release naturally takes place. Until recently, we interpreted this phenomenon merely mechanically, i.e.: the twisting of fascias would produce its tensioning, which, by its turn, would compress the joints and unite the segments that lie between them. Such interpretation may be accurate, but more than pure mechanics seems to be taking place.
If the contact with the sense of firmness is accurate and long enough, another class of phenomena follows: the client often begins to show involuntary motor reactions . The most outstanding of such reactions was first noticed during a maneuver performed in the occiput area: the occurrence of a progressive isometric activity of the cervical erectors, felt by the practitioner as an involuntary pushing of the client’s head cephalad and backwards. Sometimes this reaction is strong enough that one can see and palpate the muscular activity. Apart from such activity, other involuntary concurrences have also been observed, such as horizontal eyes movements, clonic and tonic appendicular movements and tremors.

HYPOTHESIS: The observations just described led to the hypothesis that this form of touch may stimulate neurological reactions. EMG measurements were them performed in order to check such hypothesis (published article). Having detected tonic reactions in the neck in all subjects tested, we proceeded searching for muscular activity in other localizations and maneuvers. So far we have detected cervical erector as well as abdominal activity during a maneuver in the thoracic area (cf: video links), suggesting that the attribute of evoking reflexes may be a blueprint of Muscle Repositioning maneuvers altogether.

CLINICAL EFFICACY AND REFLEX REACTIONS: During the EMG measurement performed so far, it seems that the firmer the feel, the higher EMG signal, i.e.: the degree of firmness is possibly related to the intensity of the tonic reaction, as reflected by the EMG signal. Moreover, clinical experience showed that the firmer the feeling to the touch, the more effective a maneuver. It follows that, if the clinical efficacy of the maneuvers is really related to the tonic reactions, the eliciting of this sort of neural reflexes during the clinical practice would be a desired effect.

MUSCLE REPOSITIONING AND MARTIAL ARTS: Interestingly, these tonic reactions closely resemble those encouraged in certain Chinese martial arts, like Tai-Chi-Chuan and I Chuan. In light of this observation, one can speculate that Muscle Repositioning stimulates physiological self-regulatory motor and postural mechanisms, like martial arts are believed to do. In this sense, this technique may be considered an approach that releases myofascial structures and acts as an integrative stimulus simultaneously.


FROM SUBJECTIVITY TO OBJECTIVITY: From the beginning, the description of Muscle Repositioning has been based mainly in subjective variables, such as the sense of firmness felt by the practitioner. In the search for greater objectivity, one aspect that has claimed our attention is the matching of sensations experienced in both client and practitioner: i.e., once the sense of firmness has been achieved, a whole class of sensations simultaneously emerges in the clients, such as a sense of connectedness among structural segments and a sense of bipolar expansion in the body’s longitudinal axis, among other sensations. Lately, we have been considering if such categories of sensations might be adequate objects of study in qualitative research protocols in order to bring a greater degree of objectivity to this manual method. But now, in light of the possibility of detecting EMG activity during the maneuvers, a high degree of objectivity may be achieved. If this possibility proves to be reliable, one can foresee that EMG recordings could be used to guide and monitor the appropriateness of the manual touch (e.g.: in the teaching and research settings). This could also give rise to a more precise and reproducible technique.

SURGICAL TOUCH AND MYOFASCIAL FORCE TRANSMISSION: In order to achieve the appropriate sensation of firmness, the touch should approach the soft tissues in an oblique angle. Such obliquity, when coupled with the counter-pressure given by the inertia of the united bodily segments, apparently steers the resultant vectors so as to produce internal shear forces among musculoskeletal structures in very precise directions. The result of such combination of forces is a clear sensation of relative movements among myofascial compartments. The feeling resembles the surgical maneuver named blunt dissection. Sometimes it is even possible to pinpoint the cleavage lines between fascial planes engaged in a certain maneuver. This approach may possibly change the relative muscle positions, directly affecting the myofascial force transmission as described by Huijing and colleagues.

TEACHING: We have been teaching Muscle Repositioning for the last four years and the feedback we are gathering is very encouraging. Although it often takes a good amount of training to get the right sensations, the results seem to be worthwhile.

POSTER:
This is the poster we presented in the First International Fascia Congress, held in The Conference Center at Havard Medical School, Boston, MA, in october 4-5/2007