The Motor Control Center (MCC) is the part of the brain that governs movement. It has two primary functions: Motor Learning and Motor Memory. A child learning to walk is an example of Motor Learning. As the MCC links together individual muscle functions, it becomes more adept at keeping the child’s body balance in gravity while moving forward. Once this process is accomplished to a certain skill level, the MCC compiles the sequence of muscle actions into a motor program and stores it in Motor Memory, so we don’t have to relearn the same activities.
When we get hurt, the injured muscles overload, similar to an overloaded electrical circuit. The MCC immediately initiates Motor Learning to create a compensatory motor program, recruiting the remaining available muscles in order to maintain enough structural integrity to keep functioning as well as possible. This creates new motor programs which are stored in Motor Memory, overwriting the original programs. This also indicates that compensation is a natural response to injury, and does not imply that you have done anything wrong.
After the musculoskeletal system has healed physically from injury, the compensatory programs remain in Motor Memory. This compensation results in persistent tension, lost range of motion, weakness, and pain.
The Method addresses these problems by utilizing the MCC’s natural neurological processes of Motor Learning and Motor Memory. Direct muscle testing performs a necessary function for the MCC. It gives the MCC an opportunity to see if it remembers how to isolate and activate the muscle fibers that perform the specific movement or muscle function. If the MCC no longer has the program in Motor Memory, the muscle tests weak.
The MCC realizes it has forgotten how to activate a muscle when the muscle tests weak and the MCC does not get the results it expected. In response to this “fail” the MCC initiates Motor Learning. It’s as if the MCC says “well, that didn’t work, so how do I do it?”
While Motor Learning is active, the practitioner can perform a gentle release or relaxation of the compensating muscle, and then test the weak muscle function again. As the previously weak function strengthens, the MCC can compare the new results to the previous test. The goal here is to show the MCC that it can activate a muscle in a more efficient way, rather than initiating with another muscle. The MCC then effectively says “that’s better than the first time, so I want to remember how to do it this way.” It encodes the new activation sequence and stores it in Motor Memory, overwriting the old, biomechanically inefficient program.
Following this treatment process, prudent exercise is most helpful in returning yourself to long-term health. This reinforces the new motor programming and helps to insure the injury pattern does not return.
By incorporating the basic functional principles of Motor Control Theory into manual therapy, the practitioner can attain accelerated results and resolution. Over 90% of my clients have resolution with an average stay of 4 treatments per client.
The Computer Metaphor
Motor control is a lot like a computer system. The hardware is the motor control center in the brain. The software is the motor programming which decides what muscles to activate, and in what sequence to activate them, for any given movement. When you click on an icon on your computer desktop, a program initiates and runs from off the hard drive. (Motor memory is like the hard drive for motor control center). If the program was compiled and installed correctly, it performs the functions you expect in a proper manner. (You move naturally and don’t feel any symptoms.) When the program has “bugs” it does things you don’t want, like messing up formatting of a document or locking up your system. (A compensation pattern is a motor program with “bugs”). A computer program is made up of subroutines, each of which works with information and then passes the results on to the next subroutine. (Individual muscles are considered subroutines in motor control theory). To fix a misbehaving program, a software engineer must find which subroutines are not performing correctly and revise the code. (This occurs during motor learning, where the motor control center learns to activate different muscles in a new sequence that is more natural and efficient). Once this is done, the entire program is recompiled and saved onto the hard drive. (A new motor program is “compiled” and stored in motor memory). The next time you click on the icon, the updated program activates and you get the results you expect from the software. (You remember how to move more efficiently, and it happens naturally without having to think about it).
