The issue of neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood is an emotive issue, as parents often feel overwhelmed by the demands and opinions surrounding their child’s reality. While this is the last place judgment should be directed, it is sadly a place where judgment is often felt. While we don’t know the causes behind things like Autism and ADHD, and we certainly believe that observing and building up a child’s strengths in these areas is a powerful approach to life and care, there’s something else emerging in literature that is something parents and chiropractors alike should pay attention to.
It’s the issue of retained primitive reflexes. When an infant emerges into the world, it is supposed to have a range of reflexes that integrate (or disappear) over time as they develop. These are things like the Moro reflex we see when an infant throws their hands back when startled. We also see the rooting reflex, when a baby turns their head in the direction their cheek is touched, or even the sucking or palm-grasping reflexes.
These reflexes (among others) are involuntary, automatic, and needed for the first months of life. But as the brain develops and matures, higher brain regions suppress them, and voluntary control takes over.
Except for when they don’t.
Increasingly, research is paying attention to retained primitive reflexes – those that occur when an older child, adolescent or even an adult still exhibits some of these reflexes. Research is beginning to link retained primitive reflexes with neurodevelopmental disorders or sensorimotor problems [1-3]. While this is a long way from predicting or diagnosing a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder, it does reinforce the importance of supportive neurodevelopment in any way we can.
This is what makes two recent case reports noteworthy. Published in the Asia Pacific Chiropractic Journal, the case reports detail two cases in which chiropractic care resulted in integration of primitive reflexes that had not yet resolved, and improvements in symptoms that may have indicated neurodevelopmental problems. It is important to note that neither of these children had been diagnosed yet, so we aren’t claiming that chiropractic can prevent neurodevelopmental disorders.
What we are saying is that supporting neurodevelopment by supporting the integration of primitive reflexes could be more important than we first thought.
The first case was that of a 19-month-old boy whose mother brought him in for care due to his emotional state. She said that he was constantly agitated, always sad (never smiling) and had issues with moods and reactions, sleep, head symmetry, digestion, feeding, crawling and walking. All of these factors were concerning, especially given his age. As you can imagine, they had wide-reaching impacts on parental stress, too.
Again, we can only guess at the trajectory this child’s life would have taken without chiropractic intervention, and this will likely remain the case. But what we do know is that the child showed marked changes in mood by the first review (after 12 sessions of care). He was already sleeping better, and his mood and behaviour had improved. His posture coordination, body symmetry and balance had also improved. There was also a marked decrease in the hours he spent crying.
As care continued, his reflexes began to integrate and his postural strength and resilience began to improve. He began to cope with separation, where before, his separation anxiety was high. His mother began to describe him as “happy, lighter in the face, smiling more, and more able to participate in family life.”
By the third review, his reflexes were where they should be developmentally for his age, and his subluxations were significantly reduced. While these clinical measures are what chiropractors look to as data, the most important finding was this: the mother had been very concerned with his long-term capacity to engage with life, as she had been very concerned about a diagnosis. She was now “thrilled to have her son back.”
The second case report featured a younger child – a little girl who was fifteen weeks old. Already, she was behind on her milestones and was a “low-tone” baby who was unable to lift her head or respond to caregivers the way she should. While fifteen weeks may seem young, an infant of this age should already be able to hold their head up and engage in behaviours that indicate social connectedness. This was already waving red flags for her parents and for the chiropractor. It was also noted that her physical development and movement were behind milestones, her head was showing asymmetry, and the mother had to cease breastfeeding due to problems with turning her head (only feeding on one side).
For the parents, this was flagging concerns over her development. For the chiropractor, gentle care to reduce subluxations and support neurodevelopment as early as possible was vital. As the course of care unfolded, subluxations and restrictions showed remarkable improvement, as did cranial nerve activity. This coincided with increases in strength, movement, engagement – and retained reflexes. By her third care review, she was completely developmentally caught up.
How this changes the course of an infants life is something that we can only guess at. But as more evidence emerges, the more we will know about the power of the adjustment.
These two stories alone are cause for optimism.
REFERENCES:
- Choińska AM, Gieysztor EZ, & Paprocka-Borowicz M. (2018). Persistence of primitive reflexes and associated motor problems in healthy preschool children. Archives of medical science: AMS, 14(1), 167 https://doi.org/10.5114/aoms.2016.60503
- Carmeli E, Chinchilla-Acosta M, Kamgang S, et al. (2022). Retained Primitive Reflexes and Potential for Intervention in Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Frontiers in neurology, 13, 922322. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2022.922322
- Melillo R. (2011). Primitive reflexes and their relationships to delayed cortical maturation, under connectivity and functional disconnection in childhood neurobehavioural disorders. FNRE Vol 1. Iss. 2. ISSN: 2156-941-X, https://neurolightson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Primitive-Reflexes-and-Their-Relationship-to-Delayed-Cortical-Maturation-Under-Connecivity-and-Functional-Disconnection-in-Childhood-Neurobehavioral-Disorders-.pdf
- Pryjma J, Postlethwaite R, McIvor C. Improvement in mood, sleep, head symmetry and socioemotional engagement in a 19-month-old male concomitant with chiropractic care: A case report. Asia-Pac Chiropr J. 2024;5.1. net/papers-issue-5-1/#PryjmaSocioemotional
