Recent ongoing research at the University of Southern California, USA, is studying the mathematics of a unique spinal wave generated in Network Spinal Analysis Chiropractic Care. This research on the electrophysiology of the Network Wave is reinforcing the paradigm suggested by Danish researchers Heimberg and Jackson, which proposes that the nervous system communicates through acoustic, or pulse pressure waves, and that the electrical signal is likely a by-product of this communication.
In the mainstream medical paradigm, and often for many chiropractic institutions, biochemistry has been the ruling system. Now biophysics is gaining ground as a way to more fully understand how information travels in the nervous system. There is a potential bridge between a neurobiophysical model and Chiropractic, begging the question does the “stretch” or tone on the nerve or spinal cord affect the quality of signal propagation?
Early results and models suggest potential links between D.D. Palmer’s concept of “tone”, B.J. Palmer’s concept of multiple cord tensions and Alf Breig’s concepts of Adverse Mechanical Cord Tension (AMCT). These may now create an even stronger case for the importance, and nature of Chiropractic care.
AMCT may be generated by postural, chemical, emotional, mental and other stressful stimuli. Optimal nerve or spinal cord tension allows for the fastest signal travel, through the tallest amplitude wave. If a nerve is too taut or slack the wave amplitude will be smaller and slower, resulting in incomplete information transmitted from the point of stimulus to the brain.
To read a full discussion of this research, and its implications on chiropractic and our understanding of the CNS, read the article by Donny Epstein in Illuminate (2016, Volume 1, page 5)
https://spinalresearch.com.au/wp-content/uploads/ILLUMINATE-Vol1-2016.pdf