12/06/2024
fMRI Research Transforms Reflexology
It is confirmed by research: foot reflexology’s effect on the body has basis in fact. Proof of this concept was demonstrated by fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) research showing unexpected areas of the brain are activated as reflexology is applied to the feet.
Expected areas of the brain are those responding to any sensory application to the foot such as touch. As noted by lead investigator Dr. Stefan Posse, “(The research showed) Information (during foot reflexology) is shared with never expected parts of the brain.”
Also unexpected was the consistency of results for the four healthy participants and four stroke patients. All healthy participants demonstrated consistent activation of the same areas of the brain. All stroke patients showed consistent activation.
Results for the healthy subjects of the preliminary study showed potential feasible activation of the sensory motor cortex as expected as well as unexpected activation of insula, parietal lobe (supramarginal gyrus) and the pre and supplementary motor cortex.
Results for stroke patients showed activation of the foot sensory cortex, left pre and supplementary motor cortex, left supra marginal gyrus and the left middle temporal gyrus. Testing before and after the application of foot reflexology showed improvements for patients in relaxation of paralyzed hands
varying among participants and improvements in abilities to feel the difference between two points on the paralyzed limb.
These areas of the brain integrate incoming sensory information to provide responses to ensure survival. Information is provided from our surroundings and the inner us then integrated to make decisions about how to respond to events such as the need for fight or flight; the more mundane nervous tension of a job interview or an emotional situation.
Sensory information comes from the internal us, sights, sounds, proprioception such as pressure to the feet and movement. By providing pressure information to the feet, foot reflexology becomes a part of the survival mechanism. It is hypothesized that the above noted areas of the brain are activated by foot reflexology as a participant in the survival mechanism.
Brain scans during foot reflexology application were conducted in 2023 as part of the research project Neural Pathways of Applied Reflexology at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR). Results were reported May 6, 2024 at the annual meeting of the International Society for Magnetic resonance in Medicine in Singapore.
Researchers included internationally known reflexologists Barbara and Kevin Kunz; Dr. Stefan Posse of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine as well as Dr. Essa Yacoub, Dr. Ann van de Winckel and Dr. Luca of the University of Minnesota.
An fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans the brain, measuring changes in blood flow and oxygen, nutrients needed to accomplish the task underway. What we’re thinking, doing, sensing or feeling causes blood to flow to specific parts of the brain. The pressure of reflexology to the foot was shown to prompt blood flow to specific expected and unexpected parts of the brain.
Reflexology Research Project
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