What is Applied Neurology?

Applied neurology optimizes brain activity to improve overall quality of life in terms of better movement, better balance and less pain/discomfort. Specific exercises help to retrain the brain and nervous system for improved function of the body as a whole. Initially used by elite athletes to boost performance, applied neurology is now used by a variety of healthcare providers because of the benefits it provides. 

Applied neurology looks beyond surface-level symptoms to identify potential underlying issues within the nervous system. For example, chronic pain might not always be directly related to a physical injury but rather to how the brain perceives and interprets sensory information. Pain and dysfunction are viewed as symptoms of sensory mismatch in the brain. By training the brain with short specific exercises 3–5 times a day, a clearer map of how the brain views the body can be created. The exercises are like going to the gym for your brain and nervous system — they need repetition to yield results, and no one else can do them for you! This is often a missing link for re-occurring conditions that have only been treated by a biomechanical approach to rehabilitation. 

Instead of solely focusing on muscle strength or joint mobility, applied neurology employs specific movements that stimulate the brain's sensory systems. These exercises can involve activities that challenge balance, coordination or sensory input, encouraging the brain to adapt and improve its processing abilities. Everyone can benefit from brain exercises, as they affect the quality of daily living activities such as posture, movement, balance, pain and digestion, in addition to being an important component of recovery from injuries. 

The brain has 12 pairs of cranial nerves — including the vagus nerve (pictured) — that are responsible for various sensory and motor activities, as well as autonomic functions. Autonomic functions are processes in the body that regulate essential physiological activities without conscious control, such as heart rate, digestion and blood pressure. Activating the cranial nerves several times a day with specific exercises can promote neuroplasticity of the brain, leading to the formation of new neural pathways. This process can help us recover from injuries and enhance brain function. 

By approaching therapy from a holistic blend of proprioceptive, vestibular and vision exercises, treatment plans address both biomechanical and neurological components leading to better treatment outcomes. Applied neurology emphasizes the importance of the brain's ability to process sensory information from the body (like touch, balance, and proprioception) and then translate that information into motor actions. Sensory information gets read by the brain before it decides on the motor output, which is why cranial nerves are so important.