This is a very interesting article I wanted to share that could shed light on why we can effect and balance a person around and within their Scoliosis and lessen its discomfort. Idiopathic is different from Neuromuscular Scoliosis (ex. Muscular Dystrophy or Cerebral Palsy) in that there is no ‘known’ cause.

“There is an article in the journal Spine, “Intraoperative Long-Latency Reflex Activity in Idiopathic Scoliosis Demonstrates Abnormal Central Processing, a possible cause of idiopathic scoliosis” by Maguire and others, Spine vol. 18 #12, 1993, pp 1621-26. I’m going to quote most of the first paragraph, and then I’ll translate. At the end I’ll speculate about what this means for Feldenkrais workers and other bodyworkers [Structural Integration].

“The clinical manifestations of idiopathic scoliosis are well known, yet its causes remain unclear. Several factors have been proposed, including abnormal structural elements of the spine, dysfunctional spinal musculature, genetic factors, alterations of collagen metabolism, and abnormalities of the central nervous system. The most promising investigations appear to implicate the central nervous system, especially those areas involved with postural equilibrium. Spinal cord reflexes play an integral role in the maintenance of posture. These complex polysynaptic segmental reflexes are regulated by a variety of descending suprasegmental systems, by peripheral afferent impulses and within the spinal cord by a network of interneurons and propriospinal neurons.”

So, in other words, there is a great deal of complex interaction between different parts of the spinal cord involved in maintaining posture, including information from the peripheral nerves, from the brain, and interactions within the spinal cord. Messages from the brain fine-tune the process of postural regulation that goes on within the spinal cord (”efferent control system”). If you’ve ever studied the anatomy of the spinal musculature, you know that there are several short muscles attached to each vertebra that can rotate it in different directions, which maintain the functional coupling of the vertebrae and determine how forces travel through the spine. Presumably this is how Feldenkrais and other bodymind modalities can have an effect on posture, walking, and spinal column function: through central mediation of the spinal reflexes, the central mediation being (somewhat at least) accessible to conscious control.