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The automatic sequence of this locomotion is always the same, meaning that when the right arm goes forward, the left leg will do the same and when the left arm goes forward, the right leg will do the same. This is the basis of what we call a contralateral neurological organization.
However, under certain circumstances (always following a head trauma), it happens that this simultaneous contralateral synchronization becomes reversed, therefore homolateral (right leg forward with right arm forward). This is termed neurological disorganization. (homolateral)
Consequences
In order to simplify, let us say that there is a shock on the "box” (cranium) which instantaneously results in an inversion of the nervous impulses, therefore a crossing. It is of utmost importance to understand that this can effect both the motor (nervous impulses going from the brain to the periphery) and the sensory levels (nervous impulses going from the periphery to the brain).
The consequences of this disorganization can be multiple, and will mainly manifest themselves in three main categories which can be summarized as : scoliosis (incorrect tonic muscular response to information coming from the skeletal articulations), allergies (incorrect response to an element or organism foreign to the body), learning disabilities, dyslexia and more ( incorrect perception of visual or auditory information, or incorrect reproduction of that information).
Signs and symptoms
If the cause (head trauma) happens before the crawling period, it may classically induce an absence or atypical form of locomotion, meaning that the child will remain seated, rocking himself forward or backward or will push or pull himself on his stomach or on his side. As a matter of fact, his "disorganized” nervous system is only able to transmit to him the wrong command in the sense of pushing forward the "left arm together with the left leg", making any form of equilibrium impossible.
In fact, if the trouble is severe enough, standing locomotion will later only be possible in a homolateral manner. This phenomenon was observed by Dr. Delacato, who was the first one to notice it, and and subsequently work to correct it.
The extreme form is the homolateral walking, with the legs apart (for evident reasons of balance). It is to be noticed that depending on the severity of the case, this walking phenomenon may manifest itself in a temporary manner, in case of excessive tiredness or when under extra stress, or not at all.
animated illustration
Neurophysiological diagnosis
A very simple and fast way to make a basic diagnosis, is readily available to anyone with a minimum training.
As a matter of fact, if we relate to the necessary neurological process for contralateral animal locomotion, we realize that when the left leg goes forward, some information will be transmitted to the right arm so the it also goes forward. This will result in a contraction of the flexing muscles and an inhibition of the extending muscles. On the other side of the body obviously the opposite will happen, meaning, inhibition of the flexing muscles and contraction of the extending muscles. This also means that when the weight of the body is on the left forward foot, the strength of the right arm will be much stronger than the strength of the left arm. In reality we can compare the resisting force of the right and left arm in flexion of someone and if everything is normal, he should be stronger on the opposite side of the forward leg. (contralateral tonicity)
If the stronger arm is paradoxically on the same side as the forward leg in this kind of testing we say that there is homolaterality or neurological disorganization.
Therapeutic approach of "cross crawl"
The approach developed by Delacato, is very simple and efficient.
As a first step, the therapist will have the patient passively make a repetition of contralateral exercises : flexion of the left leg synchronously with flexion of the right arm, then flexion of the right leg synchronous with flexion of the left arm. As soon as possible, the movements will be done actively by the patient alone. This is known as "cross crawl" and should be done twice a day for 20 minutes for a minimum period of 2 months.
Thanks to the work of Carl Ferreri, DC from New York, it became possible to obtain the same result within a very short period of time (one or two chiropractic treatments) and without exercises.(In 1998, Michel Barras, DC from Switzerland, published the description of the physiopathological underlying phenomenon and resulting immediate and non reversible corrective procedure). This is readily available to well trained chiropractors.
Even if, unfortunately, qualified chiropractic specialists are actually insufficiently present, we can not understand that other concerned professional organizations obviously ignore the procedures of Dr. Delacato (published in 1963!) which do not require any special professional training. Even though they are far from reaching perfection, most of the time they give interesting benefits, even if limited.
Therapeutic Approach.
To start with, the specialized chiropractor’s approach will be to rapidly and definitively change the central neurological dysfunction manifesting itself in the homolateral gait position.
The second mandatory step consists of eliminating the mechanical consequences of the cranial trauma, in other words the cranial dysfunctions, together with the dysfunctions of the jaw, and closely associated, cervical and lumbar spine, without neglecting the pelvic and lower limb.
Then will come the correction of the neurological consequences of the mechanical trauma related to the eyes position (loss of the necessary horizontality of the eyes level as a reference point to the inner ear, equilibrium organ).
To be considered:
The neurological disorganization phenomena (contralateral tonicity) is put into action as a child, therefore the adult-to-be. It is a mechanically induced condition and therefore can very well be acquired during the adult life, even though head trauma is less frequent in adults than in children.
This inversion of muscular tonicity being only one of the manifestations of the neurological disorganization, the affected child (or adult) will therefore also show other potential signs, such as when he reads or hears a sound. Inversion can also happen when he hears something and/or when he wants to reproduce it, the end result might very well be a reversal in speaking or reading, mirror writing, hesitation, confusion, and so on.
As soon as we understand this phenomenon, it becomes obvious that lack of attention and/ or concentration is only a logical manifestation of the situation. The information flow has no longer a logical sequence to follow, and therefore does not stimulate any kind of interest. During this marvelous childhood developmental period we usually observe a total attention in relation to new subjects, materials, and colors. For the "neurologically disorganized" child this can easily turn out to be a nightmare. As a matter of fact, to sustained attention substitutes itself lack of consistency and a lack of a reference point. The child looking at a picture will have a distorted perception of it, without logical structures to it. Worse if he looks away from the picture for a fraction of a second, and comes back to it, he is susceptible to have a totally different perception than the first one. It is easy to understand that this does not present any kind of interest and will be disturbing. Therefore he will go to something else, where the same thing happens, then to something else, and to something else..... and we will start talking about hyperactivity.
We have to notice that for an identical general neurological disorganization, the consequences are seldom absolutely identical and that the end result may concern all categories of manifestation or, on the contrary, concern only one, but with various degrees.
Therefore we are in front of a neurophysiological dysfunction which results in obvious psychological modifications during childhood as well as during the rest of the individual’s life.So we should reconsider the whole ”personality” concept globally and probably look less into Mom, Dad, brother or little sister as the cause of his problems.
Actually, chiropractic treatment of these dysfunctions give significant results ("before and after" logopedic evaluations demonstrate over 90% recovery to normal in a very short period), and a consequently important improvement in school grades, together with constant personality modifications, very often surprising by their significance.
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