Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Somatotopical relationships between cortical activity


Okay once again a fMRI study shows the connection between areas on the feet and areas in the brain related to the corresponding part of the body. This time we are talking about the shoulder, eye and small intestine. Why in the world isn't medical science paying attention to these studies? This study was on Medline, the holy grail of the medical profession.

"Somatotopical relationships between cortical activity and reflex areas in reflexology: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Nakamaru T, Miura N, Fukushima A, Kawashima R.
Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan; Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC), Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
We examined the somatotopical relationship between cortical activity and sensory stimulation of reflex areas in reflexology using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Three reflex areas on the left foot, relating to the eye, shoulder, and small intestine were stimulated during the experiment. A statistical analysis showed that reflexological stimulation of the foot reflex areas corresponding to the eye, shoulder, and small intestine activated not only the somatosensory areas corresponding to the foot, but also the somatosensory areas corresponding to the eye, shoulder, and small intestine or neighboring body parts. Thus, the findings showed that reflexological stimulation induced a somatosensory process corresponding to the stimulated reflex area and that a neuroimaging approach can be used to examine the basis of reflexology effects."

Kevin Kunz

http://www.reflexology-research.com

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