Method

The development of the brain

The idea that the nervous system must develop in order for people to unfold their full potential and also prevent health problems is new and foreign to most people. We are not only talking about psychological development, but literally about the “wiring” of the brain, that is, an optimal interconnection of all brain regions with each other.

Ideally, this development ensures that people can use all the resources available to them on a neurological, psychological and physical level, see table below:

In the graphic below you will find the development of the brain, in the order in which the brainstem, limbic system and frontal cortex interconnect:

The brainstem is the oldest part in the history of mankind. We have this part of the brain in common with reptiles. From it the most basal sensations, drives and instincts are controlled. We share the limbic system with mammals. It allows us to feel emotions such as love. The frontal cortex is the newest addition to the brain structure in human history, which only higher primates and humans possess. The brain stem is well developed from the beginning, while the limbic system and the frontal cortex have to develop further. The most recently developed part of the brain will always suppress the previously developed part. Thus, with a well-developed frontal cortex, we can make rational decisions without the brainstem and limbic system automatically winning the argument. This nested structure of the brain is also called the “triune brain”. Not considered in the triune structure is the very most rudimentary stage, which we have in common with amphibians (fish, for example).

A first milestone of this interconnectedness between brain stem, limbic system and frontal cortex is called neuromotor maturity.

Neuromotor maturity

The interlinking of the brain is also a process of awareness at the same time. Over the course of about 7 years, the body will create a “map” of itself and thus internally “get to know” itself on a very basic neurological level (which is called proprioception).

Literal orientation in time and space also wants to be learned by the nervous system. Ideally, we have an internal GPS system that, like a satellite, must triangulate data to determine its position in space. By this we mean that we need our vision, proprioception (the body’s perception of itself) and sense of balance (vestibular apparatus) to get correct information about the material reality outside of us.

The prerequisite for this is that neurological development is optimal, which is usually not the case. The problem with this lack of self-awareness is that all other body systems that depend on the control of the nervous system are affected by its incomplete development.

Our internal orientation results from the synchronization of proprioception and the data we receive from the outside. Therefore, we depend on the nervous system’s ability to handle data appropriately if we are to develop beyond the point of reflexive behavior controlled by the brainstem.

In the beginning of our lives, our neonatal reflexes help us to do this. They build bridges between the brainstem and higher brain structures.

These neonatal reflexes “are ultimately decisive for a being to become conscious of itself. Becoming conscious implies a gradual process that leads from unconsciousness to consciousness.

Neonatal reflexes allow a human being to function and survive without consciousness. But such an independence ensures the survival only as long as the human being is still supplied in all his needs from the outside. If this being should also function independently one day, this requires a development of consciousness. Early childhood reflexes form the neurological basis for this by being activated, inhibited and finally replaced by adult reflex patterns in the case of healthy development.”¹Research paper Katia Trost on advanced INPP training

The graphic below summarizes the process of neuromotor maturity:

“But with the transition of a human being into a conscious state, the role of reflexes is not yet exhausted. Under the guidance of a healthy reflex development, an infant first learns to raise his head independently to finally, in the course of his development, physically end his symbiosis with his mother by eventually taking his first steps away from her through voluntary control of his muscles.” …

“Every developmental step of an infant is dependent on reflexes. What is meant here is the development of neonatal reflexes that eventually become inhibited or transition into adult reflexes (subsequently referred to as healthy reflex development). Lifting the head, rolling, sitting, crawling and also walking are reflexivelly controlled by the nervous system and executed by the muscles. In this way, humans gradually learn to defy gravity. But the necessary movements are not possible without sensory cues. In turn, the human organism acquires this sensory cue through movement until it can perform “(d)ifferentiated, goal-directed, programmed movements, modulated and learned through practice, without great expenditure of energy.” In other words, sensory and movement development are mutually dependent. In this context, the upright posture of the body is also “potential movement.”²Research paper Katia Trost on advanced training INPP

If we speak of sensory development, on the one hand we mean basal senses such as muscle tone, balance (vestibular apparatus) and body perception (proprioception). These allow us to become masters of our own body. From these basal senses we also develop gross motor skills, fine motor skills, bilateral integration and sensory integration. In parallel, the remote senses develop, which allow a differentiated communication with the outside world. These include smelling, hearing, seeing, tasting and touching.

Furthermore, the development of human abilities that are generally linked to the development of independence, such as the ability to hold back urine, food intake, as well as the ability to grasp things with the fingers, is also linked to healthy reflex development.”³Quote from Katia Trost’s research paper on INPP continuing education

Neonatal reflexes help babies overcome their brain function they got “out of factory” by training the limbic system and gradually replacing the brainstem as the sole ruler in the brain. They create a bridge between sensations (brainstem) and feelings (limbic system) by promoting the basal and remote senses.

The development of reflexes in the maturation of children

“Reflexes do not develop arbitrarily. If they want to fulfill their task as neurological midwives of human development, they must arise, be inhibited and, if necessary, transformed in a particular sequence.

a) Sequence

A particular sequence of reflex development follows the higher mission to make a human being gradually independent, in that it is no longer physically dependent on the care of its parents and can individuate itself psychologically. INPP assumes that the development of all land animals and thus also of humans starts from the head, in that it is not only neurologically the “boss” as guardian of the brain in the organism, but also takes over the leading role by means of a “top down” control of the rest of the body. Free mobility also requires the ability to move body limbs on multiple axes. This is a complex undertaking in terms of coordination, especially since movements not only have to be coordinated with each other, but also have to take place in relation to gravity. It therefore makes sense to develop these axes one after the other, controlled from the head, and to consolidate and build on them. The first axis is the perception of vertical reality (above and below), the second axis is created by the separation of the midline (right and left), four axes are created by the separation into upper and lower limbs, and eight axes are ultimately created by the independent movement of all body limbs.

The work of neonatal reflexes is done once these eight axes have been established, can be perfectly coordinated with each other, and sensory integration is also complete. Persistence of neonatal reflexes beyond this leads to pathological movement patterns and reactions in the human organism.

b) Chronological emergence and inhibition

According to the need of multiaxiality, there is a chronological order in the emergence of neonatal reflexes. The following main reflexes are responsible for the differentiation into the axes:”⁴Quote from the study paper of Katia Trost in the INPP advanced training

The more complex we want to become as individuals, the more our nervous system must be able to process more and more complex data. In other words, the evolution of the self begins with the nervous system. And neuromotor maturity is a first milestone on the path of healthy development.

Self-regulation

Self-regulation is the ability of the self to bring about self-change through direction and decision. Self-regulation is an essential quality for making conscious life decisions:

“Humans and a number of other higher mammals have evolved a specialized region of the brain associated with thinking, planning, and decision-making called the prefrontal cortex. This portion of the forebrain is apparently the seat of the “self-conscious” mind processing. The self-conscious mind is self-reflective; it is a newly evolved “sense organ” that observes our own behaviors and emotions. The self-conscious mind also has access to most of the data stored in our long-term memory bank. This is an extremely important feature allowing our history of life to be considered as we consciously plan our futures. Endowed with the ability to be self-reflective, the self-conscious mind is extremely powerful. It can observe any programmed behavior we are engaged in, evaluate the behavior, and consciously decide to change the program. We can actively choose how to respond to most environmental signals and whether we even want to respond at all. The conscious mind’s capacity to override the subconscious mind’s preprogrammed behaviors is the foundation of free will.”⁵Lipton, Bruce H.. The Biology of Belief 10th Anniversary Edition (p.128). Hay House. Kindle version

See the graphic below for how self-regulation works:

If neonatal reflexes are active, self-regulation is only possible to a limited extent. In infants it does not take place at all, in adults only to the extent that neonatal reflexes do not ensure that more highly developed brain regions are blocked. Be it because the limbic system and the frontal cortex are insufficiently interconnected, be it because they are briefly “hijacked” by the reflexes.

True self-regulation does not merely favor the functionality of individual parts of the body-mind unit to the detriment of other parts of the system. Self-regulation is a condition that affects the functionality of the entire system. And the nervous system is mainly responsible for an equal function of all organ systems. For this reason, it is important that neonatal reflexes do not persist beyond infancy.

Self-regulation is important in many ways. It occurs in the autonomic nervous system and in metabolism, where it is called homeostasis. Homeostasis is also affected by deficiencies in self-regulation because of the existing organ hierarchy with the nervous system at the top. For example, problems in the regulation of blood sugar can occur if neonatal reflexes persist.

However, at the right time and in the right place, neonatal reflexes also influence metabolic and organ development positively.

Interactions with other organ systems and bodily processes

“The nervous system coordinates “spatial, emotional, and perceptual security.” It is the “boss” in the organism, so to speak. It “decides” by means of the reticular activating system (RAS) about an action necessity in case of threatening danger. In addition to an external defense against danger by means of fight, flight or freeze (which are also regulated by the autonomic nervous system), the body must also be able to ward off internal dangers. For the external defense against danger, the body uses the hormone system, for the internal defense the immune system. These two systems work together with all other body systems, be it the cardiovascular system, the respiratory system, the musculoskeletal system, etc..

If the body prepares for fight, flight or freeze, adrenaline, cortisol and noradrenaline are released by the adrenal glands (so-called general adaptation syndrome) in order to be able to react adequately to external dangers. However, reflexes can also trigger this hormonal cascade from within, especially the fear-paralysis reaction or the Moro reflex.

Cortisol also simultaneously provides suppression of the immune system. Thus, persistent neonatal reflexes also indirectly influence the immune system.

In this respect, the effect of reflexes cannot be limited directly to the nervous system.”⁶Quote from Katia Trost’s study paper for INPP advanced training

Psychological development

Self-regulation also exists in psychological terms. There, too, neonatal reflexes play an important role.

“Reflexes (are) also a drive for human individuation. This is true first of all for physical development, but this physical foundation is also crucial for the development of a parallel psychological individuation. It is said “that individuation is on the one hand a process of detachment and self-development, on the other hand a path to one’s own center and depth.”⁷Quote from Katia Trost’s student research paper for INPP advanced training

“The indicator of this development of physical and psychological individuation is the above-mentioned neuromotor functioning. This gives “an indication of the degree of maturity of the central nervous system, since it is associated with the functioning of the vestibular, proprioceptive and postular systems, …”⁸Quote from Katia Trost’s student research paper for the INPP advanced training

“As already described, a healthy reflex development is also the basis for mental processes. Gravity plays an essential role in this. For it “is what gives us our center, whether in space, in time, in movements, in the awareness of depth, or as the center of our own person. Gravity is the center from which all actions become possible in the first place.”⁹Quote from Katia Trost’s study paper for the INPP advanced training

“Thus, without a healthy relation to gravity, individuation in the psychological sense is also difficult to achieve, because the person concerned already lacks the relation to the environment physically. He literally does not know where above and below is, where he ends and others begin. Overall, it can be said that the “sense of our inner self [is] based on our relationship to gravity,” without which coherent processing of the environment is not possible.”¹⁰Quote from Katia Trost’s student research paper for INPP advanced training

A prerequisite for successful individuation is also emotional maturity:

While emotional immaturity can also be a sign of developmental trauma, these are usually closely linked to neurological immaturity.

Accordingly, it has been confirmed many times in the course of our practical work that a lack of neuromotor maturity can present itself as an essential healing obstacle in the healing of psychological traumas, especially developmental traumas.

However, neuromotor maturity is only the first milestone on the way to healthy human development. Ideally, neuromotor maturity is reached around the first year of life. By the age of 21, two more maturity steps should be attained: sensory integration and bilateral integration, see chart below.

Sensorische integration

The development of the senses is also closely linked to neonatal reflexes, see graphic:

However, the full coordination of these senses with each other does not yet occur with neuromotor maturity in the first year of life, but around the seventh year of life with sensory integration. 

In sensory integration, functions such as:

• Eye-hand coordination
• Eye-mouth coordination
• The ability to assign touch with pinpoint accuracy
• Responding to voice commands without delay
• Writing and listening simultaneously
• Multitasking

Traditionally, these skills have also been considered crucial for school readiness. However, very many children never acquired the associated prerequisites during their development. 

Still, sensory integration is not the final milestone on the road to adulthood either. 

Bilateral integration

Bilateral integration is already initiated by motor maturity and also sensory integration. However, it continues until adulthood:

Bilateral integration means that the right and left hemispheres of the brain are well interconnected. In short, the right brain is responsible for the big picture overview, while the left brain is responsible for the details. The right brain zooms out while the left brain zooms in when it comes to solving a problem. While many people have preferences for one hemisphere of the brain, this should not leave one deficient in the ability of the other hemisphere.

The following overview shows the special features of the two brain hemispheres in more detail: ¹¹according to Iain McGilchrist “The Master and His Emissary”, translated summary from https://www.sloww.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Sloww-Master-Emissary-Brain-Hemispheres-Infographic.jpg)

Here is a very nice illustrated video on the differences between right brain/left brain.

The development of the adult nervous system

Most people mistakenly assume that brain development stops when we reach adulthood and that our brains tend to regress as we age.

And this is truly a practical reality for most people.

Psychologist and developmental researcher Robert Kegan sums it up:

“As long as we believe that mental development is the province of the young, we will conceive of formal learning as a preparation for adulthood, or the launchpad of a career’s trajectory. Successful leaders in the new century will act on the recognition that organized learning is, yes, an essential preparation for adult life, but is just as essential for promoting the growth of mental capacity throughout adult life.”…

“While the language of “growth” and “development” is widespread, the actual practices we see tend to be grounded in a transmission model (rather than a transformational model) of learning, with a goal of transferring knowledge from one person (typically an expert) to the learner. The expectation is that the learner will “add” more to his mind rather than reconstructing it to achieve greater mental complexity: more files and applications for the operating system; no significant enhancements to the operating system itself.”¹²Kegan, Robert; Kegan, Robert; Lahey, Lisa Laskow; Lahey, Lisa Laskow. Immunity to change (leadership for the common good) . Harvard Business Review Press. Kindle version

But this “adult plateau” is, among other things, the result of evolutionary gaps that often begin with a lack of energy at the cellular level and continue with emotional immaturity and a lack of embodiment, in our experience.

Ideally, the nervous system continues to develop throughout life, which also has an effect on psychological development.

Adult reflexes also take on a bridging function for consciousness here. First of all, they should make us capable of survival by reliably and automatically protecting us from danger.

The body reacts reflexively in the event of danger, i.e. through rigidity, flight or fight, by changing its posture, which we are not always aware of.

The Human Neuro Cybrainetics method has looked at the changes in the body that occur during flight or fight behavior:

“In the flight mechanism, often “the tension of twisting remains stored in our body as a flight response stiffness. The muscles that are not directly involved in the twisting are no longer fully innervated and energized. As a result, we need much more energy to stand up straight and function properly.”¹³Therapie Resistent – Jetzt was? Ute Wolter, 2017, self-published, page 33

“Both anterior thigh muscles (will) no longer be fully working. The abdominal muscles get hypotonic, the psoass muscle, which in visceral osteopathy is called the trash can of the pelvis, no longer sufficiently transports the waste products, as do the cervical muscles. Through the right upper and left lower torso and extremities, this muscle chain continues throughout the body.

The twisting prevents the diaphragm from working properly, which affects breathing and rib movement and ultimately overall spinal movement. The diaphragm, in turn, is an important factor in our cardiovascular system. It also moves and drains the internal organs and provides lymphatic drainage through its suction action. Through exhalation, lymph is drained from the parts of the body that are located toward the feet, and through inhalation, lymph is drained from the head and arm regions.”¹⁴Therapie Resistent – Jetzt was?, Ute Wolter, 2017, self-published, page 55.

So the bottom line is that when we are in a survival mode, we lose control of all the organs below the diaphragm, which makes sense from a survival perspective. This is because organs that are not immediately important for survival are found there, such as the digestive, detoxification, and reproductive organs.

“In the fight reaction, (one) first clenches the teeth. Through the activation of the masticatory muscles, which also extend to a large extent over the front lateral skull, the cranial sutures are pulled together. The dura mater becomes tight (…). In the next stage of the fight reaction, the coccyx is pulled inward. With the dog one can observe this well as a drawn in tail. Through the tension of the dura mater and its contact with the cranial sutures and individual cranial bones, the cranial dome is once again secured from the inside. In addition, it tenses individual vertebrae along the entire spinal column over the long distance to the coccyx, so that these are protected from slipping and resulting paraplegia in the event of a lateral blow. Now the muscles, especially the neck muscles, are additionally tightened so that one can withstand blows and the head remains stable on the neck.”¹⁵Therapie Resistent – Jetzt was?, Ute Wolter, 2017, self-published, page 34

Over time, however, we should be able to consciously let go of situations into which we have been reflexively forced by our nervous system. But often this mechanism is not well developed and we freeze in our reflexes. This leads to rigidity at all levels:

“The fact is that, during the course of our lives, our sensory-motor systems continually respond to daily stresses and traumas with specific muscular reflexes. These reflexes, repeatedly triggered, create habitual muscular contractions, which we cannot –voluntarily– relax. These muscular contractions have become so deeply involuntary and unconscious that, eventually,  we no longer remember how to move about freely. The result is stiffness, soreness, and restricted range of movement. This habituated state of forgetfulness is called sensory-motor-amnesia (SMA). It is a memory loss of how certain muscle groups feel and how to control them.”¹⁶Page xiii, Somatics, Reawakening the Mind’s Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health, Thomas Hanna, Da Capo, Cambridge, 1988

Psychologically, adult brain development is about being able to look at problems from more and more perspectives.

In addition, we should be increasingly able to objectify internal processes. This means that we should be able to look at our feelings, thoughts and needs from a distance without being merged with them.

According to psychologist Robert Kegan, “The complexity of a mindset is a function of the way it distinguishes the thoughts and feelings we have (i.e., can look at, can take as object) from the thoughts and feelings that “have us” (i.e., we are run by them, are subject to them). Each different level of mindset complexity differently draws the line between what is subject and what is object. Greater complexity means being able to look at more (take more as object). The blind spot (what is subject) becomes smaller and smaller.”¹⁷Kegan, Robert; Kegan, Robert; Lahey, Lisa Laskow; Lahey, Lisa Laskow. Immunity to Change (Leadership for the Common Good) . Harvard Business Review Press. Kindle version.

Thus, on the one hand, the integration of adult reflexes in NPE serves the ongoing development of adults.

At the same time, we have found that the integration of neonatal reflexes also proceeds more smoothly when we works on the nervous system from “both ends” by simultaneously working on the integration of neonatal and adult reflexes.

As an integrative method, Neuropsychological Embodiment training combines insights from INPP, Hanna Somatics, Z-Health, developmental psychology, and our own research to create our own method.

Closing environmental gaps through neurotraining

Neurotraining enables the closure of developmental gaps in the nervous system, as researchers have found.¹⁸Effects of replicating primary-reflex movements on specific reading difficulties in children: a randomised, double-blind, controlled trial, M. McPhillips, P. G. Hepper and G. Mulhern, https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(99)02179-0/references

Neurotraining has some peculiarities compared to the normal training of the body:

• It is not about training muscles locally
• The nervous system learns very slowly, so exercises must be done extremely slowly
• Only one to very few repetitions are done
• Attention must be internally focused on the movement
• Exercises must be performed for an average of about 3 months in adults for a lasting developmental effect to occur and reflexes to be fully and permanently integrated. The goal is that exercises for the trained areas are no longer needed after integration because the neurological structure has permanently changed.

What neurotraining is not:

• A therapy – it is about development, not treatment, although neurotraining can often support treatments very effectively and even be the missing link in many therapies
• Gymnastics – training effects of muscles, however, occur as a collateral effect
• A meditative practice – it is not about learning mindfulness, although mindfulness is often enhanced by more embodiment
• A Recreational activity to reduce stress – it is about enabling the body to better cope with stress

Neurotraining is not about the athletic training of local muscles, whereas neurotraining can have a training effect, even when only very few repetitions are done. This results from the fact that muscles can be trained through the central nervous system and not just by local stimulation. In other words: local stimulation of the muscles only causes local muscle building and no training of the nervous system. Conversely, however, training of the nervous system also causes training of local muscles, including the deep muscles, the core, in particular which are responsible for our posture and stability.

While there are several ways to perform neurotraining, e.g. stimulation with brain waves, laser or kinesiology, we believe that only specific movements performed in a certain order are able to fully and above all permanently integrate neonatal reflexes and establish new and more developed brain structures at the same time.

We are concerned with updating the “operating system” so that the function of the nervous system as a whole improves and optimizes. We are not satisfied with the improvement of partial areas, which may well be achieved by simply switching off outdated reflexes.

Partial solutions can be as follows:

• Reflexes are merely exhausted by performing certain movement patterns regularly, but not slowly and consciously enough (e.g., through sports, yoga). The reflex may no longer be triggered shortly after the exercise and also for a while afterwards – Problem: The affected person may feel relieved. However, if the movements are no longer performed, the reflexes re-establish themselves.
• Outdated reflexes are disabled, but new brain structures that replace the old and more undeveloped brain structures are not built up instead- Problem: While there may be noticeable relief for the affected person, merely breaking down neonatal reflexes does not automatically promote brain development. Gaps in overall development remain.
• Earlier reflexes are suppressed by the maturation or integration of reflexes that follow in development – Problem: The suppression may make supressed reflexes no longer triggerable. But again, the development of more highly developed brain structures will be missing. Reflexes that follow in development will also be affected. This is true even if the subsequent reflex seems to have been optimally integrated (the pattern of integration always needs to be complete: dismantling-integrating-buildung up new), because the previous gap is an obstacle to development.

Thus, in our experience, a truly successful integration of neonatal reflexes always consists of two parts: old structures are dismantled, new structures are built up. The sequence of dismantling and building up must strictly follow the sequence of natural human reflex development.

Working on reflexes in the middle therefore makes little sense. That is also true, if the affected person only shows signs of this particular neonatal reflex, while earlier reflexes in the sequence are inconspicuous. In fact, we have never experienced this case. Those who know how to interpret the signs will usually find evidence of persistent neonatal reflexes from the beginning of development.

But even if individual reflexes should be inconspicuous, the development of new and more developed brain structures must also take place in the correct sequence from the beginning so that no gaps occur in the development of new structures.

In this respect, it has been proven time and again that starting at the beginning (with the fear-paralysis reaction, or the Moro reflex) pays off manifold.

While humans have been endowed with a great many neonatal reflexes, not all of these reflexes need to be integrated independently. This is because some neonatal reflexes occupy a key position in development. Experience shows that the integration of these reflexes ensures that other persistent reflexes are also integrated and development is triggered in a healthy way.

The order of integration should then be as follows:¹⁹according to the INPP method, see also: https://www.inpp.org.uk.

The movements used to integrate neonatal reflexes are modeled after archetypal movement patterns that babies and young children make on their own. Nature has ingeniously chosen movement patterns that both break down reflexes and build new brain structures simultaneously. The exercises for neonatal reflexes are complemented by exercises for adult reflexes, the limbic system, and sensory and bilateral integration.

With these aspects in mind, the NPE neurotrainer decides on the appropriate exercises for his client.