A paper entitled Increased dynamic regulation of postural tone through Alexander Technique traininghasbeenpublishedinElseviersjournal HumanMovementScience.Itisthefirstmodern studyintohowtheAlexanderTechniqueworkstobepublishedinareputablejournal.Yhemain authorwasDrTimCacciatore,whocompletedhisteachertrainingatVictoriaTrainingCoursefor theAlexandertechniquelastyear.

HeisalsoaresearcherattheInstituteofNeurology,University CollegeLondon. The research was driven by Tims interest in how the Technique affects patterns of muscular tensioninthebodyandwaspartfundedbytheAlexanderTrust. ThestudyfoundthattheAlexanderTechniquechangesafundamentalaspectofmotor/postural behavior:howmuscularantigravitysupportisregulated.ThishelpsestablishthattheTechnique changesbehavior,ratherthanjusthavingclinicaleffects,likehelpingbackpain.Wecannowsay that scientific findings indicate the Alexander Technique changes how antigravity muscle tensionisregulated,andthatreducesstiffnessalongthespineandinthehips. Readthesummaryofthepaper:

Increaseddynamicregulationofposturaltonethrough Alexandertechniquetraining SummaryofresearchpublishedinHumanMovementScience KorinaBiggsadTimCacciatore Introduction ThispieceofresearchwasdrivenbyaninterestinstydyinghowtheAlexander Techniqueaffectspatternsofmusculartensioninthebody.Thebrainmust regulatemuscletensioninordertosupportthebodyagainstgravity.Thistypeof longlastingmuscleactivityistechnicallycalledposturaltone,andisparticularly importantalongthebodyaxistokeepthespinefromcollapsing.Becauseit seemssobasic,itiseasytosupposethatposturaltoneiswellstudiedand scientificallyunderstood.Surprisingly,itisnot. Thisisprimarilybecauseposturaltoneisdifficulttomeasure.Itsslight magnitude,ongoingnature,andbroaddistribuitonacrossthemusculaturemake itdifficulttoquantify. Incontrast,balance(howwekeepourbodymassaboveourfeet),avery differentphenomenon,iswellstudiedandwellunderstood.Thisisbecausethe frequentforwardandbackmovementsthatoccurwithbalanceareeasyto measure,incontrasttothesustainedforcesthatopposegravity,whicharenot. Twister Severalyearsago,DrCacciatoreworkedincollaborationwithVictorGurfinkelin PortlandOregontohelpdeviseamethodformeasuringposturaltone,referred toasTwister.Itisamachinewhichmeasuresandanalysestheforcerequiredto veryslowlytwisttheneck,trunkorhipsasapersonstandsupright.(Seepicture onfrontpage.) Standinguprightrequiresmuscularactivitytocounteractgravitationalforces, andtwistingstretchesthesemusclessothattheresistancewemeasureto twistingreflectstheforces(i.e.tension)inthesemusclestoopposegravity. Leaningagainstasupportreducestheamountofmuscularactivityneededand wouldaffectthemeasurement.ThusTwisterisbuiltinawaythattwistsyou,but youcantleanonit,sothattheresistancemeasuredreflectsasubjectsunaided muscularoppositiontogravity.ThisisachievedbyGurfinkelsclever arrangementofhingesandsprings. Toensurethemeasurementofresistancereflectsmuscularforces,thetwistis small.Thisissoastoexcludeforcesfromligaments,whichonlybegintotighten ataround30degreesoftwisting.Sokeepingthetwistwellbelowwthatangle givesameasurementofposturaltone. Twistercanbeconfiguredtomeasuretoneintheneck,trunkorhips. Measurementreflectthetotalintegratedactivityofallmuscleswithineach region,asopposedtothatofaparticularmuscle. Todatethismethodhasledtosixpublicationsthathelptoshedlightonhow

posturaltoneiscontrolled,butthisisthefirstonetoinvolvetheAlexander Technique.ThesubjectsoftheotherpapersincludedParkinsonsdisease,and howtactileinformationaffectsposturaltone. ThefirstTwisterstudy(Garfinkeletal.2006)revealedthatposturaltonediffers substantiallyamongindividuals. Stiffpeoplearemuchstiffer(34times)thanlessstiffpeople.Thesedifferences inposturaltonecouldbecausedbytwofactors:theamountofmuscletension,or howthistensionadaptsdynamicallytochangesinpostureorload. Inotherwords,lowstiffnesscouldresultfromapersonhavinglowtensionorby changingthisdynamicallyduringtwistingbylettinggo(reducingactivity)of thosemuscleslengthenedbytwistingandtakingupslack(increasingactivity) ofthoseshortened.[Editorsnote:ComparethediscussionoftwistinginRaymond Dartspaper,TheAttainmentofPoiseinSkillandPoise,STATBooks1996.]This firstTwisterstudyfoundthatthemajordifferencebetweensubjectswasthat stiffpeopletendedtohavefixedmuscleactivity,whilethosewhowerelessstiff adaptedtonedynamically. TheobjectiveinthepresentstudywastoinvestigatetheeffectsoftheAlexander Techniqueonposturaltone. Whileitisclearfromsubjectiveexperiencethatsuchpatternschange,itisnot clearpreciselyhow.Theamountoftension,itsdistributionthroughoutthebody, anditsdynamicadaptabilityarelikelyallchangedbylessons,incomplex interrelatedways.Thisstudybegantoexaminetheseissues.Fromascientific standpoint,thequestionofgeneralimportancewaswetherapersoncanmake theirtonemoredynamicallyresponsivethroughsomekindoftraining. Methods Thisstudyconsistedoftwoparts.First,theposturaltoneofAlexanderteachers wascomparedwiththatofcontrolsubjects.Second,theposturaltoneofpeople withlowbackpainwasexaminedovertimebeforeandafterAlexander lessons.Thesetwoapproachesyieldcomplementaryinformation. PosturaltonewasmeasuredwithTwisterintheneck,trunkandhip.Eachof theserequiresseparatetrials,withbodyattachmentsinappropriateplacesso thattherespectiveregionisrotated.Inallcases,severaltendegreerotationsin eachdirectionwereused,whichtakesthreeminutesasrotationisveryslow.In essence,atrialfeelssimilartohavingateacherwithveryfreehandsturnyour head,shouldersorpelvisveryslowly.Thedevicefeelsunusualbecauseitis extremelystifftowardsrotation(requiredtomeasureresistance)butextremely compliantforallothermotions(soasnottoprovideposturalsupport). StudyusingAlexanderteachers Fourteenpainfreeteachersandfifteenpainfreecontrolsubjectswererecruited tomatchinage,weight,height,andgender.ItwasfoundthattheAlexander teachershadmuchlowerresistancetotwistingthancontrolsubjects. TheaveragestiffnessofAlexanderteacherswasroughlyhalfthatofthecontrols forallregions(i.e.neck,trunk,andhipps).Asdescribedabove,thelower

stiffnessinAlexanderteacherscouldbeduetohavinglesstensionormore adaptivetension.Threedifferentmethodswereusedtoassesshowadaptive theirtonewas:thevariabilityofresistance,theshiftinneutralposition(also calledphaseadvance),andelectricalmeasurementsofmuscleactivity.In general,adaptivetoneismorevariable,hasalargershiftinneutralposition,and muscleactivitythatchangeswithtwisting. ThisstudyfoundthatallthreemeasuresweregreaterinAlexanderteachers thaninthecontrols,indicatingthattheirposturaltonewasmoreadaptive.A correlationalanalysissupportedthatthisincreaseddynamicadaptiondidindeed contributetolowerstiffness. Studyusingthebackpainsubjects Eightsubjectswithlowbackpainwereused.Allsubjectsweretestedovera baselineperiod,afteraplacebocontrolintervention,andafterAlexander lessons.Theinterventionswerebothgiventwosessionsperweekfortenweeks. Interventionorderwasalsorandomised. Itwasfoundthatthebackpainsubjectsdecreasedhipandtrunkstiffness significantly(by29%)followingAlexandertrainingbutnotthecontrol intervention.Neckstiffnesswasnotmeasured.Beforelessons,backpainsubjects hadmorevariationinstiffness:somewereverystiffwhileothershadextremely lowstiffness.Thesubjectswiththehigheststiffnesshadthebiggestdecrease fromtheAlexanderTechnique.Therewerenotenoughbackpainsubjectsto determinewhetehertheirposturaltonebecamemoredynamic,however. Conclusion ThisstudyrepresentsafirststeptowardsunderstandingtheAlexander Techniqueandposturaltone.Moreresearchisneededtounderstandhowthe amountofmuscletensionanditsdistributionthroughoutthemusculature changewiththeTechnique,inadditiontoitsadaptability.Futurestudieswill examinetheseissuesaswellashowposturaltonerelatestomovementco ordinationandpain. References Cacciatore,T.W.,etal.Increaseddynamicregulationofposturaltonethrough Alexandertechniquetraining.HumanMovementScience(2010), doi:10.1016/j.humov.2010.10.002 Cacciatore,T.W.,etal.Improvementinautomaticposturalcoordination followingAlexanderTechniquelessonsinapersonwithlowbackpain.Physical therapy2005;85:565578. Gurfinkeletal.Posturalmuscletoneinthebodyaxisofhealthyhumans.J Neurophysiol2006;96(5):267887