Ask Dr. Nick
On today’s episode, Dr. Nick talks about how we should look at how babies sit and move in order to recognize ideal posture. Posture is a fundamental human function that requires minimal conscious awareness yet needed to defeat gravity. Postural control is directly related to core stabilization that is incorporated in every movement we make.
As babies, we develop a postural stabilization system through natural maturation with the end goal of being able to move and walk. This is essential to interacting with our environments. Developmental kinesiology is the area that studies how the maturation process occurs, and it has been used by movement therapists to assist people with pain and movement disorders.
The paper discussed is looking at functional tests by the Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS) approach to human movement and postural control. It is based directly on developmental kinesiology, and if we learned how to stabilize as babies, these movement patterns are retained within our brains as we age–they may just need retraining. Check out the video for more in depth information on how postural control and how we can learn from observing babies!
Kobesova A, Davidek P, Morris CE, Andel R, Maxwell M, Oplatkova L, Safarova M, Kumagai K, Kolar P. Functional postural-stabilization tests according to Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization approach: Proposal of novel examination protocol. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2020 Jul;24(3):84-95.
