The
Right Balance
Balance as the Central Component
To understand the balance stimulation activities used in the Right Balance
Programme, we must understand the central role played by the sense of
balance, or the vestibular system. As a child grows in the womb, the
vestibular system is the first sense to develop, and so it serves as
an organizational tool for other brain processes.
The vestibular system gets its raw information from the vestibular organs,
which consist of three semicircular canals and the otolith organ. The
three semicircular canals are oriented along the x, y, and z-axes, and
define motion on each of the three dimensions of space. When the head
moves, hair cells detect the motion of the fluids inside each canal.
The brain uses this information to calculate changes in inertia, in
much the same way that the inertial navigation system on an airliner
senses changes in position and velocity. The otolith organ uses a pendulum-like
appendage, the utricle, to orient the sense to the vertical force of
gravity.
Because the vestibular system combines the inertial information from
the three semi-circular canals with the gravitational orientation provided
by the otolith organ, it is the basis of our inertial gravitational
model of the world—that is, our model of the world as three-dimensional
space with a clear sense of up and down. As a child continues to develop
in the womb, the other major brain systems—motor, tactile, auditory,
and visual—also develop, but they develop in relation to the vestibular
system, or sense of balance.
Because the vestibular system plays such a key role in the foundations
of perception, balance problems can cause many, seemingly unrelated
problems in brain function.
Varying the Difficulty Level of Activities
As the difficulty level of an activity increases, the brain must utilize
more neurons to achieve the precision necessary to complete the activity.
For example, throwing a ball and hitting a small target at 8 meters
as opposed to 4 meters requires the brain to involve sixty-four (26)
times as many neurons to achieve the same degree of accuracy. Therefore,
increasing the difficulty level of a task increases the brain integration
(neural involvement) needed to complete the task.
If a person has difficulty executing a particular sensory integration
activity, this may be because the activity is more complex than their
brain is currently capable of organizing to complete. In order to avoid
a crippling sense of failure, then, everyone should start out with activities
that are simple enough for them to perform, and gradually increase the
difficulty level. At each stage, the neural networks in the brain will
improve their organization, which enables them to be stretched to reach
the next level.
As the difficulty level of an activity increases, it requires increased
spatial awareness, enhanced integration between the two sides of the
brain, and more precise brain timing.
Proprioception
The brain constantly engages in a process designed to position our bodies
based upon the information it receives from our senses. This ability
is made possible because of the existence of proprioceptive processes.
Proprioception can be explained as the awareness of movement and body
position. Sometimes proprioception is defined as the body’s joint
positioning system. Effective proprioceptive processes are dependant
upon the ability of the brain to integrate information from all of the
sensory systems including feedback from muscles, joints, vision, the
tactile sense (touch/pressure) and the sense of balance or vestibular
system.
Balance activities that integrate the visual, auditory, kinesthetic,
tactile, and vestibular senses have the effect of improving the proprioceptive
processes that help to reduce injuries and improve performance. These
improvements can be realized because sensory integration activities
increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the neural processes in
the brain. As neural capability and efficiency increases, a variety
of other benefits are realized. Timing improves, vision improves, sense
of balance improves, mental processing improves, reaction time improves,
proprioception improves. In short overall performance improves.
Because balance therapy is so foundational to efficient brain processing,
performance in both academics and athletics will improve.