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of a neuropeptide called corticotropinreleasing factor ( CRF ), which stimulates the production of another informational substance called adrenocorticotropic hormone ( ACTH ). ACTH travels through the bloodstream to the adrenal glands where it binds to specific receptors . This information process occurs during both eustress - the stress factors that are essential to enable us to engage with the demands of life , and distress - when life is presenting us with difficult challenges . 2
In a healthy functioning system the ANS is sufficiently resilient to create a healthy feedback loop between its sympathetic , parasympathetic and enteric branches , maintaining sufficient resiliency for effective self-regulation . Challenges can be faced , experience of trauma can be integrated , and the resources of the nervous system are not overwhelmed . However , when stress becomes overwhelming and inherent inner resources dwindle , the HPA reflex can become pathological . The ANS loses its ability to self-regulate and the HPA axis becomes sympathetically overactivated , no longer kept in check by the mechanisms of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system . 10
Release of adrenaline brings about the ‘ fight or flight response ’ in the metabolism and structure of the body : the body ’ s natural and autonomic reaction to threats , real or imagined . Heart rate increases , breath rate is more rapid and key muscles are activated in anticipation of fight or flight . The psoas is a key player in this dynamic . The psoas fibres respond very sensitively to sympathetic stimuli and are activated into contraction in anticipation of necessary action .
Early developmental reflexes prepare our nervous system and psoas system for this protective ability . The Moro reflex , which in early development is associated with the fear of falling due to a perceived lack of support , is interrelated with the viscera-protecting fetal curl . Both activate the fibres of the psoas . Although these early developmental reflexes ideally should become integrated in the nervous system , their signature can still be discernible in the adult metabolism and is very often associated with perceived lack of support . 9 The psoas thus becomes activated when the fear reflex expresses acutely : when danger presents and we need to be ready to run or kick with our lower limbs , reach or punch with the upper ones .
In modern city living , these fear response signals can be far more subtle and subliminal than in our homo sapiens ancestors , who had to run from or fight wild animals , thus shedding sympathetic charge through muscular action .
In modern life the psoas is often locked into many hours of excessive sitting , so the fight or flight activation within the psoas musculature cannot express itself through appropriate muscular action . It receives signals from the nervous system , but remains static . This stasis can contribute to inflammation in the psoas fibres due to chronic deep spasming , leading ultimately to the weakening and exhaustion of the psoas core . 8 This lack of discharge through appropriate muscular action is converted into afferent sensory information , sending messages of alert to the CNS and creating an on-going activation of the fear response .
As Hebgen 7 illustrates , within the segmental reflexes at spinal cord levels T10 and L2 , connective tissue stimuli within the lower back and pelvic region can be transformed from afferent sensory information in the spinal cord into efferent motoric impulses . This transformational process causes hypertonicity to develop in the corresponding segmental muscles , including the psoas system . In other words , a localised reflex loop can be created that often needs therapeutic intervention to dissipate . 7 In this state , the psoas system can send a constant subliminal alert signal proprioceptively into the CNS , thus further contributing to the firing of the HPA axis .
More recent research has shown that the nervous system and its pathways are not the only information system that creates communication between different structures in our bodies . 2 Electrical impulses transmitted through the fascial system and the interstitium travel substantially further and faster than nerve impulses . And informational substances such as neuropeptides and hormones use the fluids of the body such as blood , lymph , interstitial and cerebrospinal fluid to find receptor sites in other parts of the body , thereby enabling communication rapidly and at surprising distances . 2
MORE RECENT RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND ITS PATHWAYS ARE NOT THE ONLY INFORMATION SYSTEM THAT CREATES COMMUNICATION BETWEEN DIFFERENT STRUCTURES IN OUR BODIES . 2 ELECTRICAL IMPULSES TRANSMITTED THROUGH THE FASCIAL SYSTEM AND THE INTERSTITIUM TRAVEL SUBSTANTIALLY FURTHER AND FASTER THAN NERVE IMPULSES .
Certain parts of the body are particularly richly endowed with neuropeptides , which have been labeled as our ‘ molecules of emotions ’ by pharmacologist and neuroscientist Dr Candace Pert . 2 The so-called emotional realm of the brain , the limbic region , as would be expected , houses a particularly large presence of neuropeptides , the biochemical units carrying emotional responses such as fear . However , what has surprised researchers is the abundance of those same neuropeptides present in the brainstem - where the
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