New research shows that spinal adjustments affect more than spinal nerves, and people may now consider chiropractic for conditions they would not have associated with benefiting from physical adjustments. There may be help for those who thought they had nowhere else to turn for their health concerns.

New research shows that adjustments of the neck not only help joints that are not functioning properly, but also provide an effect on the motor cortex of the brain. This study suggests that through changes in the cerebellum caused by the adjustment, there is resultant motor learning and increased function.

Other studies show that adjustments create functional changes in regions of the brain that are measureable and reproducible. The areas of the brain stimulated by chiropractic adjustments affect emotions, learning, motivation, memory, consciousness, homeostasis, perception, motor control, self-awareness, cognitive function, voluntary movements, decision making, touch, temperature, pain of the skin and the cardiovascular system.

Alan D. Cross, D.C., is president of AAA Accident & Injury Clinic. In practice in northwest Tucson for 20 years, he holds advanced certification in whiplash and is the only chiropractor in Tucson practicing upper cervical care. Connect at 520-797-4177, [email protected] or AlanCrossDC.com. See ad, page 4.