Is it Sensory? Or is it Behavior?
After 25 years of practicing bodywork methods, I've come to understand that often it can be STRUCTURAL reason.
What: For example, 90-95% of the time that I use craniosacral therapy on a client with a dx of ADHD, I find fascia and bony compression where the head meets the neck.
How: Presumably related to birthing compressions that didn't resolve. Extra tough passage through birth canal. The occiput remains in 4 segments until ~age 8 years.
Why: The lateral segments of the occiput forming the foramen magnum can be displaced, compressed, or torqued into the sutures (soft spots). One spot in particular is the jugular foramen (formed in the suture margin between occiput and temporal bone).
Structural compression can keep local and regional areas in a sympathetic retracted state. This is not good for blood vessels or lymph pathways to move fluids through or get to target areas. Also, compressed nerves can cause disrupted sensory signaling.
Major structures that pass through the jugular foramen:
NERVES: Vagal Nerve (chief activator of the parasympathetic system; self-regulation, sensory modulation for parasympathetic recovery from sensory events), Glossopharygeal Nerve (tongue control swallowing, regulates sensory aspects of eating), and Accessory Nerve (neck and shoulder motor; bilateral processing between R and L neck sides and shoulders for timing and rhythm of body sides of proprioception, tactile, and kinesthetic information of arms/neck/shoulders)
VESSELS: Internal jugular vein (which drains the posterior sinus of the brain helping to "cleanse and clear" brain fluids), emissary veins, occipital and pharyngeal arteries, and a couple more venous sinuses.
Without optimal blood flow, venous return, and lymphatic clearning any area can be compromised in physiological function.
Outcomes: Very common to observe improvements in self-regulation, modulation, incresaed attention and concentration, and faster recovery from stimulating events. Often with just one to a few treatments using a technique called 'cranial base release' within the craniosacral curriculum.
Photo source: Wikipedia - Public domain (modified with labels)
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