**6. Emergence**

260 Learning Disabilities

Empirically, over the years, Vestibularis has experienced very good results practicing a combination of stereotypical movements and vestibular stimulation. As a first step in studying whether RB could be successful as a complement to regular treatment of DCD, Specific Learning Difficulties (SLD), and ADHD, one quantitative naturalistic study and one

The first study (Niklasson, *et al.*, 2009) was quantitative, naturalistic and examined whether sensorimotor therapy utilizing the training program RB, might be an appropriate technique for sensorimotor proficiency. The 232 children (181 boys, 51 girls) whose mean age was 9.3 yr. (SD=2.7), presented with attention and motor difficulties (according to the School Health Care) as explained by their parents before starting training. The children were divided into three groups, i.e., a younger group (7yr. old or younger, n=65), a middle group (8 to 10 yr. old n=91), and an older group (11 yr. old or older, n=76). The program has seven categories as explained above (**4.3**). The training period was close to 3 years on average. Analyses in a repeated-measures design indicated significant improvement of sensorimotor skills among the three age groups, but the older children performed better than the others on several tests. There were only a few differences between the sexes. Our conclusion was that RB may be a functional technique for training children and young people with sensorimotor difficulties and might constitute a complement to regular treatment of DCD, Specific Learning Difficulties (SLD), and ADHD, but controlled studies are necessary before more decisive conclusions can

The second study (Niklasson, *et al.*, 2010) was qualitative and aimed at gaining an increased understanding of the effects of sensorimotor therapy, using the training program RB, on the physical and psychological development of children and young people. The records of 8 children who had completed the program were randomly selected from a cohort of 232 with sensorimotor difficulties and concentration problems. The participants, 7 boys and 1 girl, averaged 9 years of age. The Empirical Phenomenological method (the EEP-method, Gunnar Karlsson, 1995) was used for the analysis, which resulted in 29 categories which yielded 3 overarching themes: a) the introduction of sensorimotor exercises, b) regression to earlier sensorimotor and psychological behaviors, and c) transformations in which the sensorimotor and psychological skills of the children matured and developed. The themes formed the kinesthetic-vestibular developmental model illustrating how sensorimotor exercises push the therapy process forward with recurrent regressions being followed by positive developmental phases. The results of the study were generalized to the remaining 224 children in the cohort

The aim of the training was to enhance physical maturity and sensorimotor development. Initially, the participants struggled with aberrant primitive/primary reflexes, underdeveloped postural reactions and gross motor milestones all of which were a

be drawn. Therefore, we plan to begin a controlled study in the near future.

by comparing each individual's records to the kinesthetic-vestibular model.

qualitative study were conducted.

**5. Evaluation** 

**5.1 Study I** 

**5.2 Study II** 

**5.3 Summary** 

#### **6.1 A possible driving force**

In **3.8** we learned that Papaseit, *et al.* (2000) were advised not to conduct their study because the gravitational force was considered to be too weak to make any physiological difference. Still, they got unexpected results pointing in another direction. When Vestibularis, during training, placed great emphasis upon vestibular stimulation our studies as well showed unexpected results, especially within the psychological domain. My suggestion is that the gravitational force is an important and hitherto neglected factor in human development. Holger Hydén (1961) famous for his research on RNA and memory wrote; "One unchanging stimulus, for example, is the force of gravity, which maintains a high activity in the gravityresponding brain centers throughout the life cycle" (p.33). Before him D. and K. Stanley-Jones (1960) considered that, "The force of gravity is the most unchanging, and therefore the most reliable physical fact on the surface of the earth, whether by sea or on land or air. It is therefore on the gravity-receptors, with their unchanging response to an unchanging stimulus,

Could Motor Development Be an Emergent Property of Vestibular Stimulation

this effort, once achieved, gravitational security is not a given.

been gained.

key has to be used.

**6.2 Developmental re-education** 

of ordinary physical systems as well as living beings.

and Primary Reflex Inhibition? A Tentative Approach to Sensorimotor Therapy 263

security, an emotional inner balance" (p.183). Schilder demanded a lot from parents and in doing so he may have caused them to feel guilty but we must not forget that these lines were written in the 1940s. In **6.5** I will return to the importance of the child - parent relationship in RB. Gravitational security (Ayres, 1979) is a prerequisite for a good relationship not only to one self but also to other people not the least to one's parents. Elsewhere Jean Ayres writes (1973), "This relationship [child-parent, *my bracket*] provides one of the most basic forms of physical and emotional security. It is far more primal than relationships with people, but may be somewhat less so than the individual's relationship with his physical body" (p.60). The child's attempt to overcome the gravitational force is the primal struggle during the first years of life but as mentioned above, it will take about fifteen years for the child to master movements in relation to the gravitational force. Despite

On one hand, a continuous and life long struggle is required to keep the balance which has

On the other hand, vestibular receptors are tonically active which means that even when the head is at rest they send a continuous stream of neural impulses to the brain. Hubbard (1971) writes about this, the second language of the vestibulum, which he labels as a cryptovestibular speech. This language "is subliminal in intensity, chronic in character, and almost entirely sensed through other organs (i.e., the eye, muscle tone, vagal distribution, and endocrine responses)" (p.232). In this way we are always connected to earth via the gravitational force. Metaphorically, just as the transmission to the cell phone or to the TV-set needs to be as sharp and as clear as possible, we are the same as regards vestibular transmission. My suggestion is that the gravitational force is an important factor when it comes to a child's sensorimotor development. I also propose that there most probably are connections between sensorimotor maturation and learning disorders. If so, empirical evidence has shown that it is never too late to re-educate the nervous system but the right

I have tried to explain that aberrant primitive/primary reflexes, probably constitute a hindrance for both physical and psychological development. In the 1880s Pierre Janet (Tallis, 2002) wrote, "in the human mind, nothing ever gets lost" and Feldenkrais (1988) claimed in the 1940s that, "The functions that are fully matured, or nearly so, at birth, remain strictly localised in the organs and in the nervous system" (p.144). When everything is still there, then obviously there is a possibility to un-lock the system to give it a second chance to mature. In **3.6** we briefly described how postural reactions and gross motor milestones emerged as reflexes were inhibited. This happens naturally at one of the times when the vestibular system is most receptive to stimulation. Our two studies (Niklasson, *et al.*, 2009, 2010) support the view that sensorimotor development is an emergent property of this and from the tentative evidence given above we suggest that vestibular stimulation is the key factor. For a possible explanation I have to turn to systems theory and the thermodynamics of non-equilibrium systems. Today it is possible (Nicolis, 1993) to use concepts such as coherence, order and complexity, traditionally used within biology, to describe the behavior

that the nervous system has come to depend on for an unceasing and therefore reliable source of energy, without which it is unable to perform any part of its function" (p.60).

As mentioned earlier, there is no consensus as to whether the vestibular system is active in utero or not. Nevertheless, the study of fetal movements is of great interest. Life in utero is a preparation for life to come. All fetal movements observed (Prechtl, 1993) in utero have also been observed in the newborn. As long ago as 1885, Preyer was convinced that the fetus moved its legs and arms before the 16th week. He also considered that movements performed by the newborn (Thelen, 2000), were the same as those developed in utero. However right he was, it took almost 100 years to confirm fetal movements during the first trimester (Reinold, 1976). Regarding the movements of the neonate, De Vries, Visser and Prechtl (1984) wrote, "The similarity between prenatal and postnatal patterns of movement is also striking. The only differences are in quality of movement, probably because of the increased influence of gravity after birth" (p.62).

Metaphorically, birth is a transition from one 'planet' to another, from water into air. For nine months the fetus has been held and contained in a restricted and rather secure universe. Being born is said to be the most stressful and dramatic event ever to be experienced, a preparation for life to come. This brings to mind an old cartoon showing twins in the uterus, with one saying to the other, "do you really believe in a life after birth?". During delivery through the birth canal primitive/primary reflexes such as the asymmetric tonic neck reflex (ATNR) and spinal Galant are set to work and the intense squeezing of the body activates the hormone system. The newborn's first cry comes after contact with air (Casaer, 1993; Prechtl, 1993) and it is likely that the increase in oxygen tension switches on the vestibular system which increases muscle tone. For survival it is of importance that sensory trigger mechanisms such as sucking and rooting are activated soon after birth. Common to all infants are also the palmar grasp, plantar and Moro reflexes. These reflexes are old adaptations of the clinging to the mother. The Moro reflex is of significant interest in RB. Although it is supposed to be inhibited by the fourth to sixth month after birth, with most of the clients at Vestibularis it has been retained. Retention of the Moro reflex (Goddard Blythe, 2009) is associated with an increased sensitivity to vestibular stimulation and might affect both emotional behavior and physiological processes. Because the Moro reflex is ontogenetically very old its retention will hinder (ontogenetically) younger primitive/primary reflexes from fulfilling their work as it, practically, will keep these contained. My experience is that a transformed/integrated Moro will not only create a kind of 'body lightness' with increased flexibility and sometimes an 'uncontrolled' joy in the client but will also set (ontogenetically) younger reflexes to work. Essentially, the Moro reflex is purely vestibular and, as such, fundamental when it comes to the baby's relationship to the earth. At birth, the newborn is almost insensitive to external stimuli but a common fear for all is the fear of falling (Hubbard, 1971; Feldenkrais, 1988). David Hubbard (1971) psychiatrist and a consultant at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, states bravely that the fear of falling is so basic that it might as well "serve as a paradigm for all subsequent fears". Paul Schilder (1964) stresses the enormity of the problem and proposes that because of it, the child should be given 'motor help'. He adds, "We may suspect that mere knowledge on the part of the parents will not be sufficient to handle the problems of equilibrium in the child in a correct way. The parents will need, besides their motor equipment and their will to help the child in his motor expression and

that the nervous system has come to depend on for an unceasing and therefore reliable source

As mentioned earlier, there is no consensus as to whether the vestibular system is active in utero or not. Nevertheless, the study of fetal movements is of great interest. Life in utero is a preparation for life to come. All fetal movements observed (Prechtl, 1993) in utero have also been observed in the newborn. As long ago as 1885, Preyer was convinced that the fetus moved its legs and arms before the 16th week. He also considered that movements performed by the newborn (Thelen, 2000), were the same as those developed in utero. However right he was, it took almost 100 years to confirm fetal movements during the first trimester (Reinold, 1976). Regarding the movements of the neonate, De Vries, Visser and Prechtl (1984) wrote, "The similarity between prenatal and postnatal patterns of movement is also striking. The only differences are in quality of movement, probably because of the

Metaphorically, birth is a transition from one 'planet' to another, from water into air. For nine months the fetus has been held and contained in a restricted and rather secure universe. Being born is said to be the most stressful and dramatic event ever to be experienced, a preparation for life to come. This brings to mind an old cartoon showing twins in the uterus, with one saying to the other, "do you really believe in a life after birth?". During delivery through the birth canal primitive/primary reflexes such as the asymmetric tonic neck reflex (ATNR) and spinal Galant are set to work and the intense squeezing of the body activates the hormone system. The newborn's first cry comes after contact with air (Casaer, 1993; Prechtl, 1993) and it is likely that the increase in oxygen tension switches on the vestibular system which increases muscle tone. For survival it is of importance that sensory trigger mechanisms such as sucking and rooting are activated soon after birth. Common to all infants are also the palmar grasp, plantar and Moro reflexes. These reflexes are old adaptations of the clinging to the mother. The Moro reflex is of significant interest in RB. Although it is supposed to be inhibited by the fourth to sixth month after birth, with most of the clients at Vestibularis it has been retained. Retention of the Moro reflex (Goddard Blythe, 2009) is associated with an increased sensitivity to vestibular stimulation and might affect both emotional behavior and physiological processes. Because the Moro reflex is ontogenetically very old its retention will hinder (ontogenetically) younger primitive/primary reflexes from fulfilling their work as it, practically, will keep these contained. My experience is that a transformed/integrated Moro will not only create a kind of 'body lightness' with increased flexibility and sometimes an 'uncontrolled' joy in the client but will also set (ontogenetically) younger reflexes to work. Essentially, the Moro reflex is purely vestibular and, as such, fundamental when it comes to the baby's relationship to the earth. At birth, the newborn is almost insensitive to external stimuli but a common fear for all is the fear of falling (Hubbard, 1971; Feldenkrais, 1988). David Hubbard (1971) psychiatrist and a consultant at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, states bravely that the fear of falling is so basic that it might as well "serve as a paradigm for all subsequent fears". Paul Schilder (1964) stresses the enormity of the problem and proposes that because of it, the child should be given 'motor help'. He adds, "We may suspect that mere knowledge on the part of the parents will not be sufficient to handle the problems of equilibrium in the child in a correct way. The parents will need, besides their motor equipment and their will to help the child in his motor expression and

of energy, without which it is unable to perform any part of its function" (p.60).

increased influence of gravity after birth" (p.62).

security, an emotional inner balance" (p.183). Schilder demanded a lot from parents and in doing so he may have caused them to feel guilty but we must not forget that these lines were written in the 1940s. In **6.5** I will return to the importance of the child - parent relationship in RB. Gravitational security (Ayres, 1979) is a prerequisite for a good relationship not only to one self but also to other people not the least to one's parents. Elsewhere Jean Ayres writes (1973), "This relationship [child-parent, *my bracket*] provides one of the most basic forms of physical and emotional security. It is far more primal than relationships with people, but may be somewhat less so than the individual's relationship with his physical body" (p.60). The child's attempt to overcome the gravitational force is the primal struggle during the first years of life but as mentioned above, it will take about fifteen years for the child to master movements in relation to the gravitational force. Despite this effort, once achieved, gravitational security is not a given.

On one hand, a continuous and life long struggle is required to keep the balance which has been gained.

On the other hand, vestibular receptors are tonically active which means that even when the head is at rest they send a continuous stream of neural impulses to the brain. Hubbard (1971) writes about this, the second language of the vestibulum, which he labels as a cryptovestibular speech. This language "is subliminal in intensity, chronic in character, and almost entirely sensed through other organs (i.e., the eye, muscle tone, vagal distribution, and endocrine responses)" (p.232). In this way we are always connected to earth via the gravitational force. Metaphorically, just as the transmission to the cell phone or to the TV-set needs to be as sharp and as clear as possible, we are the same as regards vestibular transmission. My suggestion is that the gravitational force is an important factor when it comes to a child's sensorimotor development. I also propose that there most probably are connections between sensorimotor maturation and learning disorders. If so, empirical evidence has shown that it is never too late to re-educate the nervous system but the right key has to be used.

## **6.2 Developmental re-education**

I have tried to explain that aberrant primitive/primary reflexes, probably constitute a hindrance for both physical and psychological development. In the 1880s Pierre Janet (Tallis, 2002) wrote, "in the human mind, nothing ever gets lost" and Feldenkrais (1988) claimed in the 1940s that, "The functions that are fully matured, or nearly so, at birth, remain strictly localised in the organs and in the nervous system" (p.144). When everything is still there, then obviously there is a possibility to un-lock the system to give it a second chance to mature. In **3.6** we briefly described how postural reactions and gross motor milestones emerged as reflexes were inhibited. This happens naturally at one of the times when the vestibular system is most receptive to stimulation. Our two studies (Niklasson, *et al.*, 2009, 2010) support the view that sensorimotor development is an emergent property of this and from the tentative evidence given above we suggest that vestibular stimulation is the key factor. For a possible explanation I have to turn to systems theory and the thermodynamics of non-equilibrium systems. Today it is possible (Nicolis, 1993) to use concepts such as coherence, order and complexity, traditionally used within biology, to describe the behavior of ordinary physical systems as well as living beings.

Could Motor Development Be an Emergent Property of Vestibular Stimulation

**6.5 Sensorimotor development and irreversibility** 

situations is stressed by Nadi and Luxon (2008).

processes are dependent on time.

is reached.

**7. Conclusion** 

and Primary Reflex Inhibition? A Tentative Approach to Sensorimotor Therapy 265

From what I have described, I regard it to be of utmost importance to monitor the newborn's adaptation to earth and to the gravitational force. During the first year of life a stable nervous system should, from my perspective, be built with the gross motor milestones as 'girders'. For this to be realized, the primitive/primary reflexes have to be inhibited in order for postural reactions to develop. Also, in the first years of life, until the nervous system is stable, the child is at risk of losing stages of development which it has reached. This can arise from various kinds of infections of the nervous system and also, for example, from Otitis media. The necessity of paediatric vestibular assessment in various

It is the experience of Vestibularis from children and young people coming to it for training, that all of them lack sensorimotor maturation as defined above and that all of them have learning difficulties in one way or another. It is not unusual that they are frustrated and angry and sometimes they have difficulties expressing themselves verbally. Difficulties remembering are also rather common. In **2.3,** Ewald Hering and his speculations about an 'organic memory' were mentioned. From the perspective of the vestibular system his ideas might not be as questionable as they have seemed. The British psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas (1987) uses the concept of 'unthought known' as a description of 'prints' of early experiences. How these early sensations are cultivated might determine the long-term memory, so important (Carr, 2010) for a well functioning working memory. The science of thermodynamics (Prigogine & Stengers, 1984) tells us that both reversible and irreversible processes are possible. Reversible processes are independent of time while irreversible

Training according to RB gives the nervous system a second chance to mature. I interpret, from experience, that as long as the nervous system is unstable, reversible processes are possible and this is one likely reason why we have been able to identify both psychological and physiological regressions during training. From what I have experienced, I actually prefer to use the concepts 'therapy' instead of training and 'behavioral movement patterns' instead of primitive/primary reflexes. In line with Schilder and Bergström, I find it possible to view the human psyche as a physical phenomenon. During therapy 'Playfulness' (Kroebner, 1963) is a way to cope. This might spread some light on Schilder's view (**6.1**) that parents need an emotional inner balance to be able to guide their child. Describing Schilder's theories, Kestenberg (1984) uses the expression 'regression in service of parenting' meaning that "In each phase of parenthood, parents, especially mothers, regress with their children. This gives them a second chance to reorganize their psyche. In the process of reorganization, parental clashes with babies, toddlers, and older children can be ameliorated" (p.117). When the nervous system is ontogenetically set on each developmental level the process will be irreversible. This means that no more regressions are anticipated and the transformations gained will guide further development until the next unstable level

Learning disorders constitute huge problems in many children and youngsters today. Unfortunately, possible connections between learning disorders and sensorimotor

#### **6.3 Emergence and thermodynamics**

According to Woollacott (1993), the development of motility and balance can be viewed as emergent properties. The meaning of the concept emergence is "an apparently spontaneous generation of novel systematic properties that could not be predicted from the properties of components (parts) of a complex system alone" (Konopka, 2007, p.9). This happens because human beings (Scrimali, 2008) are open, very complex and organized systems which perpetually exchange energy, information and matter with the outside world. An open system (Schrödinger, 1992; von Bertalanffy, 1993) is not in equilibrium. Instead it tends actively towards a higher state of order by reducing the entropy (disorder) which by necessity is produced as a consequence of life. The striving of an open system is to reach further and further from equilibrium and therefore when it is able to import more negentropy (ordered information) than the entropy it dissipates the complexity increases. Prigogine and Stengers (1984) wrote "The 'historical' path along which the system evolves as the control parameter grows is characterized by a succession of stable regions where deterministic laws dominate, and of instable ones, near the bifurcation points, where the system can 'choose' between or among more than one possible future" (pp.169-170). In open systems far from equilibrium small effects will be magnified and this holds also for the gravitational force. Prigogine (2003) stated that, "gravitation keeps things going. In thermodynamics, gravitation disturbs equilibrium, you cannot speak about equilibrium including gravitational forces" (p.66). Therefore (Nicolis, 1993), "Gravity should be regarded as a basic organizing factor in the universe mediating the passage from equilibrium to nonequilibrium and enabling in this way microscopic events to manifest themselves at a global scale" (p.330). My suggestion is that the gravitational force is a vital force also in the self-organization of the human nervous system.

#### **6.4 Self organization**

Mainzer (1994) argues that genes alone cannot fully determine an organism. Selforganization of some kind is involved in each stage of brain development and it is necessary for ontogeny to use the self-organization of neural systems in order to handle their complexity. Referring to Hydén (1961) who rotated experimental animals and found an increased production of RNA in the big vestibular cells, the Deiter's cells, Pribram (1999) wrote that a striking fact regarding neurons is that they produce more RNA than any other cells when stimulated. According to Gottlieb as cited in Dalton and Bergenn (2007), "experimental animals that receive unexpected or unusually enriched early experiences express more complex RNA sequences, indicating a higher level of brain-based DNA activity" (p.107). Hydén himself wrote (1961), "As Stanley-Jones (1960) has pointed out, the sensory receptors of the vestibular apparatus in the inner ear responding to the force of gravity are non-adaptive and are the most important energy source for increased neuronal activity" (p.40). Turning to Gazzaniga (1992) we learn that "Both animal and clinical data together indicate that normal brain development requires a key signal from the environment if normal connections are to occur. This does not mean that brain development is not driven by genetic factors. What it does mean is that the developing brain has evolved in the context of a particular environment" (pp.37-38). This particular environment is the earth and nothing on earth can escape the gravitational force.

#### **6.5 Sensorimotor development and irreversibility**

264 Learning Disabilities

According to Woollacott (1993), the development of motility and balance can be viewed as emergent properties. The meaning of the concept emergence is "an apparently spontaneous generation of novel systematic properties that could not be predicted from the properties of components (parts) of a complex system alone" (Konopka, 2007, p.9). This happens because human beings (Scrimali, 2008) are open, very complex and organized systems which perpetually exchange energy, information and matter with the outside world. An open system (Schrödinger, 1992; von Bertalanffy, 1993) is not in equilibrium. Instead it tends actively towards a higher state of order by reducing the entropy (disorder) which by necessity is produced as a consequence of life. The striving of an open system is to reach further and further from equilibrium and therefore when it is able to import more negentropy (ordered information) than the entropy it dissipates the complexity increases. Prigogine and Stengers (1984) wrote "The 'historical' path along which the system evolves as the control parameter grows is characterized by a succession of stable regions where deterministic laws dominate, and of instable ones, near the bifurcation points, where the system can 'choose' between or among more than one possible future" (pp.169-170). In open systems far from equilibrium small effects will be magnified and this holds also for the gravitational force. Prigogine (2003) stated that, "gravitation keeps things going. In thermodynamics, gravitation disturbs equilibrium, you cannot speak about equilibrium including gravitational forces" (p.66). Therefore (Nicolis, 1993), "Gravity should be regarded as a basic organizing factor in the universe mediating the passage from equilibrium to nonequilibrium and enabling in this way microscopic events to manifest themselves at a global scale" (p.330). My suggestion is that the gravitational force is a vital force also in the self-organization of the human nervous

Mainzer (1994) argues that genes alone cannot fully determine an organism. Selforganization of some kind is involved in each stage of brain development and it is necessary for ontogeny to use the self-organization of neural systems in order to handle their complexity. Referring to Hydén (1961) who rotated experimental animals and found an increased production of RNA in the big vestibular cells, the Deiter's cells, Pribram (1999) wrote that a striking fact regarding neurons is that they produce more RNA than any other cells when stimulated. According to Gottlieb as cited in Dalton and Bergenn (2007), "experimental animals that receive unexpected or unusually enriched early experiences express more complex RNA sequences, indicating a higher level of brain-based DNA activity" (p.107). Hydén himself wrote (1961), "As Stanley-Jones (1960) has pointed out, the sensory receptors of the vestibular apparatus in the inner ear responding to the force of gravity are non-adaptive and are the most important energy source for increased neuronal activity" (p.40). Turning to Gazzaniga (1992) we learn that "Both animal and clinical data together indicate that normal brain development requires a key signal from the environment if normal connections are to occur. This does not mean that brain development is not driven by genetic factors. What it does mean is that the developing brain has evolved in the context of a particular environment" (pp.37-38). This particular environment is the earth and

**6.3 Emergence and thermodynamics** 

system.

**6.4 Self organization** 

nothing on earth can escape the gravitational force.

From what I have described, I regard it to be of utmost importance to monitor the newborn's adaptation to earth and to the gravitational force. During the first year of life a stable nervous system should, from my perspective, be built with the gross motor milestones as 'girders'. For this to be realized, the primitive/primary reflexes have to be inhibited in order for postural reactions to develop. Also, in the first years of life, until the nervous system is stable, the child is at risk of losing stages of development which it has reached. This can arise from various kinds of infections of the nervous system and also, for example, from Otitis media. The necessity of paediatric vestibular assessment in various situations is stressed by Nadi and Luxon (2008).

It is the experience of Vestibularis from children and young people coming to it for training, that all of them lack sensorimotor maturation as defined above and that all of them have learning difficulties in one way or another. It is not unusual that they are frustrated and angry and sometimes they have difficulties expressing themselves verbally. Difficulties remembering are also rather common. In **2.3,** Ewald Hering and his speculations about an 'organic memory' were mentioned. From the perspective of the vestibular system his ideas might not be as questionable as they have seemed. The British psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas (1987) uses the concept of 'unthought known' as a description of 'prints' of early experiences. How these early sensations are cultivated might determine the long-term memory, so important (Carr, 2010) for a well functioning working memory. The science of thermodynamics (Prigogine & Stengers, 1984) tells us that both reversible and irreversible processes are possible. Reversible processes are independent of time while irreversible processes are dependent on time.

Training according to RB gives the nervous system a second chance to mature. I interpret, from experience, that as long as the nervous system is unstable, reversible processes are possible and this is one likely reason why we have been able to identify both psychological and physiological regressions during training. From what I have experienced, I actually prefer to use the concepts 'therapy' instead of training and 'behavioral movement patterns' instead of primitive/primary reflexes. In line with Schilder and Bergström, I find it possible to view the human psyche as a physical phenomenon. During therapy 'Playfulness' (Kroebner, 1963) is a way to cope. This might spread some light on Schilder's view (**6.1**) that parents need an emotional inner balance to be able to guide their child. Describing Schilder's theories, Kestenberg (1984) uses the expression 'regression in service of parenting' meaning that "In each phase of parenthood, parents, especially mothers, regress with their children. This gives them a second chance to reorganize their psyche. In the process of reorganization, parental clashes with babies, toddlers, and older children can be ameliorated" (p.117). When the nervous system is ontogenetically set on each developmental level the process will be irreversible. This means that no more regressions are anticipated and the transformations gained will guide further development until the next unstable level is reached.
