Department of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Osteopatia, Milan, Italy.
Department of Osteopathic Research at Istituto Superiore di Osteopatia (ISO), Milan, Italy.
J Osteopath Med. 2022 Jun 8;122(8):401-409. doi: 10.1515/jom-2021-0257.
Osteopathic tradition in the cranial field (OCF) stated that the primary respiratory mechanism (PRM) relies on the anatomical links between the occiput and sacrum. Few studies investigated this relationship with inconsistent results. No studies investigated the occiput-sacrum connection from a neurophysiological perspective.
This study aims to determine whether the sacral technique (ST), compared to the compression of the fourth ventricle (CV4) technique, can affect brain alpha-band power (AABP) as an indicator of a neurophysiological connection between the occiput and sacrum.
Healthy students, 22-30 years old for men and 20-30 years old for women, were enrolled in the study and randomized into eight interventions groups. Each group received a combination of active techniques (CV4 or ST) and the corresponding sham techniques (sham compression of the fourth ventricle [sCV4] or sham sacral technique [sST] ), organized in two experimental sessions divided by a 4 h washout period. AABP was continuously recorded by electroencephalogram (EEG) of the occipital area in the first 10 min of resting state, during each intervention (active technique time) and after 10 min (post-active technique time), for a total of approximately 50 min per session. Analysis was carried out utilizing a repeated-measure ANOVA within the linear general model framework, consisting of a within-subject factor of time and a within-subject factor of treatment (CV4/ST).
Forty healthy volunteers (mean age ± SD, 23.73±1.43 years; range, 21-26 years; 16 male and 24 female) were enrolled in the study and completed the study protocol. ANOVA revealed a time × treatment interaction effect statistically significant (F=791.4; p<0.001). A particularly high increase in mean AABP magnitude was recorded during the 10 min post-CV4, compared to both the CV4 and post-sCV4 application (p<0.001). During all the times analyzed for ST and sST application, no statistically significant differences were registered with respect to the resting state.
The ST does not produce immediate changes on occipital AABP brain activity. CV4, as previous evidence supported, generates immediate effects, suggesting that a different biological basis for OCF therapy's connection between the head and sacrum should be explored.
颅荐骨疗法（OCF）的骨学传统认为，主要呼吸机制（PRM）依赖于枕骨和荐骨之间的解剖联系。很少有研究对此关系进行了调查，结果不一致。没有研究从神经生理学的角度研究枕骨-荐骨的连接。
本研究旨在确定与第四脑室（CV4）压缩技术相比，骶骨技术（ST）是否可以影响大脑阿尔法波段功率（AABP），作为枕骨和骶骨之间神经生理连接的指标。
健康学生，年龄 22-30 岁（男性）和 20-30 岁（女性），被纳入研究并随机分为 8 个干预组。每个组接受主动技术（CV4 或 ST）和相应的假技术（假第四脑室压缩[sCV4]或假骶骨技术[sST]）的组合，在 4 小时洗脱期内组织成两个实验期。在每个干预期（主动技术时间）和 10 分钟后（主动技术后时间），通过脑电图（EEG）持续记录枕区的 AABP，共约 50 分钟/期。分析采用线性通用模型框架内的重复测量方差分析，包括时间的受试者内因素和治疗的受试者内因素（CV4/ST）。
40 名健康志愿者（平均年龄±标准差，23.73±1.43 岁；范围，21-26 岁；16 名男性和 24 名女性）被纳入研究并完成了研究方案。方差分析显示时间×治疗的交互作用具有统计学意义（F=791.4；p<0.001）。与 CV4 和后 sCV4 应用相比，CV4 应用后 10 分钟内记录到的平均 AABP 幅度有显著增加（p<0.001）。在分析 ST 和 sST 应用的所有时间点时，与静息状态相比，均未记录到统计学上的显著差异。
ST 不会对枕部 AABP 脑活动立即产生影响。CV4，如先前的证据所支持的，产生即时效应，这表明应该探索 OCF 疗法中头部和骶骨之间连接的不同生物学基础。
