by Gerald Foley
Alexander Technique scientific briefing
INTRODUCTION
If all the activity of the human body’s six hundred skeletal muscles were consciously controlled, very little would get done. Despite its enormous computing capacity, the brain would not be able to handle the task of evaluating all the possible ways of carrying out every action and deciding on the best one. The marvellous speed, versatility and flexibility of human activity is only possible because most of it relies on reflex muscle actions.
Although modern neurophysiology enjoys access to increasingly precise and sophisticated measuring tools so that nowadays the functioning of individual neurons is readily monitored, understanding of the overall behaviour of the neuromuscular system is still based to a surprising extent on the insights of the early pioneers of neuroscience. Sir Charles Sherrington’s 1906 work, The integrative action of the nervous system, is regarded as the founding text of modern neuroscience and is largely devoted to the working of the innate reflex systems of the vertebrate animal. Within that framework, Sherrington’s contemporary, and protégé, Rudolph Magnus, an almost certain Nobel prize winner were it not for his sudden early death, devoted his research talents to elucidating the postural reflexes. The best part of a century later, their neurological discoveries and insights retain most of their freshness and relevance.