Discover Movement Series: Humble Beginnings (Embryology)

Movement is life. From the time we as humans are conceived until the time we die, and then some, we are constantly in motion. However, this motion may not always be evident to the naked eye. In this post, I will look at our humble beginnings, or embryology, to set the stage for a life long journey of movement.

I am not going to go into too much detail except outline the later stages of human embryogenesis with links so that you are able to read through it if you so desire.

After cleavage, the morula (dividing cells) become blastula (hollow ball). The blastula, after some time, develops into a more differentiated structure called the gastrula.

From here the gastrula and primitive streak, which determines our body symmetry, starts to differentiate even more by germ layers.

The first layers are the ectoderm and endoderm followed by the mesoderm.

From there, we start to get a real picture of where the body is developmentally. The ectoderm eventually becomes the nervous system and skin. The endoderm becomes the organs and the mesoderm becomes muscles, bones, ligaments, fascia, etc. It's important to remember that the ectoderm is first developmentally [1] and this will keep resurfacing as I believe that the key to the body is the ectoderm/nervous system as it is the first in order developmentally as well  controls what will become organs and muscles/fascia/bones. 

I will stop here as I would like to keep these posts short and sweet. 

Will

References: 

[1] Mayo Clinic medical neurosciences: organized by neurologic systems and levels. 5th edition/ editied by Eduardo E. Benarroch...[et al.] 

Discover Movement Series

Well, I have not posted here in quite some time for a number of reasons that I will not go into. The most important thing is that I'm back and I have A LOT to say. However, I 'm going to keep this post short though. 

What I plan to do over the next few weeks is write about, among other things MOVEMENT. I have started on a journey of looking at movement from a very neurophysiological standpoint. Yes, the structure is important but where my studies and research has taken me is that bones, joints, muscles, fascia, ligaments and tendons are essential effectors of the Nervous System. In this series I will outline why. 

Movement is absolutely essential to life and is an exceedingly broad topic, so I will limit it to the areas of physical rehabilitation and performance enhancement. My guiding theory is based on Melzack's Neuromatrix Theory and how movement is an multi-factorial output of the Nervous System. 

I look forward to writing about this series as it is the culmination of what I have been thinking about and implementing for several months now. 

Best,

Will