Why Intentional Movements Work to Improve Learning.

There is an area in our brain, the somatosensory homunculus that was created in the 1930’s but recent research has improved the accuracy of this mapping process within the brain. This area relates to parts of the body, hence allowing movement, often intentional cross-lateral and balance movements to impact on our brains.

These movements can be of benefit in treating chronic pain and anxiety and have formed part of my pratice to bring about change for many years. I am able to design home programmes that not only help provide relief but at the same time can be fun - there's not many chronic pain treatments that can be described as fun.

How I Learnt about the Connections Between Brain and Body 

I’d like to share my experience and ideas that can be of benefit physically and at the same time make learning and skill development easier and also more memorable.

After over 20 years of using Brain Gym activities in my work as an Educational Kinesiologist I've seen “magical” changes happened within a consultation with both children and adults. This article will try to illustrate how amazing changes can happen. Also how with some movement practise, changes can become permanent.

Since Brain Gym was developed in the 1980 by Paul Dennison it has been used around the world. However it has not been readily accepted although proved many times in clinical practice and in the classroom. In these days research based and proven techniques are needed for acceptance into full usage. In addition to this in has mainly been used by younger school children and children with learning difficulties.

Using Intentional Movements for Anxiety and Chronic Pain Relief 

What I hope to show you in this article is that the ideas around what can be defined as intentional movements – movements made in a certain way can be of benefit for all of us. And most certainly aspects of the movements can improve brain connections and be beneficial for those people living with chronic pain and anxiety.

Time for some Basic Brain Biology.

Movement - the Connection Between our Brain and Our Body

There is an area in our brain, or more specifically our cerebrum that contains a map of our musculoskeletal system or the body parts that move. This is called the homunculus, shown in the diagram below. This is half of the homunculus and shows connections with the opposite side of our body.

The homunculus was first designed by Wilder Penfield in 1937, who together with Edwin Boldrey published their findings in Brain Journal. The diagram of distorted features show the amount of area each part of the body is represented within our brain. This homunculus map has remained mostly unchanged since showing the primary area of the somatosensory cortex.

Not only does the homunculus tell us how to move, or what to move, we can by moving connect with and influence our brains. Of course there are many areas in our brain involved but I hope to describe the importance of the homunculus and recent research using new technology that has been questioning and looking to update the homunculus map design used for over 80 years.

Before I introduce the new ideas and the homunculus modifications that extended the influence beyond the primary location to a larger secondary area of the brain, I want to share a personal story where I discovered, physically this widespread influence.

Writing is Not Just About Our Hands and Brain.

When we teach children to write we sit them down and expect them to copy letters to learn their alphabet and begin to write. They use their hands and of course their arms.

We see them using their hands, perhaps their arms too, but writing uses other areas of the body too. I learned this from personal experience.

Some years ago I had major abdominal surgery that resulted in months of convalescence and a permanent scar across my torso. We nicknamed this “the shark bite”. Unable to do much, I spent time studying. This entailed writing. Imagine me sitting at a desk, just as we do with school children.

I'm right-handed, my scar tissue is also on the right side of my body. As I began to write I was surprised to feel sensations down my torso. Evidence that more of my body was involved in expressing myself in writing. As I was still healing I certainly wasn’t moving too much, sitting supported on a chair. I call this true experiential learning particularly for an educator. Though rather overkill on the accompanying trauma involved.

So how exactly do my practical findings relate to the findings of research and new developments in the homunculus mind map that are proposed?

Muret and associates did research using functional fMRI something not available to Penfield in 1937. A graphical abstract of their results is shown below.

Updated version of Homunculus

They summarised their findings in this way

“the human body is represented in a topographical manner in the primary somatosensory cortex. We show that the information related to each body part is not limited to its highly selective region and is instead more broadly distributed than previously considered.”

Therefore, although there are primary areas assigned to parts of our body there are extensive secondary areas that I would describe as a more holistic interpretation of the bodies interaction with the brain.

Sign up for Pain Coach with Jean

Brain scans show Brain Changes - Neuroplasticity.

My main reason for introducing these new ideas is to show that functional MRI's that scan the brain are opening up new treatment ideas that involve the brain. Researchers can devise experiments to see changes that take place over time in the brain.

We now recognise the importance of emotions, thoughts and the actions we take have an unrecognised effect on our health, particularly chronic, diseases, mental and physical pain.

One final point I'd like you to consider, though surprising, when we imagine movements our brain thinks we are moving, hence we can feel pain if we have chronic pain.

This presents a groundbreaking opportunity to

begin exercise when in pain

Image the yoga warrior pose of the women at the start of the article - balanced, grounded, confident.

• Breath into the pose

• Feel your arms reach out

• Aware of the strength and energy in your hips and legs

This ability to connect brain and body with our thoughts and investigate subsquent feelings is now being used over the world. Luckily it's now available in New Zealand.

There is an increasing number of research papers showing a new way to treat chronic pain and the aspect of other health issues as it's the brain that creates our pain, feelings and sensations.

Therefore, I have started in the 1930's and now today in 2025 science, research and the ideas and assumptions of some amazing people are creating massive changes in medicine that are slowly being accepted. We each can make neurological changes with our thoughts and movements, without pills, injections or operations - make your brain your therapist!

Jean Jordan – Pain Coach & Naturopathic Medicine Practitioner.

Heaps of ideas can be found in the articles on my website.

You can sign-up to regular updates or spend time using some of the collection of self-help techniques.

Or sign to my chronic pain coaching up for 6 months support.

After over 20 years of owning pain clinics pain clinics, I started Natural Pain Solutions to reach more people, rather than one person at a time.

References

Information about the original homunculus developed by Penfield:

Catani M. A little man of some importance. Brain. 2017 Nov 1;140(11):3055-3061. doi: 10.1093/brain/awx270.

Full details about the development of a more holistic homunculus:

Muret D, Root V, Kieliba P, Clode D, Makin TR. Beyond body maps: Information content of specific body parts is distributed across the somatosensory homunculus. Cell Rep. 2022 Mar 15;38(11):110523.