OUR APPROACH · RESEARCH
The research
Network Spinal has been the subject of peer-reviewed research for over 25 years. This page gives a plain-language summary of some of the key studies: what they looked at, what they reported, and the limits of what they can tell us. Full references and links are included for anyone who wants to read further.
A note on this research
Most of the studies on Network Spinal are published in chiropractic and complementary medicine journals and are observational or case-based in design, meaning they describe what was observed in people receiving care rather than comparing them against a control group. This is worth understanding before you read on.
Randomised controlled trials are considered the gold standard in clinical research, and the Network Spinal evidence base doesn't yet include many of these. What it does include is a body of consistent observational findings, objective nervous system measurements, and research into the mechanism of the approach. We share it because informed patients make better decisions, and with the caveat that research in this area continues to evolve and that your own experience is the most relevant information of all.
The large wellness study
The largest study of Network Spinal remains one of the more comprehensive wellness assessments undertaken in the complementary healthcare field. Conducted by researchers at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine and published in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, it involved 2,818 people receiving Network care across the United States and internationally.
Participants completed self-assessments covering physical wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, stress levels, and life enjoyment, both before and over the course of their care. It's important to read this as self-reported wellbeing data from an observational study rather than as evidence of treatment for any specific condition.
OBSERVATIONAL WELLNESS STUDY · 1997
A Retrospective Assessment of Network Care Using a Survey of Self-Rated Health, Wellness and Quality of Life
A self-report survey of 2,818 people receiving Network care, covering physical and emotional wellbeing, stress and life enjoyment. As an observational, self-reported study without a control group, it describes what participants reported rather than establishing treatment effects.
Blanks, RH; Schuster, TL; Dobson, M. Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, Vol 1, No 4, 1997.
Nervous system function: heart rate variability
Heart rate variability (HRV), the variation in time between heartbeats, is one of the more reliable objective measures of autonomic nervous system function. Higher HRV is generally associated with a nervous system that adapts well to changing demands; lower HRV is associated with chronic stress and reduced recovery. It's used in athletic training, stress research, and clinical cardiology.
A retrospective analysis of 46 people receiving Network Spinal care reported changes in heart rate variability across a 90-day period. It's of interest because it uses an objective, measurable indicator of autonomic function rather than self-report alone.
OBJECTIVE NERVOUS SYSTEM MEASUREMENT · 2017
Improvement in Heart Rate Variability in 46 Patients Undergoing Network Spinal Analysis
A retrospective analysis of 46 people, using heart rate variability as an objective indicator of autonomic nervous system function over a 90-day period. As a retrospective analysis without a control group, it reports observed changes rather than establishing cause.
Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research, November 2017, pages 232–237. Read the full study
The Network Spinal Wave: a mechanism question
One of the more distinctive aspects of Network Spinal is what researchers call the Network Spinal Wave, a rhythmic, wave-like movement that travels through the spine during sessions. Most people experience it as a subtle, spontaneous undulation that arrives without being directed.
Since 1997 this has been studied using surface electromyography and characterised mathematically. Research conducted at the University of Southern California Department of Electrical Engineering described the wave as demonstrating the mathematical properties of a central pattern generator, a neural circuit that produces rhythmic, patterned output. This is mechanism research: it explores how the approach works physiologically, rather than making any claim about treating a condition.
UNIVERSITY MECHANISM RESEARCH · USC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
The Network Spinal Wave as a Central Pattern Generator
Using surface electromyography and mathematical modelling, researchers characterised the Network Spinal Wave as a repeatable neurological phenomenon with the properties of a central pattern generator, a type of neural circuit that produces self-sustaining rhythmic output. Mechanism research describing the phenomenon, not a clinical outcome study.
Jonckheere, E. et al. Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, 2010, 5: 336–347. Dobson, M., Jauregui, M. Annals of Vertebral Subluxation Research, 2016. Learn more about the Network Wave
Wellness lifestyles and Network care
A series of studies published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine looked at the relationship between Network Spinal care and broader wellness lifestyle choices, in areas such as nutrition, exercise, and meditation. As with the other work here, these are observational findings describing associations rather than controlled evidence of cause.
WELLNESS LIFESTYLE RESEARCH · 2004
Wellness Lifestyles and Network Spinal Analysis
Two linked papers modelling the relationship between wellness, healthy lifestyle practices, and Network Spinal care. Observational in design; they describe associations reported among participants rather than establishing that the care caused the lifestyle changes.
Schuster, TL; Dobson, M; Jauregui, M; Blanks, RH. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 10(2):357–67, 2004. PMID: 15165417.
Where to read more
The full archive of Network Spinal research, including the publications referenced here and many more, is maintained by the EpiEnergetics Foundation, the research organisation established to support ongoing investigation into Network Spinal and related approaches.
FURTHER READING
EpiEnergetics Foundation — full research archive
The Network Wave — detailed scientific explanation
Research is a starting point, not the whole story
The research into Network Spinal continues to grow, and we share it so you can read it for yourself. No study will tell you how this approach will feel in your body, and research of this kind describes what was observed in groups of people rather than what will happen for any individual. The best way to understand it is to come in and ask.