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A correlation study of 585 children in a public School district found significant correlations between IM score and academic performance in reading, mathmatics, language, science, social studies, and study skills. The reseachers concluded that timing and rythmicity play a foundational role in the cognitive processes underlying performance in theese academic areas. They also found that timing has statistically significant correlations with age, physical coordination/motor skill, paying attention during class, and the ability to attend over a period of time. The results were published by the High Scoops Foundation, a non-profit educational research institution.

Post by: Dr. G. K. Smith on 2010-05-21 17:48:26

Benefits of our new Interactive Metronome machine

When IM's inventor, Jim Cassily, moved the IM out of the music studio one of the first he worked with were students diagnosed with autism spectrum (ASD). As the IM became more widely known, Jim had the opportunity to work with the son of an aquaintance. The little boy was 10 years old and had severe motor impairments as a result of a major medical problem since birth. His name was Jimmy and among his challenges was that he was completely dependent on a rolling walker for ambulation. When Jim started working on improving little Jimmy's motor coordination it wasn't all smooth sailing. Jimmy found the IM exercises a little frustrating. The challenge was great but the IM sounds and scores helped keep him focused on the demanding exercises. Shortly after he started on IM Jimmy showed dramatic improvement as first evidenced in his improved handwriting. Within a few weeks, and to his mother and father's amazement, Jimmy showed off for his parents by setting the walker aside and ambulating independently for the first time.

As of 2006 Jimmy is a college freshman and enjoys playing basketball, managing the baseball team and swimming competitively in the summer. IM has come a long way since Jimmy helped us take our first steps too.

Post by: Dr. G.K. Smith on 2010-05-11 15:27:30

Interactive Metronome

The Interactive Metronome was first used in the music industry. The inventor, James Cassily, wanted to help musicians improve their rythem in order to become better performers. The traditional mettronome has been used for decades but it could only offer passive guidance. It provided no feedback therefore it had limitations. Jim's idea was to provide a metronome beat and measure how far off the beat (in milliseconds) the performers were, and whether they were ahead of or behind the beat, and to give the musician auditory feedback that would help them improve.

Little did Jim know the startling ramifications his Interactive Metronome would have. Today IM is used in settings as varied as schools, hospitials, clinics, universities, the military and large coorporations to improve the brain's efficieancy and performance.

It gave Jim great pleasure to know that his music industry device was used to help children with learning and development deficits and patients who suffered a stroke, brain injury or Parkinson's Disease. Sadly, Jim passed away in March 2005. But he got to see his dream adopted by thousands of clinicians around the world.

Post by: Dr. G. Ken Smith on 2010-05-06 16:41:07

Acupuncture, Real or Fake, Eases Back Pain

Tuesday, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- Any kind of acupunture, whether it pierced the skin or not, eased chronic lower back pain in a group of adult patients.

"All were superior to usual care," said Daniel Cherkin, lead author of a report published in the May 11 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine." "Acupuncture is an effective treatment for chronic back pain. People receiving acupuncture are more likely to get better."

But the unusual finding that non-penetrating acupuncture did as well as acupuncture that used standard needles will raise questions about how this works, added Cherkin, who is a senior investigator with the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle.

Janet Konefal, a licensed acupuncturist and assistant dean for complementary and integrative medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said she was not suprised that non-puncture stimulation had equal effects.

"You can stimulate a point with pressure, needle, electricity, even now with laser light and different frequencies of laser light," she said. '''Pecking' on a point is a Japanese technique for stimulation. You might use that with someone who is older or weak in their constitution. That could explain why two different methods of stimulation work equally well."

Acupuncture of all types is "well on its way to the mainstream," Konefal said. "When we understand that different stimulations may be effective rather than doing deep-needle stimulation which, for some people when in pain can be painful, we can now use laser or light needling or even just electric stimulation on the points; I think that part is great."

Post by: Dr. G. Ken Smith on 2010-02-11 17:40:23

Chiropractic is proven cost-effective

A recent study of interest to anyone who suffers with back pain is the recent Mercer report (Chondhry and Milstein, October 12, 2009, Do Chiropractic Physician Services for Treatment of Low-Back and Neck Pain Improve the Value of Health Benefit Plans.) which says: "Chiropractic Physician care for low-back and neck pain is highly cost-effective, and represents a good value in comparison to medical physician care and to widely accepted cost-effectiveness thresholds" and " chiropractic care...is likely to... achieve equal or better health outcomes at a cost that compares very favorably to most therapies..."