Influence of Short-term Vojta Therapy on the Gait in Healthy Adult Subjects.

Gait, Frontal

gait, Reflex Locomotion, Core stability, Ontogenesis, Neurorehabilitation, Neurological Disorder

The patterns of reflex locomotion described by Vojta contain all the basic patterns necessary for gait, which can be observed as partial patterns during normal postural ontogenesis in the first year of life. These patterns are triggered throughout life regardless of age, so they can be activated both in healthy subjects and in the presence of neurological pathology in adult patients.

In reflex locomotion, there is a coordinated and rhythmic activation of the entire skeletal muscles and different circuits of the central nervous system are stimulated. The motor reactions that are triggered regularly and cyclically due to pressure stimuli, from certain starting positions, are completely reproducible and as often as desired, even in the newborn child. All the movements that appear in the development of the human being in grasping, turning, crawling, standing up and walking, are therefore visibly stimulated. They are, according to Prof. Vojta, present even in children of a developmental stage, in which they do not spontaneously yet possess these capacities. Through the therapeutic application of reflex locomotion, those muscular functions used unconsciously and necessary for spontaneous daily motor skills are activated in the patient, especially in the spine, but also in the arms and legs, hands and feet and in the face.