NEUROLOGICAL EVALUATIONS
Neuro Performance Integration’s clinical director, Dr. Jacob Shores DC, pioneered a new approach to neurological evaluations that is comprehensive, efficient, and effective. By standardizing and streamlining the neurological evaluation process, Dr. Shores gets to the root of our patients’ problems, allowing us to help our patients reach their goals. Neurological evaluations are part of the new patient evaluation process, and are also recommended for patients with the following conditions:
Post-concussion disorder
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)
Difficulty with spatial awareness
Balance disorders
Autism spectrum disorders
Visual disturbances
Learning difficulties
Symptoms associated with ADHD and ADD
Sensory Processing Disorders
Post Stroke Deficits
Cognitive, developmental or behavioral conditions
What is a Neurological Evaluation?
Over the course of your one hour Neurological Evaluation, Neuro Performance Integration will use our proprietary comprehensive evaluation method, The Flow 5 Matrix, to get to the root cause of your neurological deficits. Using a series of testing methods, we compare how you are hardwired to operate with how you actually do, and how your life history may have shaped that.
The Flow 5 Matrix
At Neuro Performance Integration, we believe in looking at the big picture, and treating patients as a whole, rather than only treating their symptoms. This belief allows us to get at the root causes of our patients challenges and fix that foundation, so our patients get better, faster. The Flow 5 Matrix is an evaluation method pioneered by Dr. Jacob Shores DC that allows us to get a clear picture of our patients foundation.
The Flow 5 Matrix evaluates our body and brain’s individual systems, and the complex way that they work together. Unlike conventional treatment methods, the Flow 5 Matrix seeks to understand and isolate problems with the way our brains and bodies communicate with one another, to treat our patients as efficiently as possible.
At a very rudimentary level, the Flow 5 Matrix studies the following questions for each of our patients.
How is your brain hardwired to function?
Based on how they developed, people are naturally more dominant in certain areas of their brains than others. Some people have no problem solving complex mathematical equations, but struggle to articulate their thoughts into words. Some people have no problem navigating difficult social situations, but when it comes to putting spatial puzzles together, they are at a loss. Our brains were formed and hardwired to operate in different ways. As we develop, we prioritize certain things over others. By gaining a deeper understanding of how your brain is built to work, Neuro Performance Integration can help to fill the gaps and get you to operate at your full potential.
How is your body hardwired to function?
In the same way that our brains were trained to prioritize certain functions over others, so was our body. Some people are more right leg dominant, this can result in a misalignment with your hips, which might cause low back pain. Some people might have muscles that are stiff and tight, that tightness might put unnecessary stress on their joints and cause joint pain. By understanding how your skeleton and muscles are set up to work, we are able to evaluate and treat chronic pain, and help assess areas that are prone to injury.
How does your brain actually function?
Our brain is designed to help us survive. This is the highest priority it has, and is taken care of first. Everything else is secondary. This means that if we want our brain to perform other tasks at a high level, we must train it to do so. Most peoples brains have been trained to perform specific tasks really well, but that training, or specialization, may have caused your brain to neglect other important factors that you may not even be aware of causing miscommunications within your brain. By identifying where your brain may be miscommunicating, we can train your brain to prevent things being lost in translation.
How does your body actually function?
Our body carries out the instructions that our brain gives it. There are many functions that our body carries out without us having to think about it, but it is always receiving a command from our brain or spinal cord. Sometimes, there are areas of your body that may not be hearing the commands that your brain is sending. Neuro Performance Integration aims to identify where your body may not be hearing the commands, and then we find a way to bridge that gap in communication.
What minor and major events in your life may have impacted these other aspects?
Getting married, divorced, having children, losing children, new careers, career changes, car accidents, deaths in the family, and all the other aspects of being human, also shape the way our brain and body operate. During these major life events, our brain often defaults to “survival mode” to cope with the stress or excitement of these changes. This means that all of the higher level functions we need to carry out on a daily basis are in jeopardy, because we are prioritizing different things out of necessity. By incorporating each of our patients life story, we can get a better understanding of their brain-body relationship.
