Most people think of the nervous system as something mysterious and unknowable, but in reality it is pretty easy to understand. It can be separated into 1) the parts which recognize where we are in time and space (sensory) and the parts which respond to where we are in time and space (motor) and 2) the parts which control our digestive, immune, hormonal, sexual, cognitive, and sleep functions (parasympathetic) and the parts which tell us how to respond to a challenge or threat (sympathetic).

At least at a basic level, there are only a very few things that can go wrong with the nervous system. It can turn off when it should be on or turn on when it should be off, and it can do too much or not enough. Everything else is pretty much a combination of these four possible challenges. There are lots of ways of making this far more complicated and we can go into each of them, but we don’t really need to do that here.

When the nervous system is out of balance, you can develop a wide range of sensory and motor control symptoms from dizziness and vertigo, nausea, tinnitus, and visual problems, tremors and shakes, weakness or spasticity, to ablative problems including Parkinson's, post-Stroke, and traumatic brain injuries. Autism and Asperger’s, learning and behavioral disorders, attention deficits, OCD and Tourette’s, which often occur in childhood and continue into adulthood, are neurologically based. Imbalances between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems can result in mood, sleep, sexual, digestive, immune, and cardiovascular problems. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. ‘Learning’ is all about the parts of the brain working together in an intricately choreographed dance, which requires precise timing and sequencing to input, store, and retrieve information. Virtually everything that happens in your body depends on your nervous system.

When there is an imbalance, we can usually correct it and regain proper function by very precisely applying specific forms of movement, light, sound, scent, and touch. This therapeutic approach, which works quite well without drugs or surgery, is known as "Functional Neurology" and Dr. Blumenthal is specially trained as a functional neurologist through the prestigious Carrick Institute for Graduate Studies’ post-doctoral program.

Historically, doctors have looked at the nervous system as a foe to be tamed, a great complex morass of problems to be solved and brought into line primarily with the use of drugs and surgery, because these were the only tools they had or knew how to use. Most people who have been down that road as patients have found it to be severely wanting in long-term benefits, finesse, and comfort of the overall experience. That is not too surprising since a great number of doctors who have tried to heal their patients with these techniques have also been frustrated by their limitations and their ineffectiveness for so many people. That is where Functional Neurology comes in.

Functional Neurology is a more effective way of working with your body’s systems to bring them to their ultimate level of performance. We first identify the source of neurological issues through careful examination procedures. Then, by using potent non-drug therapies applied with precision to specific areas of the body, we are able to speed up or slow down activity in the areas of the nervous system necessary to re-establish the balance and function, which define the optimum state of your health.

Functional Neurology is neurology based in the way your nervous system was designed to perform. By working with inputs such as light, sound, smell, and touch which normally and naturally come from your sensory nervous system, instead of drugs and surgery which impair it, we offer you possibilities for healing which traditional neurology simply can not match.

Examples of some of the problems often better served by Functional Neurology than drugs include:

Using light and scent, suppressive amblyopia or "lazy eye" can usually be corrected in two or three visits, even after years of dysfunction. Using cross cord reflexes and controlled brain activation we can generally restore some and sometimes all of the muscle control lost to a stroke. With children and adults, autism (ASD), Asperger's, attention deficits, Tourette’s, and obsessive-compulsive disorders respond particularly well to gross motor activation of specific brain areas through the repetitive patterns and constant feedback of Interactive Metronome training. This is especially true when combined with the metabolic and neurotransmitter supporting therapies of Clinical Nutrition.