Irene Acevedo, MS, PT, Cert MDT

The NDT Neurological Rehabilitation

Effective neurological treatment is given by adequate knowledge base as well as much understanding in neuroscience.  Normal movements require a fine control and balance between facilitating the right muscle group (agonist) while inhibiting other muscle group (antagonist). 

If a patient suffers insult to one side or part of the brain, he or she is likely to exeperience weakness or even paralysis in one side of his body, it may be the right leg, arm, face, or eye.  This is known as "hemiparesis."  Weakness, or flaccidity, is due to lack of neuronal stimulation to facilitate the agonist muscle groups for a particular movement.  A patient may also have abnormally high tone (hypertonicity/ spasticity), which is the over-stimulation of a certain muscle group, causing that group of muscles to be involuntarily tight, or spastic.

Based on human developmental sequence and movement science, the Neurodevelopmental Treatment (NDT) is developed as a logically and scientific approach to systematically regain proper balance between facilitation and inhibition of all muscular control of the body.  It is the most effective treatment methodology for neurological dysfunctions, because it targets the root of the problem from the central nervous system to all the peripheral controls--the control of the trunk, arms, legs, etc.  The post-graduate certification training process to become a certified NDT therapist is lengthy and extensive.  This ensures the certified therapists to be competent in providing such rehabilitative process for their neurological patients.  Most importantly, this enables patients with neurological deficits to improve their quality of life by achieving optimal movement control for all activities of daily living.