Australian Spinal Research Foundation

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Australian Spinal Research Foundation

Our vision is a clear understanding of vertebral subluxation.

The Australian Spinal Research Foundation (ASRF) is more than just a research foundation – it is a cooperative of like-minded people who have a common view of health and well-being, and are willing to stand up for it. In 1977, a group of Chiropractors with a love of chiropractic and a passion to see it survive and thrive came together and set into place what is known today as the ASRF. Our role is to remain at the cutting edge of understanding and communicating how chiropractic contributes to community health and well-being.

22/12/2025

Our ASRF President, Dr. Ryan Seaman, is here to wrap up our achievements for this year and thank you all for making it possible 👏🏼

Here’s to an even bigger 2026 🎉🥳

19/12/2025

Depression affects more than 280 million people worldwide each year, making it one of the leading causes of disability.

While medication and psychotherapy remain mainstays of treatment, growing evidence highlights the role of the nervous system (particularly the vagus nerve) in regulating emotional and mental health and resilience.

A recent sutdy found that chiropractic care may have broad impacts on anxiety, depression, sleep, pain and the default mode network.

That groundbreaking study put neuroscience behind what we have been seeing in case report data and anecdotal evidence for years: not only does chiropractic have impacts beyond pain and symptoms, not only does it change the structure and function of the brain, it can make people feel better.

But what does that look like in practice?

A 44-year-old Amish farrier presented to the Averio Health Institute with chronic major depressive symptoms. Though he initially attended to support his wife, he soon began care himself after learning how chiropractic might influence brain function.

His history included multiple head injuries, chronic fatigue, chemical sensitivity, and a diagnosis of Lyme disease.
Despite previous medical and nutritional interventions, his depression and pain persisted.

The patient underwent concentrated chiropractic care using the Averio Functional Neurological Technique (Averio FNT).

After the first week, structural scans showed a 323% improvement in cervical curvature and a 77% improvement in head-to-shoulder alignment.

His posture improved so significantly that his height increased by three-quarters of an inch. He reported feeling mentally clearer, sleeping better, and experiencing less pain.

By the second course of concentrated care, radiographs revealed the reversal of ligament instability at multiple levels, with cervical motion returning to within normal limits.

His lumbar curve also normalized by over 100%. Subjectively, he reported that his depressive thoughts had reduced to less than 10% of his day and that he “did not feel depressed anymore.”

While this case cannot prove causation, although other studies to point to stronger claims, it provides compelling evidence of the body’s capacity to heal when nervous system interference is reduced.

This case highlights the need for ongoing research into how chiropractic care may support neurological and emotional recovery.

It also reminds us that nervous system health and mental health are deeply interconnected.

Read the full blog here: https://spinalresearch.com.au/resources/spinal-research-blog/

17/12/2025

The Default Mode Network (DMN) is the part of our brain that chugs along when we are not focused on tasks.

- Where our thoughts and feelings about ourselves percolate
- Where our emotions are processed
- Where we imagine our futures and recall our past

Chronic conditions have been correlated with deficits in:
access, engagement, and disengagement of the DMN.

The changes within the DMN, and between the DMN and other networks, provide a neuro-biological explanation for why these problems (e.g., pain, anxiety, and depression) become embodied.

i.e., they become an integral part of the person’s sense of self, making treatment difficult.

It is thought that when someone is suffering with pain long-term, the feelings of pain may become part of their internal self-story.

Similarly, ongoing worry can develop into anxiety and ongoing sadness can become depression.

That is why it is fascinating to see that chiropractic care can alter functional connectivity within the DMN in a way that coincides with improvements in pain, depression, anxiety, fatigue, and sleep.

A recent study into the DMN and chiropractic noted that the participants appear to have altered their constructed sense of self and how they understand their own mental states, following 4 weeks of chiropractic care.

This is likely reflective of the changes in functional connectivity.

The gist: When we adjust subluxation, we create neuroplastic changes in the Default Network that allows a person to change their story about how they experience life.

Support chiropractic research by becoming a Member of the ASRF and follow us here for easy to understand chiropractic research and updates 🤝 💫

Reference: Haavik, H., Niazi, I.K., Amjad, I., Kumari, N., Ghani, U., Ashfaque, M., Rashid, U., Navid, M.S., Kamavuako, E.N., Pujari, A.N., et al. Neuroplastic Responses to Chiropractic Care: Broad Impacts on Pain, Mood, Sleep, and Quality of Life. Brain Sci. 2024, 14, 1124.

16/12/2025

Dr. Dorte Bladt on the ASRF Research for Practice podcast talking about building rapport and connecting with families 🤝

Listen wherever you usually get your podcasts 🎧

15/12/2025

Now is the perfect time to catch up on all the big things that happened in chiropractic research this year 🥳

Throughout the year we have been posting weekly research blogs, monthly podcasts with chiropractic experts and researchers, and keeping our Members topped up with researcher updates, resources, and exclusive interviews.

So get your chiro fix and refresh your research knowledge before the new year 💫

12/12/2025

A new episode is now live! 🎧 🙌

The amazing Dr. Dorte Bladt joined us to talk about the lessons she's learned over decades in chiropractic paediatrics and what she wishes more parents and chiros knew.

Listen to this latest episode, and our other 20+ episodes, wherever you get your podcasts 🎙️💫

11/12/2025

Poor sleep doesn't just make us tired.

Sleep is essential for physical recovery, emotional balance, and learning, among many other functions of a healthy life.

Poor sleep affects almost every aspect of our health. In the short term, it can slow our thinking, reduce emotional resilience, and make work or driving unsafe. Over time, chronic sleep deprivation has been linked with high blood pressure, heart disease, and even colorectal cancer.

Chiropractic research has begun to show that care affects more than just posture and pain; it can also create numerous changes in different brain regions, affect cortical drive, muscle strength, and nervous system function.

Studies have shown measurable neuroplastic changes following chiropractic adjustments, with improved sleep noted as a positive side effect. Several case reports have also documented better sleep quality alongside chiropractic care. No published chiropractic research has yet examined sleepwalking.

Sleepwalking, or somnambulism, happens during deep non-REM sleep when the brain is partially awake. The body can move while higher brain centres remain “offline.”

Researchers suggest that problems in how the brain shifts between sleep stages may be to blame, sometimes triggered by stress, fatigue, or other biological factors.
How chiropractic care may influence sleepwalking hasn’t been explored – until now, with the publication of a novel case report in the Asia Pacific Chiropractic Journal.

A 41-year-old woman came to the clinic seeking help for neck pain and headaches. Though these were her main complaints, her intake revealed a deeper issue – nightly sleepwalking episodes that had become distressing.

For six months, she had been getting up one or two times each night and, while still asleep, would strike her husband without memory of the event. This meant he had moved to a separate room.

The patient received a course of care focused on correcting subluxations and supporting vagus nerve regulation. Adjustments were made using Modified Activator Methods and cranial techniques.
Supporting therapies included: Trigger point therapy, At-home cervical stretches, Daily Denneroll (orthotic) use for postural correction and Vagus nerve stimulation exercises, including gargling, singing, and laughing.

By the three-month review, her headaches had resolved, neck pain had reduced by 80%, and sleepwalking had decreased by around 25%.
By one year, she reported complete cessation of sleepwalking, no recurrence of headaches, and normal sleep shared with her husband once more.

The patient’s improvements – both physical and emotional – followed consistent care aimed at restoring structural balance and enhancing nervous system function

While the precise neurological mechanism remains unknown, it is possible that upper cervical and cranial adjustments improved communication between brain regions involved in arousal, motor control, and autonomic regulation.

The resolution of sleepwalking, alongside the reduction of anxiety and headaches, highlights chiropractic care’s potential role in addressing issues of neurological dysregulation where conventional treatment may fall short.

Read the full blog here: https://spinalresearch.com.au/resources/spinal-research-blog/

08/12/2025

Something pretty cool happened a few weeks ago...

Chiropractic research, funded by the ASRF, was presented at a Neuroscience Conference! If you're one of our Members or Donors, this is research YOU helped make possible, being shown to potentially tens of thousands of neuroscientists 🤯

Dr. Nitika Kumari, from the New Zealand College of Chiropractic, had the following to share with us:
“Grateful to present our ASRF-funded study at the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Conference in San Diego (15–19 November), attended by nearly 20,000 neuroscientists worldwide.

Using fNIRS, we explored how chiropractic adjustments affect prefrontal cortex activity and acute stress responses.

Thank you to the Australian Spinal Research Foundation for supporting this work and advancing chiropractic science.”

Thank you to our Members, Donors, and Supporters - this work doesn't get done without you. So pat yourself on the back and keep up the good work forwarding chiropractic research globally 💪🌏

03/12/2025

Chiros, share this so everyone knows what you actually want this holiday season 😅 🎁

Find posters, spine models, and coffee table books about chiropractic research in our resource store 🔗

https://spinalresearch.com.au/resources/

27/11/2025

The silly season is well under way but there is still plenty of time to order holiday cards for your practice members 🎅 📫

We have teamed up with Charity Greeting Cards for another year, so that you can choose from a wide range of personalisable print cards or animated e-cards.

🚨 Charity Greeting Cards are currently running their Black Friday 30% sale‼️

Support important chiropractic research and connect with your practice members this holiday season 🎄 Order your cards today!

26/11/2025

Our successful grant recipients for the ASRF 2025 grants round have been announced! 🎉

We are thrilled to share these projects with you and can't wait to share updates from the researchers as they come in.

Congratulations to all of the recipients and a big thank you to the associated organisations that are also supporting these projects 👏

16/11/2025

Trigeminal Neuralgia, a condition marked by sudden, severe, electric shock-like pain in the face.

These episodes can be triggered by seemingly harmless activities like applying makeup, shaving or the slightest air movements.

Attacks may last only seconds or minutes, but their intensity can be overwhelming. In some cases, the pain occurs on both sides of the face, further complicating diagnosis and treatment.

As the exact cause or causes haven’t been nailed down firmly in research, it stands to reason that management is not as targeted as it could be.

Mainstream management usually involves anticonvulsant medications or, in more resistant cases, surgical procedures to decompress the nerve.

While these interventions can be effective, they often carry significant side effects or risks. For some patients, these approaches fail to provide lasting relief.

Read the full article over on the ASRF blog 💻 🔗 https://spinalresearch.com.au/resources/spinal-research-blog/

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The Australian Spinal Research Foundation (now known as Spinal Research) is more than just a research foundation – it is a cooperative of like-minded people who have a common view of health and well-being, and are willing to stand up for it. Almost 40 years ago, a group of Chiropractors with a love of chiropractic and a passion to see it survive and thrive came together and set into place what is known today as Spinal Research. Our role is to remain at the cutting edge of understanding and communicating how chiropractic contributes to community health and well-being.