When the Two Sides of the Brain and Body Stop Communicating Clearly

In the last blog, we looked at thoracic and lumbar disc dysfunction and why the spine matters in retained reflex correction. The spine gives the nervous system constant information about posture, movement, balance, breathing, and safety.

Once the cranial system and spine have been addressed, the next question becomes:

Are the two sides of the brain and body communicating clearly?

This is where we begin looking at Hemisphere Dysfunction, Hemi-Body Link, and Hemisphere Synchronisation.

Before we move deeper into specific retained reflexes, we want to make sure the right and left sides of the nervous system are able to work together. The body is designed to move with coordination between both sides. Walking, crawling, balance, posture, eye movement, reading, handwriting, and emotional regulation all require communication between the right and left sides of the brain and body.

When that communication is unclear, the body may still function, but it often has to work harder than it should.

A Quick Reminder: What Are Retained Reflexes?

Primitive reflexes are early survival and developmental movement patterns that help babies feed, move, protect themselves, and begin building the foundation for posture, coordination, and balance.

As the nervous system matures, these reflexes should integrate into more advanced movement patterns. When they remain active beyond the stage where they are needed, we call them retained reflexes.

Retained reflexes may affect movement, posture, focus, behavior, emotional regulation, balance, coordination, stress responses, and how the body feels in space.

This matters because retained reflexes are not always symmetrical. One side of the body may compensate differently than the other. One arm may swing differently. One leg may stabilize differently. One eye may track differently. One side may feel more coordinated, while the other side feels less connected.

So before we move into deeper reflex corrections, we want to make sure both sides of the system are part of the conversation.

What Is Hemisphere Dysfunction?

The brain has two hemispheres: the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere. These two sides are not separate brains, but they do have different strengths and responsibilities.

The left hemisphere is often associated with language, sequencing, logic, details, and more linear processing. The right hemisphere is often associated with spatial awareness, body awareness, emotional tone, rhythm, sensory integration, and big-picture processing.

But the goal is not for one side to dominate everything.

The goal is communication.

Hemisphere dysfunction means one side of the brain may not be activating, processing, or communicating as efficiently as it should. This does not mean the brain is broken. It simply means the nervous system may not be organizing information evenly between the two sides.

When this happens, we may see changes in posture, movement, coordination, balance, eye tracking, attention, emotional regulation, or muscle activation.

Sometimes the person does not feel like they have a “brain problem.” They may simply feel like their body does not move evenly, one side is always tighter, one side is weaker, or certain patterns keep coming back no matter how much work they do.

What Is the Hemi-Body Link?

Each side of the brain has a strong relationship with the opposite side of the body. The right side of the brain has major influence over the left side of the body, and the left side of the brain has major influence over the right side of the body.

This is called the hemi-body link.

This matters because when one hemisphere is underactive, overactive, or poorly coordinated, it may show up in the opposite side of the body.

A person may have one-sided weakness, one-sided tension, poor coordination on one side, balance issues that are worse on one leg, poor arm swing on one side, or one foot that turns out when walking. A child may have difficulty crossing midline, using both sides of the body together, or coordinating movements that require right-left timing.

Sometimes the problem is not just in the arm, leg, shoulder, hip, or foot.

Sometimes the body is showing us how the brain is organizing that side.

This is important in retained reflex work because many primitive reflexes influence right-left coordination. If the brain and body are not communicating clearly from side to side, deeper reflex corrections may not hold as well.

What Is Hemisphere Synchronisation?

Hemisphere synchronisation is about timing, rhythm, and communication between the two sides of the brain and body.

The two hemispheres need to share information quickly and clearly. This allows the body to move smoothly, stabilize posture, coordinate the eyes, cross midline, regulate emotion, and perform more complex tasks.

Crawling is one of the clearest early examples of this. Crawling requires the right and left sides of the body to work together in a rhythmic, coordinated pattern. The opposite arm and leg have to move in relationship to one another. The eyes, head, spine, shoulders, pelvis, hands, and knees all have to participate.

That kind of right-left coordination becomes the foundation for many later skills.

Walking, running, reading, handwriting, sports, balance, and even emotional regulation all require the nervous system to coordinate information between both sides.

The body moves best when both sides of the nervous system can share information clearly.

How This Can Affect Children

In children, poor right-left communication may show up in learning, behavior, posture, coordination, or sensory regulation.

A child may have difficulty crossing midline, poor coordination, clumsiness, poor handwriting, trouble reading, losing their place on the page, poor balance, trouble with rhythm or timing, difficulty with sports, or one-sided movement patterns.

They may have skipped crawling or crawled in an unusual pattern. They may struggle with tasks that require both sides of the body to work together. They may avoid certain movements, fatigue quickly with schoolwork, or have trouble following multi-step directions.

This can also affect behavior and focus.

A child who does not feel organized in their body may have a harder time sitting still, paying attention, regulating emotion, or staying calm in busy environments. They may appear distracted, impulsive, clumsy, or emotionally reactive.

But underneath the behavior, the nervous system may simply be struggling to coordinate information efficiently.

A child may not be choosing to be uncoordinated or unfocused. Their brain and body may not be sharing information as clearly as they need to.

How This Can Affect Adults

In adults, hemisphere dysfunction and poor right-left communication often show up as chronic compensation.

An adult may notice one-sided tension, recurring pain on one side, uneven posture, poor balance, poor arm swing, altered gait, or difficulty coordinating movement. One hip may always feel tight. One shoulder may always seem elevated. One side of the neck may always flare. One leg may feel less stable.

They may also experience eye strain, motion sensitivity, brain fog, poor multitasking, trouble with coordination, or the feeling that one side of the body is less connected than the other.

Many adults describe this as a body that will not stay balanced.

They may get adjusted, stretched, massaged, or strengthened, but the same compensation returns. That does not mean the care failed. It may mean the nervous system is still organizing the body through an uneven right-left pattern.

When one side of the system is not communicating clearly, the body may keep creating the same compensation to feel safe.

How This Is Assessed Clinically

Assessment is important because we do not want to assume that every one-sided pattern is coming from the same place.

Clinically, we may look at posture, gait, arm swing, balance, eye tracking, coordination, cross-body movement, and how the body responds to different neurological challenges.

We may observe whether one side of the body moves differently than the other. Does one arm swing less when walking? Does one foot turn out? Does balance change dramatically from one side to the other? Does the child struggle to cross midline? Does one eye track differently? Does one side of the body test differently with manual muscle testing?

In an Applied Kinesiology setting, manual muscle testing can help us evaluate how the nervous system is organizing muscle function from side to side. We are not just asking whether a muscle is strong or weak. We are asking whether the nervous system can access that muscle appropriately and whether that response changes with specific challenges.

Primitive reflex screening may also be used to see whether retained reflex patterns are influencing right-left coordination.

The goal is not to label the person.

The goal is to understand whether the two sides of the nervous system can communicate well enough to organize movement.

How This Supports Retained Reflex Correction

This step comes before we move into some of the deeper survival reflexes because the nervous system needs right-left communication to integrate well.

Many retained reflexes affect posture, eye movement, startle response, balance, body awareness, and coordination between the two sides of the body. If one side of the brain and body is not participating clearly, the system may have a harder time letting go of old reflex patterns.

Addressing hemisphere dysfunction, hemi-body link, and hemisphere synchronisation may help support better posture, better balance, improved gait, improved coordination, better muscle activation, and a more organized nervous system response.

Before we ask the nervous system to let go of deeper reflex patterns, we want both sides of the system in the conversation.

Preparing for the Next Step

Retained reflex work is not about chasing isolated symptoms. It is about helping the nervous system become more organized, more adaptable, and more capable of choosing better patterns.

First, we prepared the cranial and sensory system. Then we looked at the spine and how spinal stress can affect safety, posture, and movement. Now we are looking at how the two sides of the brain and body communicate.

Each step builds on the one before it.

Once the cranial system, spine, and right-left communication have been addressed, we are ready to move into some of the earliest and most protective reflex patterns.

In the next blog, we will look at the Fear Paralysis Reflex and Moro Reflex.

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