I’m starting a new thread about ‘banding’ to discuss WHY we think it works. I think it should be separate from a thread about IF it works for us. Plus, I’m so excited about my theory that I think it deserves its own thread.

My theory is surprisingly simply, but makes so much sense to me, and jives with my personal experiences using external cues and prompts with much success the last couple of years.

My theory has to do with closed loop control vs open loop control. It’s easy; let me explain. An open loop control does NOT use feedback; a closed loop control uses feedback.

My open loop control doesn’t work properly. Open loop control should work automatically. Mine doesn’t all the time, which is probably why, for example, why my right arm doesn’t swing when I walk. In normal people it swings automatically, without any kind of feedback.

I believe that external cues and sensory feedback work by switching our brains to conscious closed loop control, instead of our defective automatic control.

It utilizes feedback, such as visual cues, auditory cues, and sensory feedback, such as the bands. It works instantaneously like a switch, setting up a different kind of control over our movements.

It enables us to immediately access closed loop control, and we start feeling more normal because we have a new kind of control system activated by the feedback, instead of the open loop control normal people use automatically.

That’s why outer directed movement is easier for me than inner directed movements. Outer directed movements utilize external feedback.

This theory jives with my personal experiences with external cues and prompts. Often, when I don’t have an external prompt, I imagine one, and it works for me. Some examples of external prompts:

1. When I put my legs out, while sitting, my right foot turns inward. I’m unable to straighten it. BUT, if I imagine that I’m pushing my foot against someone’s hand, I’m able to move my foot and straighten it.

2. If I feel stuck in a sitting position, I imagine that I’m reaching for something that someone is handing me, and I’m able to get up instantly.

3. If I have trouble making a 90 degree turn, I imagine that I’m pushing something ahead of me and I turn easier.

4. When I have trouble walking, getting my right leg to move, I imagine that I’m kicking something with my right foot, and I can move much more easily.

These are external prompts which result in outer directed movement. I think they work by enabling closed loop control, which I need to use because my open loop control is disabled.

I use external visual and auditory cues to aid movement. I rely heavily on visual cues when walking. Lines on a sidewalk are best. I focus on a line several steps ahead of me and as I approach the line, my eye darts to the next line and I move towards that on. When there are no lines, I use a leaf, or a different colored brick, or I try to imagine a line. When walking along in bright light, I immediately slow down when it becomes dark because my visual cue is missing.

When visual cues aren’t easily seen, I rely on my inner metronome. I count 1…2…1…2…, with a number on each right step, and it helps me enormously. Singing outloud is also a big help.

The banding is a different kind of external feedback, one that was new to me. The scarf that works for me gives me a kind of sensation that produces sensory feedback.

It works instantly for me and I think it enables immediate closed loop control. When the scarf is wrapped around my head, my whole face perks up, and my speech is much better which is amazing to me. I clearly have better control over my speech, and I think it’s because I’m using closed loop control vs defective automatic open loop control. It’s the sensory feedback that turns that control on.

SO, do my external prompts work in the same way as external cues? I think they both provide needed feedback. The feedback enables closed loop control and works instantly, just like we saw with the banding.

I think that when Anne was in her deep OFF at the hospital, her automatic control was disabled. The banding probably worked because it immediately set up a closed loop control of her body. It required feedback; in this case, sensory feedback from the bands.

Like in Awakenings, when seemingly catatonic people were able to catch a ball that was thrown to them; an external prompt that immediately worked.

Rick was able to stand longer when banded. I read that when standing, postural control uses an open loop control in the short term, and closed loop over a long term. Perhaps, Rick needed an external cue, external feedback from the bands, to enable his closed loop control, which resulted in being able to stand for hours.

It’s possible that the lack of dopamine leads to ineffectual automatic open loop control. We can bypass this dysfunction by enabling conscious closed loop control using external feedback via cues or prompts or sensory feedback, like the bands.

Does this make sense to you, too?

Thanks for reading!

~Zucchini