OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hypothesis that external cranial manipulation can cause change within the structures of the human brain.

DESIGN: Single subject.

SETTING: Private office.

PARTICIPANT: A 42-yr-old man.

INTERVENTION: MRI scan was administered without manipulative pressure but with the investigator's contacts on the test subjects maxillary palate and frontal/parietal region surrounding the bregma.

OUTCOMES: Measurements were taken along the superior border of the corpus callosum, the width of the fornix column, the exposed anterior/superior wall of the lateral ventricle posterior to the fornix, the angular surface of the cerebellar central lobule and the posterior surface of the inferior colliculi.

RESULTS: Results from the second MRI (administered during the application of external cranial pressure) demonstrated elimination of a 5-mm peak along the superior border of the corpus callosum and a 4-mm reduction in the width of the fornix column. The exposed anterior/superior wall of the lateral ventricle posterior to the fornix column increased 51 degrees cephalad with manipulative application. The angular surface of the central lobule altered by minus 26 degrees, and the posterior surface of the inferior colliculi varied by minus 7 degrees. The subject experienced no change in his asymptomatic condition as a result of this study.

CONCLUSION: The present study supports the theory that external cranial manipulation affects the structure of the brain. It also suggests support for the theory regarding suture mobility.

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