Note: The theories presented here are personal hypotheses and models for educational and exploratory purposes only. They are not currently established by scientific research and should not be treated as proven facts. This content does not constitute professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Readers should approach these ideas as theoretical propositions requiring further investigation.

Introduction

I propose that we are born with the potential for the highest levels of coordination and physical skill, such as musical virtuosity and professional-level athletic speed and coordination, within the limits imposed by our eventual body size. Childhood experience then lowers that potential, leaving each person with a maximum level determined by their childhood.

Motor Linkages

When we move, each group of muscles is controlled by its own small area in the brain. One area controls the fingers, another the wrist, another the arm, and so on.

Sometimes these brain areas become connected. When this happens, activating one area automatically activates another. In effect, the brain sends two movement commands at once, one intentional and one unintended. I call these connections between motor areas in the brain motor linkages.

You can experience this yourself. Try pressing your little finger into your palm while keeping your ring finger straight. Most people will notice that, in at least one hand, the ring finger bends too, and no amount of effort will keep it straight. This happens because the brain areas that control those fingers are linked: when you bend your little finger, the ring finger bends as well.

Motor linkages can be somewhat directional. In this example, bending the little finger causes the ring finger to bend, but bending the ring finger does not necessarily move the little finger. This suggests that the control area for the little finger triggers the one for the ring finger, but not the other way around.

How Motor Linkages Form

Whenever a young child performs an action, such as walking, holding hands, or reaching for something, while receiving positive attention, the brain links the motor areas controlling the muscle groups used in that movement.

Examples:

1.    Many young children spend time holding hands with adults, an activity often linked to feelings of comfort and safety. Holding hands naturally activates the fingers. Because this happens in an emotionally engaging moment, the brain forms motor linkages between the motor areas controlling those fingers.

2.    Children often receive positive attention when learning physical skills such as standing and walking. As a result, the brain forms motor linkages between the motor areas controlling the muscle groups being used during those activities. These linkages often include muscles that are not actually needed for the movement. When children first learn to stand or walk, they have not yet developed precise control over individual muscles. They therefore activate extra muscles, including opposing muscles that help stabilize the movement.

Physical Skill

Motor linkages determine a person’s maximum level of physical skill. Generally, the fewer linkages present and the fewer unnecessary muscles involved in those linkages, the more precise and efficient movement can be. Linkages between opposing muscles across a joint slow movement at that joint.

People Must Compensate

When people learn a physical skill, much of their effort goes into compensating for the unintended movements produced by linked muscles. This compensation requires conscious control and a great deal of repetition.

A person’s emotional state affects how precisely they can apply the fine, deliberate control needed to counter or incorporate these unintended movements. That’s why even subtle day-to-day emotional changes can significantly affect a person’s skill level.

Undoing the Linkages

The steps described on the “Change Process” page slowly remove the linkages described above, eventually restoring a person’s full potential.

Change unfolds over many years. In the first few years, improvements may be hard to notice. But as the process continues, the rate of improvement gradually increases. The most dramatic changes happen near the end of the process.

This pattern resembles a geometric progression. If each linkage reduces potential by a fixed percentage, the gains from removing one linkage become larger as fewer remain. This mathematical relationship explains why initial change may be almost unnoticeable, while most of the change happens near the end of the process.