Understanding Seizures Through the Nervous System: A Brain-Based Perspective for Families
Seizures are one of the most overwhelming and frightening experiences a parent can witness. While the medical system often focuses solely on medication to control symptoms, it rarely explains why seizures happen in the first place. To truly understand seizures, we need to look at the nervous system—the brain’s wiring, communication, and adaptability.
What Is a Seizure?
A seizure is not a disease—it’s an electrical storm in the brain.
The brain works by sending electrical signals between billions of neurons. Under normal conditions, those signals are organized and balanced between excitatory (gas pedal) and inhibitory (brake pedal) activity. A seizure occurs when this balance is lost, and the brain experiences sudden, excessive, and uncontrolled electrical discharges.
This “storm” can cause different outward symptoms: staring spells, jerking movements, loss of awareness, or full-body convulsions. But at the root, it’s always the same problem—the brain’s regulation system is overwhelmed.
The Neurological Foundation: Excitation vs. Inhibition
The brain has two critical jobs when it comes to regulation:
Excitation (Go): Neurons fire to create movement, thought, or sensory processing.
Inhibition (Stop): Other neurons calm activity, preventing overload.
A healthy nervous system maintains a dynamic balance between the two. In seizure-prone brains, inhibition is too weak, or excitation is too strong, leading to a runaway electrical loop that spirals into a seizure.
Why Do Seizures Happen in Children?
Children’s brains are highly plastic—constantly growing and wiring. This plasticity is powerful for learning, but it also makes them more vulnerable to dysregulation. Common contributing factors include:
Birth stress or trauma (C-section, forceps/vacuum, hypoxia, NICU stays)
Developmental subluxations that interfere with normal sensory input and integration
Inflammation and immune triggers (fevers, food sensitivities, environmental stressors)
Sensory overload (autism, ADHD, sensory processing disorders often overlap with seizure risk)
Emotional stress and fight-or-flight dominance
Subluxation and the Seizure Connection
A subluxation is stress stuck in the nervous system. It alters the way the spine moves and the way sensory input reaches the brain. Since 80–90% of brain input comes from the body, distorted signals from the spine and nervous system can create an unstable foundation.
When the brain is bombarded with noisy, uncoordinated input, the prefrontal cortex (the “regulator” of the brain) struggles to maintain balance. This leaves lower brain regions—like the brainstem and limbic system—overactive. The result? A brain more likely to tip into electrical chaos.
Why Do Seizures Often Happen at Night?
Parents often tell us their child’s seizures cluster during sleep, especially in the early morning hours (around 3–5 am). This isn’t random—it’s directly tied to how the nervous system is designed to regulate.
Sleep Is When the Brain Resets
During deep sleep, the nervous system should shift into parasympathetic mode—rest, repair, and restore. This is when the brain integrates what it learned during the day, clears out waste, and strengthens inhibitory “brake” systems that keep electrical activity balanced.Stored Stress Interferes
If stress has been stored in the nervous system (subluxations), the brain remains hyper-excitable. Instead of staying calm, the excitatory “gas pedal” can suddenly surge, creating an electrical storm—a seizure.Cortisol and Circadian Rhythms
Around 4 am, the body naturally increases cortisol to prepare to wake. In a regulated system, this is smooth. But in a dysregulated nervous system, that extra stimulation can overwhelm the brain and trigger a seizure.Immature Regulation
By age 11, the prefrontal cortex—the regulator of the brain—is only about 40–50% developed. That means the “brakes” aren’t fully strong yet. Combined with stored stress, the brain has a harder time stabilizing itself during sleep transitions.
✨ Parent-Friendly Summary:
“Seizures often show up at night because that’s when the brain is supposed to reset and prepare to wake. But if stress is stuck in the nervous system, the brakes don’t work properly, and the extra stimulation can overflow into a seizure. Neurological chiropractic helps calm and balance the system, so the brain can regulate even during sleep.”
What Science Shows About Chiropractic and Seizures
Heidi Haavik’s research demonstrates how chiropractic adjustments affect the prefrontal cortex, improving regulation, coordination, and inhibitory control.
Case studies (published by PX Docs, ICPA, and others) show children with seizure disorders improving in seizure frequency and severity after chiropractic care—because the nervous system became more adaptable and resilient.
Adjustments do not “treat seizures.” Instead, they restore balance in the nervous system, giving the brain a stronger foundation for self-regulation.
A Parent’s Perspective: What This Means for Families
When your child has seizures, it’s easy to feel powerless. But understanding the neurology offers hope:
Seizures are a sign of imbalance, not a permanent sentence.
By calming the fight-or-flight system and clearing subluxations, we help the brain better regulate electrical activity.
Neurological chiropractic care gives the brain the tools to stabilize itself rather than relying only on external control.
Practical Support for Families
Track triggers: Keep a log of sleep, food, stress, illness, and sensory overload to see patterns.
Prioritize sleep: Sleep is the brain’s reset button, and poor sleep lowers seizure threshold.
Support regulation: Chiropractic adjustments, movement (swinging, crawling, balance play), and calming routines all help restore inhibitory balance.
Collaborate with providers: Neurological chiropractic care works alongside medical care, not against it.
Final Takeaway
A seizure is the body’s way of saying: “The brain is overwhelmed and can’t regulate right now.” Instead of only focusing on stopping the storm, we need to ask why the brain is vulnerable in the first place.
Neurological chiropractic care helps by clearing stress from the nervous system, restoring calm communication, and strengthening the brain’s ability to regulate. For many families, this shift has meant fewer seizures, better development, and most importantly—hope.
