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Top-Down vs Bottom-Up Processing: Applications to Movement and Pain Science

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Top-down and bottom-up processing are ways of interpreting stimuli

Top-down processing refers to the utilization of previous knowledge, beliefs and expectations (existing schemas) in the perception of incoming stimuli. The higher levels of our brain make judgments about what we are experiencing based on past experiences.

Bottom-up processing focuses on the incoming sensory informationin real time, and does not require prior experiences. It relies on raw data from our sensory organs, which then transmits information to our brain which perceives the information. 

In other words, in top-down processing our higher brain directs our body. Your higher brain creates a story, and can tell your body what to do. In bottom-up processing, the body is informing the higher brain, which has no reliance on our preconceived ideas.

How might these types of processing relate to the development of pain behaviors?

**We have written several articles related to the neuroscience and psychology of chronic pain. Please browse our previous blog posts for a deeper dive on this topic.** 

Consider an injury in which someone bends over, picks up a box, and injures their back.

  • During the injury and for a short time afterwards, bottom-up processing would contribute to the pain experience.

  • Nociceptors in the injured tissues would send signals to the brain, which we would experience as pain. From the bottom (body) up to the top (higher brain), we are receiving sensory information that we perceive as pain.

Now consider the top-down processing that might occur for hours, days, weeks and months following this injury.

  • The higher brain might begin to tell stories and our behavior might change accordingly. “Bending over is dangerous”. Based on the past experience of pain with bending over, this activity is now associated with pain and fear- therefore, we avoid it.

  •  “I am weak, and cannot pick up anything heavy”. The emotional circuits of the brain are engaged, and a story is created about core weakness, and further avoidance of activities that involve picking up objects is perpetuated.

  • “I should be lifting like this, not like that”. A superimposed idea of keeping the back straight and bending only from the legs leads to a change in movement patterns, which may or may not be beneficial for that individual.

  • Now, whenever the back is bent in the future, the movement is deeply associated with pain and fear. The tissues that were originally injured might be healed, but weakened. The top-down processing that occurred after the injury may contribute to the development of chronic pain and disability.

Our work at the Wellness Station involves recognizing these movement patterns and behaviors that are habitual, and may be dysfunctional, stressful, or inefficient. We help you relearn how to move safely, comfortably, without limitations from fear or less than optimal movement patterns.

How does this relate to movement and exercise?

Many clientele will ask questions or otherwise indicate that they are functioning primarily in a top-down state. This presents as trying to do the exercise “correctly”, focusing more on what someone might observe from the outside-in rather than from the inside-out.

In order to optimize biomechanically-efficient movement patterns, there must be an interplay between top-down and bottom-up processing.

During a movement, the person might explore based on instructions from the therapist, previous experiences, or trying out various options. The higher brain might be saying “now listen to what your glutes are telling you when your feet are placed that way, and then compare that with the sensations, from the bottom-up, when you place your feet in a different way.” 

Consider the pelvic clock: Lying on back with knees bent, roll your pelvis towards 12 o clock (towards your head). Do this several times. Notice if you are pushing down through your feet as you go to 12. If not, try pushing down through your feet. Now bring your hands to your glutes (buttock muscles). When pushing down through your feet, observe that your glutes will contract. When not pushing down through your feet, observe that your glutes will not contract as much. The instructions “engage your glutes” would be top-down, and the instructions “observe what you feel in your glutes when you press through your feet” would be bottom-up. You could also observe differences in how your glutes are engaging when you place your feet closer or further from your bottom, or closer or further from each other.