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Neurology 240 — at a Glance
| Course: | Neurology 240: The Upper Motor Neuron and Clinical Considerations |
| Faculty: | Michael Hall, DC, FIACN · Neurology Faculty, CCEDseminars |
| Format: | On-demand online video with case walk-throughs and assessment · downloadable handouts · instant certificate |
| Pricing: | $20/hr · automatic 10% off at 6–9 hrs, 20% off at 10+ hrs in one order · no promo codes |
| Approval: | PACE Provider #34015544 · co-sponsored by Texas Chiropractic College · acceptance varies by state |
Board-approved · PACE Provider #34015544 · CE Broker auto-reporting for states served · Instant certificate
The upper motor neuron is the pathway whose failure you can read off a limb. Tone rises, reflexes exaggerate, and the pattern of it — axial or appendicular, velocity-dependent or not — tells you where the lesion sits. But only if the tone was graded rather than guessed at.
This two-hour course works the upper motor neuron from anatomy to sign. It covers the basics and significance of the UMN, its neuroanatomy in detail, and its central integrated state — the excitability baseline that explains why signs fluctuate. It closes on the clinical signs: defining spasticity, assessing and grading tone accurately, and differentiating axial from appendicular involvement.
Choose Your Neurology Path — Three Lanes, One Curriculum
The Neurology series runs from what you can measure at the bedside, through the brain systems that explain the findings, to the structures a chiropractor treats, the developing nervous system, and the risks worth screening for. Courses 201–230 are built out here, within a larger clinical-neurology curriculum; each is two hours.
1 · Examination, Testing and Clinical Reasoning
What you measure and what it means — oximetry, vital signs, reflexes, sensory testing, outcome measures and the differential behind a collapse.
203: Pulse Oximetry in Chiropractic
208: Vital Signs for Chiropractors
210: Chiropractic Clinical Case Studies
211: Reflex Assessment in Chiropractic
213: Neurology Tests for Chiropractors
222: Somatosensory Examination Review
224: Outcome Assessments: Neurologic Perspective
235: Syncope
236: Accurate Sensory Testing & the Clinical Examination
2 · Brain Systems, Cognition and Mood
The cortical, cerebellar and limbic files — pain and the CNS, the pyramidal system, frontal lobes and cerebellum, memory, mood, smell and what the brain is popularly believed to do.
202: Pain & the Central Nervous System
204: Clinical Aspects of the Pyramidal Man
205: Functional Neurology & Frontal Lobes
206: Functional Neurology & the Cerebellum
223: Myths of the Brain
228: The Neurophysiology of Happiness
229: Clinical Perspectives Surrounding Memory
233: Anxiety in America
237: The Nose Knows
238: The Science of Happiness
3 · Spine, Posture and Craniocervical
Where neurology meets the structures a chiropractor treats — the cord, the vestibular system, the craniocervical junction, the cervical curve, sleep posture and the mechanics of the ribcage.
201: Chiropractic Myelopathy Management
207: Exploring the Vestibular System
209: Guzay’s Theorem & Craniocervical Neurology
225: Current Perspectives of Sleep Posture
231: Ribs and Breathing
234: The Cervical Lordosis
4 · Pediatric and Developmental Neurology
The developing nervous system from birth through adolescence — early plasticity, developmental milestones, and concussion in children and teens.
212: Pediatric Concussion Management
217: The Concussed Teen and Return to Learn
221: Brain Rules for Babies
226: Pediatric Pearls (Ages 0–3)
227: The Vital Child (Ages 5–12)
5 · Motor Control, Tone and Peripheral Nerve
The motor system from cortex to muscle — upper motor neuron anatomy and signs, tone and spasticity, movement disorders and peripheral nerve involvement. You are here: Neurology 240.
215: Dopamine, Parkinson’s & Chiropractic
218: Chiropractic Perspectives on Tone
240: The Upper Motor Neuron
6 · Autonomic, Vascular and Brain-Health Risk
The autonomic and vascular side of practice — sympathetic and vagal regulation, blood pressure, digestion, stroke risk, and the lifestyle factors that move long-term brain health.
214: Depression and Exercise
216: Is Fitness Important to Health?
219: Cervicogenic Hypertension
220: Chiropractic Stroke Risk Assessment
230: Low Stomach Acid & the Burp Test
232: The IML — Structure, Function & Relevance
239: Dysautonomia
Every course in the series is 2 PACE-approved CE hours at $40, and the automatic bundle discounts apply across the whole lane.
What You'll Learn in Neurology 240
Understand and define spasticity, and distinguish it from hypertonia of other origins
Assess and grade tone accurately, to a standard repeatable between visits
Differentiate axial from appendicular involvement and use the distribution to localise
Describe the neuroanatomy and central integrated state of the upper motor neuron, and navigate the clinical considerations that follow
Your Neurology Faculty
Michael Hall, DC, FIACN,instructor of this course and of the entire Neurology curriculum. A chiropractic neurology specialist, founder of BrainDC.org and Neurology Faculty at CCEDseminars, with more than 30 years of clinical and academic experience. He teaches functional neurology, neurological assessment and clinical neuroscience with an emphasis on case-based, evidence-informed application — translating complex neurological concepts into clinical reasoning a general practice can use.
Monte Horne, DC,reviewer of this course. Founder and CE Program Director of CCEDseminars, a Designated Doctor for the Texas Department of Insurance and a peer reviewer and expert witness.
Full bios and the complete instructor roster: CCEDseminars faculty page.
Where Neurology CE Hours Count — State Rules Worth Knowing
Clinical neurology coursework is clinical subject matter — assessment, diagnosis and case management — which is exactly what several state boards ask for. In Iowa, these hours serve the 36-hour clinical case-management minimum; in Rhode Island, they address the 50-of-60 clinical requirement; and in Vermont — where practice-building coursework earns nothing — patient-care education like this counts fully under the clinical-focus rule.
Online-format allowances still vary by state — some accept every hour online, others cap distance learning or require in-person blocks. Check your state's guide in the full state directory before building your renewal plan.
Build Your Neurology Block
Every course in the Neurology series runs 2 hours at $40, so the automatic discounts do the bundling for you: 6–9 hours in one order earns 10% off, and 10 or more earns 20% off — courses 201–210 together are 20 hours, well past the 20% tier at roughly $320 instead of $400. The full Chiropractic Clinical Neurology (CCN) 201–224 bundle runs 48 hours if you are working toward the certification. 2 CE hours,$40 Browse Neurology Courses
Neurology 240 — Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between spasticity and hypertonia?
Hypertonia is increased resting tone of any origin; spasticity is a specific, velocity-dependent form of it arising from upper motor neuron involvement — move the limb faster and the resistance rises. The course defines spasticity precisely, because the distinction determines whether a finding points at the upper motor neuron at all.
How is this different from Neurology 218, Chiro Perspectives on Tone?
Companion courses with different centres of gravity. 218 approaches tone broadly as a clinical phenomenon a chiropractor meets. 240 goes up the pathway: the neuroanatomy of the upper motor neuron itself, its central integrated state, and the clinical signs that follow from a lesion there — along with grading tone and separating axial from appendicular involvement.
How do I actually grade tone?
By moving the limb and characterising the resistance, and the course covers assessing and grading tone accurately as an explicit objective. The value of grading rather than describing is that it is repeatable: a graded finding can be compared to itself at the next visit, and a described one cannot.
Why does axial versus appendicular matter?
Because the distribution localises. Tone changes affecting the trunk and neck carry different implications from those affecting the limbs, and differentiating axial from appendicular is one of the course objectives for exactly that reason — it narrows where the lesion is likely to sit.
What is the “central integrated state”?
The baseline level of excitability a neuron or pool of neurons is holding, which determines how readily it responds. The course covers the central integrated state of the upper motor neuron because it explains why the same stimulus produces different responses in different patients — and why signs can fluctuate rather than being simply present or absent.
State Approval and Licensing Reminder
Continuing education requirements — including online-hour caps and clinical-hour minimums — vary by jurisdiction. Review the online chiropractic CE guidelines page and contact CCEDseminars with questions about your specific licensing requirements before registering.
Ready to Enroll in Neurology 240?
Graded tone localises. Guessed tone does not. This course covers the anatomy, the signs and the grading.
CCEDseminars · PACE Provider #34015544 · Reviewed by Monte Horne, DC · Last updated September 3, 2026 (CT)