Trauma’s Effect On the Brain

Trauma impacts an individual’s body physically, mentally, and emotionally. Whether someone has experienced abuse, war, accidents, natural disasters, any violence, etc., the body creates imprints of these memories on the brain and body causing major changes. While these changes and reactions are detrimental to someone’s health, there are ways to heal from traumas and help individuals keep living their lives. Due to the impact on the brain and body, a person’s life can be flipped around without much understanding of why. Sometimes, the hardest element to consider for someone affected by trauma is understanding the neurological aspect of what has happened to them, what it means in terms of their lives, why it affects them the way it does, and how healing is possible with these unchanging effects.

Before turning to criminal justice, I began as a psychology undergrad. In this time, a main component we learned of was the “3-part brain” or the Triune Brain model (also mentioned in Rousseau’s Module 3). In this model, it is said that there are three parts that make up the brain: the brain stem (reptilian), the limbic/midbrain (mammalian), and the cortex/forebrain (neommalian). The Reptilian is responsible for survival instincts and automatic body functions, the mammalian is responsible for emotions and sensory input, and the neommalian is responsible for decision-making, learning, and memory. All three components are impacted during a traumatic experience, some more than others. The reptilian brain (survival instinct) takes over during a trauma triggering fight or flight and turning off all non-essential bodily functions. Typically, after a traumatic experience has ended, the body is able to switch back to homeostasis- reducing the fight or flight hormones and returning the non-essential bodily functions. For those individuals who end up developing PTSD, however, this switch back to homeostasis never happens. The reptilian brain never returns function to the rest of the other brain areas, leaving them in a continuous state of reactive mode. This reactive mode leaves individuals with symptoms that they don’t understand (PTSD symptoms like mood swings, being easily startled/triggered, having undesirable memories, etc.). This leaves people feeling a loss of control over their own thoughts, decisions, and functions.

The brain itself goes through a biological change after trauma. Several things happen that wouldn’t happen to a brain that has not experienced trauma. A major piece of the brain (and my personal favorite to talk about) is the amygdala. This small formation located close to the center of the brain is responsible for processing threatening stimuli and activating the appropriate response. It also connects emotions to certain memories. In a traumatic situation, the amygdala becomes overstimulated and starts processing everything as a threat. Another crucial piece of the brain is the hippocampus. This part of the brain oversees learning and memory. To create memories, the hippocampus must make synaptic connections (between neurons, as noted in Rousseau’s Module 3) letting the body know that something is in the past and not happening currently- a memory. When the hormones from the fight or flight response are flooding through the body, they kill the cells that carry out these synaptic connections, making it challenging to let the body know that a traumatic event is over and in the past. This leaves the body in a continuous state of reactive mode. Lastly, the SNS (or sympathetic nervous system) manages that fight or flight mode; it releases epinephrine (adrenaline) into the bloodstream. With everything happening with the amygdala and the hippocampus, the SNS is constantly elevated and stressed unable to regulate or pass off to the parasympathetic nervous system, which would restore the body back to normal function and keep it from overworking. The combination of the three function dysregulations alters someone’s mind and body.

These changes, if left untreated can be detrimental. Thankfully, with what we know today about healing and PTSD, we know that healing is possible. All three brain areas can be restored to normal function, reducing the effects of trauma and sometimes eradicating PTSD symptoms fully. Individuals’ healing processes are all different and need to be treated as such in order to help create change.

References

Smith, I. (2021, September 22). How does trauma affect the brain? – and what it means for you. Whole Wellness Therapy. Retrieved December 2022, from https://www.wholewellnesstherapy.com/post/trauma-and-the-brain

Rousseau, D. (2022). Module 1: Introduction to Trauma. Boston University.

Rousseau, D. (2022). Module 2: Childhood Trauma. Boston University.

Rousseau, D. (2022). Module 3: Neurobiology of Trauma. Boston University.

Rousseau, D. (2022). Module 4: Pathways to Recovery: Understanding Approaches to Trauma Treatment. Boston University.

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