Healing from trauma starts with understanding what trauma is and how the brain operates during and after a traumatic event. Just like with anything else, knowing the process or fundamentals of something is crucial for efficacy. I covered the definition of macro and micro-traumas in the previous post. In this post, I will be reviewing four key areas of the brain, discussing the neural networks before, during, and after a traumatic event, and outlining what happens during trauma triggers.
There are many parts of the brain that are firing when a traumatic event occurs, however, there are four main areas that are important to understand more fully. They include the brain stem, hippocampus, amygdala, and frontal lobe.
First, we have the brain stem. The brain stem is located near the base of the brain by the neck. The brain stem is responsible for all of the autonomic processes including breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, and digestion. It is also responsible for communicating with other parts of the brain so it plays an integral role in consciousness, awareness, and movement.
The hippocampus is located in the middle region of the brain and is responsible for memory. It also is responsible for all learning. Some of its key functions include storing facts and events, consolidating information, and recalling memories and information.
The amygdala is an almond-shaped structure that is responsible for emotions. Not only does the amygdala regulate emotions, but it also connects meaning to our memories and plays a role in reward processing and decision making.
Finally, the frontal lobe is located at the front of the brain near the forehead and it is responsible for higher-order functions such as logic and reasoning. The frontal lobe is in constant communication with the other parts of the brain. It is responsible for personality, social interaction, motor movements, and attention and concentration.
Now that you know the names and functions of the key brain areas involved during a traumatic event(s), I'm now going to explain what is happening neurologically during a traumatic event.
Our brains are wired for survival which means there are specific mechanisms used to sense if we are in danger so we can stay safe. Our brain is constantly absorbing information from our environment through our six senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, sound, and instincts. As soon as our brain receives input from any one of these senses and perceives it to be dangerous, our brain stem immediately sets off an alarm system that communicates to all the other areas of the brain that we are in danger. When it does this, the brain stem releases a stress hormone called cortisol which ignites the "fight, flight, freeze" response. Whenever the brain senses danger, it does not have time to calmly weigh out options on how to survive by using the frontal lobe. So instead, the cortisol goes to the frontal lobe, clogging our ability to think and the brainstem takes control and automatically responds using the fight, flight, freeze response. It instantaneously decides whether to fight the danger, run away from the danger (flight), or submit/freeze. As the brain stem reacts, it is pausing the digestive processing and any other autonomic system that is not necessary during the stressful moment. Its top priority is to survive so digesting our most recent meal is not ranked as crucial. The second the brain stem turned on the alarm system, the hippocampus and the amygdala also kicked into gear. I like to think of the hippocampus as a camera that not only records videos and takes pictures- but also records smells, touches, tastes, etc. It's capturing as many details as possible because not only is the brain thinking "I need to survive right now," it is also thinking, "I never want to experience this again so I'm going to store everything that I'm experiencing so I can be prepared if it happens again. So all of this "footage" so to speak gets stored in the brain and can be accessed at any time. I like to think of the storage system as a file cabinet. Imagine that all the details that were recorded in the camera were electronically stored on a tablet and labeled "traumatic event" and placed in a file cabinet. While the hippocampus is working to store the memories and sensory details, the amygdala is working to store the emotions and connect them to the memories. The amygdala is adding notes to all of the sensory stimuli that the camera captured. So imagine, the amygdala added notes to the tablet saying "traumatic event/ the time I felt fear, sadness, pain, and so on). All this time, the frontal lobe has been working at minimum capacity because of all the cortisol that surged to the frontal lobe of the brain.
Okay, here's where we take all this information and put it together. Let's imagine that you experienced a car accident. You're driving on the highway, eating a hummus veggie wrap and it starts pouring down rain. You become hyperfocused on the road while still managing to take a large bite of your wrap knowing you'll have to put it down and put two hands on the wheel. You're focused on the cars in front of you slowing down and you forgot to look out for your exit. Your visibility worsens and you notice your exit sign at the last minute and you quickly react to exit. You go begin hydroplaning off the ramp. Your fight flight freeze response is activated and that special brain camera starts recording in real-time and in retrospect to store the events leading up to the alarm system being turned on. Now the whole trauma response system is activated. You try to break to try to gain control back but nothing is working at this point. Your airbags go off and you hit your head on the driver's side door. Your car eventually stops when it spins into a tree. You notice that you're bleeding and feel lightheaded. Luckily another car witnessed the accident and called 911 and they quickly arrived at the scene. You were okay. While all of this was happening, your brain was pairing all of the stimuli you took in during the accident to the emotion, fear, sadness, and pain. Now anytime your brain recognizes various stimuli such as rain, your exit sign, or a hummus wrap, your brain stem activates the alarm system sending cortisol to the frontal lobe. The listed stimuli now become what we call "triggers" or things that activate the trauma response and recall of the trauma memory. The same goes for any of the paired emotions. Anytime you experience fear, for example, the alarm system can be activated because your brain accesses the file labeled "the time I felt fear, sadness, and pain". The issue is, you're not in any danger. It's a week after the accident and you're driving on a sunny day about to take your exit. Or you could be at a work luncheon and someone orders a hummus wrap and you immediately feel fearful. Now in other serious cases such as ongoing domestic violence or sexual abuse, that alarm system is activated 24/7 which causes constant cortisol to the frontal lobe and countless stimuli that are paired to a feared response. Understanding what the brain is doing during a traumatic event and following the event is crucial for healing. The next step will be to identify what your triggers are and to practice assessing when the alarm system goes off and telling your brain you are safe. I will provide coping skills in a later blog post that can help with managing trauma symptoms.
I hope this information is helpful. My next post will be about common reactions to trauma and trauma symptoms. Please feel free to comment or message me with any questions you have on this topic.
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