Neuropathologists have seen overlapping effects of physical and emotional trauma upon the brain. With such an overlap it can be seen that both of these traumas have a detrimental effect upon the Amygdala, the Hippocampus and the Prefrontal cortex of the brain.
Damage to the amygdala can cause a variety of symptoms, most often emotional and behavioral. Individuals may experience irritability, confusion, and a variety of strong emotions. Symptoms of amygdala damage can be complex and may require a combination of treatments.
Alterations in the amygdala's structure or function have been linked to various mental diseases, including PTSD, phobias, panic disorders, depression, schizophrenia, and autism. The symptoms of Kluver-Bucy syndrome are seen in patients with bilateral (both amygdalae affected) amygdala degeneration.
Encephalitis, or brain inflammation, can damage the amygdala on both sides of the brain. Limbic inflammation can cause a person to struggle with their emotional responses and experience memory problems.
Amygdala engagement during fear conditioning is well established in healthy adults. Thus, amygdala hyperactivity in PTSD may reflect an exaggerated response of fear circuitry and may explain PTSD symptoms, such as hypervigilance and hyperarousal.
Several studies have reported functional and anatomical changes in the amygdala following acute and chronic stress.
van der Kolk writes that there are three avenues for recovery: “top down, by talking, (re-) connecting with others, and allowing ourselves to know and understand what is going on with us”; “taking medicines that shut down inappropriate alarm reactions"; and “bottom up, by allowing the body to have experiences that ...
You can do this by slowing down, taking deep breaths, and refocusing your thoughts. These steps allow your brain's frontal lobes to take over for the irrational amygdala. When this happens, you have control over your responses, and you won't be left feeling regret or embarrassment at your behavior.
It's almost as if it's a muscle; the more you work it the bigger it gets. However, studies have also proven that the amygdala can shrink back to it's original size when PTSD reduces.
the prefrontal cortex can shut down, allowing the amygdala, a locus for regulating emotional activity, to take over, inducing mental paralysis and panic.
Oxytocin reduces amygdala activity, increases social interactions and reduces anxiety-like behavior irrespective of NMDAR antagonism.
Here we have shown that ultra-high field MR can be successfully applied to obtain functional MR images with high temporal and spatial resolution not only in primary sensory and motor regions, but also in ventral brain areas including the amygdala.
Initially, adult neurogenesis was found to occur in only two regions of the brain: the hippocampus and the striatum. But now there's evidence that new brain cells can also grow in the amygdala, the hypothalamus, the olfactory bulb, and possibly the cerebral cortex.
Several psychiatric illnesses are believed to involve pathology in the amygdala. For example, posttraumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety disorders, and autism have all been linked to amygdala pathology (Aggleton, 1992, 2000).
It takes the chemicals that are released during the amygdala hijacking about 6 seconds to dissipate. Using this time to focus on something pleasant will prevent your amygdala from taking control and causing an emotional reaction.
Brain areas implicated in the stress response include the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Traumatic stress can be associated with lasting changes in these brain areas.
Thus, meditation training may improve affective responding through reduced amygdala reactivity, and heightened amygdala–VMPFC connectivity during affective stimuli may reflect a potential mechanism by which MBSR exerts salutary effects on emotion regulation ability.
There is another area of the brain that is changed through meditation: the amygdala. But it doesn't get larger; it shrinks. The amygdala—that pesky corner of the brain that produces feelings of anxiety, fear and general stress—is physically smaller in the brains of expert meditators.
Intrusive memories
Recurrent, unwanted distressing memories of the traumatic event. Reliving the traumatic event as if it were happening again (flashbacks) Upsetting dreams or nightmares about the traumatic event. Severe emotional distress or physical reactions to something that reminds you of the traumatic event.
Unfortunately, trauma doesn't typically resolve on its own. While the event may be over, the impacts of a traumatic experience can live on in your body for decades. Research shows that adults who had traumatic experiences in childhood are more likely to experience neurological dysfunction as they get older.
Smaller volume was demonstrated in the PTSD compared to non-PTSD groups for the left amygdala (p = . 002), right amygdala (p = . 01), and left hippocampus (p = .
Results are mixed on how depression affects the amygdala. That's your fear center. Some studies show it gets smaller. Others found that stress and depression might boost its GMV.
Kluver-Bucy syndrome (KBS) is a rare neuropsychiatric disorder due to lesions affecting bilateral temporal lobes, especially the hippocampus and amygdala.
Pain producing events generate hyperactivity in the amygdala network of lateral, basolateral and central nuclei (LA, BLA, CeA), which accounts for emotional-affective aspects of pain.