So, these three parts of the brain- the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the prefrontal cortex- are the most-affected areas of the brain from emotional trauma. They can make a trauma survivor constantly fearful, especially when triggered by events and situations that remind them of their past trauma.
When a person experiences a traumatic event, adrenaline rushes through the body and the memory is imprinted into the amygdala, which is part of the limbic system. The amygdala holds the emotional significance of the event, including the intensity and impulse of emotion.
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. Traumatic stress is associated with increased cortisol and norepinephrine responses to subsequent stressors.
Amygdala. The amygdala is a limbic structure involved in emotional processing and is critical for the acquisition of fear responses. The functional role of the amygdala in mediating both stress responses and emotional learning implicate its role in the pathophysiology of PTSD.
The frontal lobe is located at the front of the brain. Trauma or injury to this part of the brain can cause personality and behavior changes. It can cause attention problems, language difficulty, impulsive behavior, and inappropriate social behavior.
The Brain's Response to Trauma
According to a 2006 study by NIH, trauma mainly affects three important parts of your brain: the amygdala, which is your emotional and instinctual center; the hippocampus, which controls memory; and the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for regulating your emotions and impulses.
The most frequent sequelae after severe brain injury include changes in personality traits, disturbances of emotional behaviour and impairment of cognitive functions. In particular, emotional changes and/or verbal and non verbal dysfunctions were found in patients with bilateral or unilateral temporal lobe lesions.
Specifically, the frontal lobes are where a person rationalizes situations and makes decisions. Although the amygdala works automatically, the frontal lobes allow people to process and think about their emotions. When a person senses a threat, the amygdala may automatically activate the fight-or-flight response.
The Effects of Trauma on the Amygdala
The amygdala is part of the limbic system in the brain, and can become overactive in those who have experienced trauma. This can cause one to become overly sensitive to threats and more prone to stress and anxiety.
Abstract. Posttraumatic stress disorder can be viewed as a disorder of fear dysregulation. An abundance of research suggests that the prefrontal cortex is central to fear processing—that is, how fears are acquired and strategies to regulate or diminish fear responses.
“The most dangerous place to hit your head is on either side of your head, just above your ears. The skull is thinnest there, and there's an artery that can burst and cause direct bleeding in the brain.”
Research in neuroscience shows that if we witness or experience trauma, our brains can actually take on a different structure. For people who develop PTSD, trauma causes a psychological injury. Certain areas of the brain become hyperactive, while others are less active, creating an imbalance.
A specific component of the limbic system is the amygdala, which many know as the part of the brain that houses our fear response; and the freeze, flight or fight reaction. Recently, neuroscientists have discovered the amygdala is also a critical part of how we process memory, emotion, and attention.
TBI disturbs the delicate chemistry of the brain so that the neurons cannot function normally. This results in changes in thinking and behavior. It can take weeks and sometimes months for the brain to resolve the chemical imbalance that occurs with TBI.
They have found that people who have severe, chronic cases of PTSD have smaller hippocampi5 . This indicates that experiencing ongoing stress as a result of severe and chronic PTSD may ultimately damage the hippocampus, making it smaller.
Mainly how trauma affects the brain, the hippocampus will affect the ability to recall some memories for trauma survivors. Other memories may be extremely vivid and constantly on the mind of survivors. Environments that remind the survivor of their trauma in even small ways can cause fear, stress, and panic.
The amygdala is commonly thought to form the core of a neural system for processing fearful and threatening stimuli (4), including detection of threat and activation of appropriate fear-related behaviors in response to threatening or dangerous stimuli.
Childhood trauma is associated with increases in amygdala volume, whereas traumatic stress in adulthood is associated with reductions in amygdala volume.
In mammals, the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex are two structures that play a key role in the acquisition, consolidation and retrieval of fear memory, as well extinction of fear.
The frontal lobes are the largest of the four lobes and are responsible for many different functions. The frontal lobes are considered our emotional control center and home to our personality.
Amygdala is the integrative center for emotions, emotional behavior, and motivation. If the brain is turned upside down the end of the structure continuous with the hippocampus is called the uncus.
Injury to the occipital lobes may lead to vision impairments such as blindness or blind spots; visual distortions and visual inattention. The occipital lobes are also associated with various behaviors and functions that include: visual recognition; visual attention; and spatial analysis.
Frontotemporal disorders (FTD), sometimes called frontotemporal dementia, are the result of damage to neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Many possible symptoms can result, including unusual behaviors, emotional problems, trouble communicating, difficulty with work, or difficulty with walking.
Parietal Lobe, Right - Damage to this area can cause visuo-spatial deficits (e.g., the patient may have difficulty finding their way around new, or even familiar, places). Parietal Lobe, Left - Damage to this area may disrupt a person's ability to understand spoken and/or written language.
Trauma is not physically held in the muscles or bones — instead, the need to protect oneself from perceived threats is stored in the memory and emotional centers of the brain, such as the hippocampus and amygdala.