Understanding Trauma & The Brain:
Trauma is the emotional or psychological response to a distressing event or series of events. While it is commonly associated with experiences such as physical or sexual assault, trauma can also arise from emotional abuse, bullying, or childhood neglect. Trauma is more common than you think and has likely impacted either you or someone you are close to. Often people call these distressing events, traumatic events, because of their ability to induce the trauma response.
Each person’s response to trauma is unique, making it essential to remember that trauma does not define a person, it is only one aspect of their life and identity. People have capacity for resilience, growth, and healing beyond their traumatic experiences.
The brain’s response to trauma is complex and involves both immediate and long-term reactions. When a person experiences a traumatic event, their brain undergoes a series of biochemical and neural changes to help them cope with the overwhelming experience.
Here’s a breakdown of how the brain responds to trauma:
Immediate Responses and the Stress Response
When a traumatic event occurs, the brain’s amygdala (which processes emotions like fear) immediately detects the threat, and sends signals to the hypothalamus. This activates the sympathetic nervous system, triggering the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. This triggers the “fight, flight, or freeze” response.
- Fight: A person may act defensively or aggressively to protect themselves.
- Flight: They may attempt to escape the threat.
- Freeze: They may feel immobilized or disconnected, unable to act or respond.
These instinctual responses originate from the brainstem, the most basic part of the brain responsible for survival.
Memory Encoding and Storage
The hippocampus, responsible for forming new memories, can struggle under extreme stress. In traumatic situations people may experience:
Fragmentation of Memory: Traumatic memories may be stored in a fragmented or disorganized way, leading to flashbacks or intrusive memories where the experience feels as though it is happening again.
Impaired Encoding: Overwhelming stress hormones can disrupt the normal process of laying down clear, linear memories, making them feel jumbled or incomplete.
Post-Trauma Effects on Brain Function
After the immediate crisis, while the brain continues to process trauma a person may experience:
Prefrontal Cortex Changes: This area helps with decision-making and emotional regulation but can become less active under prolonged stress, making it harder to think clearly or manage emotions.
Hyperactive Amygdala: The amygdala may become highly sensitive, causing a person to remain on high alert for potential threats, even in safe environments (a state known as hypervigilance).
Neuroplasticity: The Brain’s Capacity to Heal
Just as trauma can alter the brain, neuroplasticity means the brain can also adapt and recover. Through therapeutic interventions like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness practices, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), or other evidence-based treatments, individuals can reduce the intensity of trauma responses. Over time, these approaches allow the brain to rewire itself, helping survivors process and integrate their experiences more effectively.
By knowing more about the neuroscience behind the changes in the brain resulting from trauma, it can help us understand and interpret infants, children and young people’s behaviors. It also helps guide young people, parents, caregivers, professionals and frontline workers in terms of what approaches and treatments are helpful, healing and effective.