Traumatic experiences, indelible traces for the tonsil

Emotional traumas are situations of great impact on our mood and impact each person singularly. The explanation of its impact is anatomical and is linked to different regions of the nervous system, especially with those related to emotion and memory.

In this article we will address emotional traumas, explaining the anatomical areas involved in their retention and function. Your body is prepared to protect you from adversities, keep reading to discover one of the many ways in which it does.

Content

• Traumatic experiences, unconscious repercussions
• Trauma neurobiology, implications
• Diatesis-stress model and the amygdala
• States of activation against constant trauma, what to do?
  • Bibliographic references

Traumatic experiences, unconscious repercussions

The word trauma, From the Greek, it means wound. Traumas can occur both physical and psychological, and we will talk here today. In the psychic field, trauma can be defined as a negative impression that produces a lasting effect for our mind, your health and well -being.

A traum. In these situations in which we feel helpless, with the guardian guard, it is that a trauma can originate.

Now, there are times when we react with fear, even with physical discomfort, in situations that we do not consciously recognize as dangerous, however, we can show that our body is giving us a signal. The traumas persist, unconscious, even sometimes in a latent state since with effort we can recover the reason for its origins. There are biological reasons, in brain anatomy, which explain the persistence of traumas, although during our states of consciousness we cannot or are very difficult for us to access them. In this article, we will address trauma neurobiology.

Trauma neurobiology, implications

The persistence of traumas in our memory, even in unconscious states, has a biological explanation, as we already express. The areas of the nervous system affected by the traumas are involved in the maintenance of homeostasis (internal balance), these are: the brain trunk, the locus cerúleo (linked to the response to panic and stress), the neuroendocrine system, areas of the bark linked to the executive functioning and, of course, the memory systems.

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When we mention memory systems, we include three brain areas especially:

• The hippocampus. Inside the temporal lobe, the hippocampus is involved in the formation of long -term memories, crucial for the maintenance in time of the effect of emotional traumas.
• The frontal cortex. This participates in the control of attentional functions. However, today we would like to highlight their role as a memoir. Memorization allows us this area since it allows the processing of cognitive information.
• The amygdala. Formed by gray substance nuclei, this structure (who will today be our protagonist) is related to emotional systems. And, in fact, it has been proven that memory also regulates. The amygdala assimilates information from the environment allowing to anticipate emotional reactions, as well as consolidate and store this type of information.

Emotion and memory, the two functions that are responsible for persisting emotional traumas so that we do not forget them and we can defend ourselves before a possible sign of appearance again. The emotional and memory functions linked to the retention of the traumas, do not have to harm us, but, on the contrary: they will allow us, given a possible emergence of a similar situation, not to find ourselves helpless. They will prepare us to face what already hurt us and generated discomfort. They will give us the tools to react to what it previously traumatized us, To avoid that state of helplessness.

Diatesis-stress model and the amygdala

What for an individual can constitute a traumatic experience, for others it can become nothing more than a memory that does not happen to greater terms. The differential incidence of the events lived in one person with respect to another is due to a combination of factors, including the cerebral phenotype of each person and the experiences lived throughout their existence that they have stored and those who have learned.

The Diatesis-Stress model explains that the combination of personal sensitivity and stressful factor which a person has exposed produce differential impacts in each individual. Therefore, the traumas are generated differentially and can have a different magnitude of impact.

The amygdala, that part of the limbic system that we describe, is always alert and, before any sign that can be associated with the emergence of a potential trauma, it is activated, generating a Defensive fear response as alert. The signal emitted by the amygdala will not necessarily be an impulse to escape, it could simply try to generate a certain physical discomfort (such as headache or stomach pain) to generate an alert instance. So, The function of the amygdala is adaptive, allowing us to get away of what (according to their suspicions) could be associated with a traumatic situation lived in the past.

States of activation against constant trauma, what to do?

However, It may happen that trauma leaves the brain in a constant alert state, Due to its great impact. And this, of course, can be maladaptive and interfere with the normal decision of our lives. If that were the case, it will be necessary to resort to psychological assistance for the correct processing and processing of emotional trauma. Therapies such as psychoanalysis are more than suitable for these purposes.

We hope this article has been useful to understand the neurobiological background of the traumas. Our brain and all of our nervous system, as you will see, seeks strategies to protect us from potential threats. What do you think about it?

The connection of the brain-body in emotional trauma

Bibliographic references

• Arango, c. Yo. (2006). The emotional brain. Emotions as a survival strategy. Poiésis, 6 (11).
• BONET, J. L. (2017). Brain, emotions and stress. B pocket.
• Ogden, p., Minton, k., & Pain, C. (2009). Trauma and body. A psychotherapy sensoriomotor model. Bilbao: Bruwer's Devée, 257.
• Restrepo, f. J. L. (2008). Executive functions: clinical aspects. Neuropsychology, Neuropsychiatry and Neurosciences Magazine, 8 (1), 59-76.
• Triglia, a. Cerebral tonsil: what is, functions and anatomy.