Understanding the Brain: The Parts Impacted by Trauma

Purpose

Ever wonder how the experiences and the events in your early childhood and throughout your life have affected you internally, more specifically, your brain? I have, and more than once at that. Having these thoughts led me down the rabbit hole, and onto questioning how the stress and trauma in my life affects my brain. By that I mean, does stress or trauma change how I engage with others or how I see future events and experiences, and if so, how come? This blog is the first in a series on trauma and the brain and will highlight the brain’s structure and how the various parts respond to stress and trauma, as well as what their various roles are within the body.

Why Understanding the Brain Matters

Why is understanding the brain important to healing and being able to help others heal? The explanation is found in the extent to which the brain regulates bodily functions, emotional responses, and behavioral patterns. Our brain makes thousands of connections, and those connections tell us how to engage in future events based on past ones. Often, when we see children having temper tantrums or a meltdown episode, we wonder what caused them to act out in such a manner or what is guiding them to these behaviors. By looking more closely, we see that this child is communicating the best way they know how, based on past experiences where their brain felt (real or perceived danger) they are unsafe or unable to verbalize their exact needs.

After someone has experienced a traumatic event, the brain places an imaginary sticky note, also known as priming, on the feelings, behaviors, and regulation tools used so that in the future, if they feel similarly, the brain already knows how to respond. This type of association is often seen between infants and their caregivers when they are forming a secure attachment. The infant has linked their non-verbal cues with their caregiver’s consistent interaction. It is that link that internally tells the infant that their caregiver will address them when needed. Therefore, the reality is that the child’s brain is protecting the child and not purposely having them misbehave. Due to the child being unable to verbalize their needs in that moment, they resort to engaging in a meltdown or temper tantrum to inform their caregivers that there is something wrong.

By viewing behavior as protection or communication rather than intentional misbehavior, caregivers can respond with empathy instead of frustration. Nonetheless, it can be trying, and it does take practice to be able to regulate ourselves (adults) first to help others to regulate, especially children and young people. Learning and being educated on the brain, how it works, and ways it can be approached is the best way to help someone, especially children and young people. It is incredibly important that caregivers keep in mind that the brains of children and young people have not fully developed. Therefore, children and young people do not have the same amount of emotional control or tools as the caregivers do and require caregivers to provide them with connection and safety, which in turn will allow children and young people to co-regulate with the adults and achieve the overall goal.

The Brain’s Upstairs and Downstairs

The brain’s main job is to keep us safe and connected with the world and others around us. Throughout our lifespan the brain is constantly growing, learning, and making thousands of bookmarks from our experiences. The ability to understand and comprehend the associated areas of the brain that are triggered can better aid caregivers in responding to their child’s behaviors and meet their immediate needs. Dr. Daniel Siegal, a Neuroscientist, author, and owner of the Mindsight Institute, has written extensively on the brain of children and adolescents linked to trauma, attachment, and the best parenting methods for caregivers. Dr. Siegal has been able to explain emotional regulation by describing the brain as a house with what he calls “upstairs” and “downstairs”. These distinctive areas illustrate to caregivers the processes that take place in each area.

The Whole- Brain Child, written by Dr. Daniel Siegal, describes the brain as being separated into two areas, the downstairs and the upstairs. The book describes the downstairs brain being comprised of the “brain stem and the limbic region, which are located in the lower parts of the brain” and the “upstairs brain that is comprised of the cerebral cortex and its various parts-particularly the ones directly behind your forehead, including the middle prefrontal cortex.” A child who is acting impulsively, over-emotional, and unable to verbalize what is going on within them is functioning from their downstairs part of the brain. Children and young people with a history of trauma or stressful experiences often react based on those events. Whereas children and young people who have experienced minimal stressful experiences and without trauma respond from their upstairs brain at developmental level and are able to “regulate emotions, consider consequences, think before acting, and consider how others feel.” (Bryson & Siegel, 2011)

The ability for the brain to excel in its job of keeping us safe and connected stems from having both the upstairs and the downstairs brain working together. Unfortunately, due to the brain not being fully mature, there will be times when the child and young person will be stuck and despite knowing better, function from the downstairs of their brain. This is where caregivers come in and help reinforce the integration by also providing a safe environment. co-regulation, and most importantly modeling how they want the child to respond. A key thing to remember is that a dysregulated adult cannot help regulating a dysregulated child. An adult will need to regulate themselves to help a child that is dysregulated.

The Key Players: Brain Areas Affected by Trauma

Now that we've set up an understanding of the upstairs and downstairs brain, let's examine the ways trauma affects the different regions. Starting from the lowest region of the brain, the brain stem is also known as the brain’s survival system. Located in the limbic area, the brain stem is often called the reptilian brain by scientists. When someone is referred to being in their brain stem area, it is because they are not thinking logically and are dysregulated. This part of the brain stays on constant hypervigilance or on guard mode because of trauma. In addition, this area of the brain helps to regulate the heart rate, breathing, and reflexes. Trauma may manifest in children as heightened startle responses, difficulty staying seated, or rapid onset of panic.

The Amygdala, a small structure found in the lower area of the brain, is known as the brain’s alarm system. This structure plays a significant role in signaling to the body when an environment or situation is reminiscent of an earlier traumatic event. The Amygdala detects threats and activates the body’s fight/flight response. After experiencing trauma, this system may stay active, keeping the body on constant alert for possible dangers even when there are no dangers present. An example of this is when someone has a strong reaction to tone of voice or facial expressions.

The Hippocampus is another small structure that resembles a seahorse and oversees memory and learning. In conjunction with the amygdala, the hippocampus signals physiological responses in the body to environments it assesses as either safe or unsafe. This is the reason how the body can remember that something happened years later after an event. The trauma response as presented in the Hippocampus is when a child or someone struggles to recall the sequence of events clearly after the event.

Moving from the lower brain to the front or upstairs is the Prefrontal Cortex. This area is known as the thinking-brain. The Prefrontal Cortex is a large area in the front area of the brain just behind the forehead. This region is the final area of the brain to reach full maturity, and its development may be suppressed by exposure to traumatic experiences. The prefrontal cortex oversees reasoning, empathy, and decision-making. When a person is stressed, this area shuts down. For children, this often means difficulty expressing feelings or thinking logically when triggered.

This last area of the brain that will be discussed is the Vagus Nerve. This nerve runs from the brain and all throughout the body. The vagus nerve acts as a link between the brain, heart, and gut, playing a key role in emotional regulation and mind-body connection. This nerve demonstrates how trauma can physically affect both the brain and body. Individuals who have gone through traumatic experiences often deal with bodily symptoms like stomach pain, headaches, irregular heart rates, or difficulty breathing. In a child the vagus nerve signals to freeze when the brain does not feel safe or it can have the child feel disconnected when overwhelmed that leads to disassociation.

Moving to Safety

          As we've explored the brain and the regions affected by trauma, we've recognized that such events are the fundamental reason behind these changes in the brain. In the same manner that the brain was altered by negative experiences, it can also be healed by experiencing positive experiences and by having strong supports in their lives. It is essential for caregivers to understand the impact that trauma may have on the functioning of a child or adolescent. Caregivers can create a supportive and secure environment for children or adolescents by understanding how to model good self-regulation, which helps them co-regulate and soothe a child's nervous system. It is important for caregivers to recognize that a child or adolescent exhibiting challenging behaviors is not intentionally being defiant but is instead facing difficulties that are outside of their own control. The process of healing involves difficulties, requiring patience, time, and support from people who understand.

Conclusion: Understanding the Brain’s Role and Impact of Trauma

In summary, the brain serves as the central command center for the body, guiding countless essential functions throughout our daily lives. Gaining insight into the specific roles of different brain regions and recognizing how trauma can disrupt these roles is crucial for caregivers and all those working with children and adolescents. Understanding these impacts lays the groundwork for more effective support and intervention. Every experience teaches the brain something — even the hard ones.

This first blog post has set up the foundation for future discussions, where we will continue to examine the brain in greater detail. Our next blog dives deeper into how those early experiences build or reshape the developing brain, what the ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Study revealed about long-term impact, and why healing experiences are just as powerful as trauma itself.

References

Bryson, T. P., & Siegel, D. J. (2011). The Whole-Brain Child. New York: Delacorte Press.

Perry, B. D., & Szalavitz, M. (2017). The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog. Basic Books.

Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory. W.W. Norton & Company.

Siegel, D. J. (2012). The Developing Mind. Guilford Press.

van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score. Viking.